How To Change Default Font and Document Settings In Microsoft Word

The release of Microsoft Office 2007 brought some major changes to the popular office suite.  Many did not care for these changes at first, but users soon started to enjoy the newest features of Word, Excel, and other Office 2007 programs.

One feature in Office 2007 still seen in Office 2010 is a change in the default font from Times New Roman at Size 12 to Calibri at Size 11.  While the new font may be an improvement, many users have been frustrated if their documents must by typed in a particular font and they are constantly needing to change from the current default.

In this guide I am going to show you how to set some of the default document settings in Microsoft Office Word 2007 and 2010.

Setting the Default Font

Step 1: Start Word.

Step 2: Click the small arrow at the corner of the Font section of the Home ribbon to open the Font dialog box.  You can also right-click the document and select Font… from the menu.

Step 3: Set the font and font size you wish to have as the new default settings and click Set As Default in the bottom corner of the window.

Step 4: Confirm that you wish to make the changes to All documents based on the Normal template and click OK.

Step 5: Close and re-open Word and your new default font is set.

Setting the Default Indents and Spacing

Step 1: Start Word.

Step 2: Click the small arrow at the corner of the Paragraph section of the Home ribbon to open the Paragraph dialog box.  You can also right-click the document and select Paragraph… from the menu.

Step 3: Select the alignment, indentation, and line spacing you wish to have as the new default settings and click Set As Default at the bottom of the window.

Step 4: Confirm that you wish to make the changes to All documents based on the Normal template and click OK.

Step 5: Close and re-open Word and your new default alignment, indentation, and line spacing settings are set.

Setting the Default Margins

Step 1: Start Word.

Step 2: Select the Page Layout ribbon and click the small arrow at the corner of the Page Setup section to open the Page Setup dialog box.

Step 3: Select the margin, orientation, and paper settings that you wish to have as the new default settings and click Set As Default at the bottom of the window.

Step 4: Confirm that you wish to make the changes to all documents based on the NORMAL template by clicking Yes.

Step 5: Close and re-open Word and your new default margins, orientation, and paper settings are set.

Have any other tips for using Microsoft Office?  Share them with us by commenting below!


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16 responses to “How To Change Default Font and Document Settings In Microsoft Word”

  1. Jonathan Paul Avatar

    Wow I could’ve used this earlier this week. I had to Google all of these settings individually.

  2. Michigan Mary Avatar
    Michigan Mary

    Thanks, this is really great! Is there a way to set a footer in the default file? I want a standard footer in all my documents.

  3. […] a previous article, I wrote about how to change the default font and document settings in Word 2010.  I recently ran into a frustrating problem on a computer where even though I was saving the […]

  4. […] a previous article, I wrote about how to change the default font and document settings in Word 2010.  I recently ran into a frustrating problem on a computer where even though I was saving the […]

  5. Mcooper1019 Avatar
    Mcooper1019

    I do not have the Set as Default button. I had to select a new template to eliminate the spacing issues on Paragraph. I chose the one with “No Spacing” and selected Options at the bottom of the pop-up sidebar that appeared and chose for New Documents to be based on this template.

  6. Suzette Avatar
    Suzette

    What a help! I have just moved to Microsoft 2010 and have found it pretty frustrating, but your advice has been excellent (and clear!). Thanks a lot.

  7. SSpencer44 Avatar
    SSpencer44

    Wow!!  Again my theory that nothing is hard once you know how to do it!!  I’ve been changing every single document and now I don’t have to–Thanks!

  8. Hemang Gala Avatar
    Hemang Gala

    Really useful & it works . . . !!

  9. hotmail Avatar
    hotmail

    Thank you so much. I hope you have other information posted as I go through the curve of switching (overnight) from Word 2003 to 2010.

  10. Hilfigger8 Avatar
    Hilfigger8

    Thank you! This was the most helpful “Help with Word” webpage I’ve yet found (for the particular question about resetting default page formats).

  11. knitomat4000 Avatar
    knitomat4000

    My saviour. I hate Calibri. I have always used TNR 12 and it has been a pain in the >*&^ constantly having to alter everything I type. Thank you.

  12. MCable2012 Avatar
    MCable2012

    This did not work for setting my Default Font… :o/

  13. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    I don’t like that the default adds an extra line after hitting return, but I can’t change it. I’ve been doing the exact same things you wrote in the “setting default indents & spacing” section, both with a blank document AND with a highlighted portion of an existing document, and it doesn’t even change what I write in that document, much less other new ones. What am I doing wrong?

  14. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    Super helpful, thanks! 🙂

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