A Microsoft Office (Excel, Word) forum. OfficeFrustration

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » OfficeFrustration forum » Microsoft Word » General Discussion
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read  

How do I change my Normal template?



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old July 21st, 2008, 04:41 AM posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Sandhill54
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default How do I change my Normal template?

I've not read the other posts, so I'm not sure what they said. I just today
upgraded to Office 2007 (that's why I was here looking for answers to
something else).

When I had Word 2002, this is how I adjusted the normal.dot. I'll see if I
remember it without being able to see it.

In Word, click File, Open, then click on the bottom window to select
"template .dot" or something like that. It should automatically take you to
the place Office keeps the templates.

In my Office 2002, templates were in my user account (the name that I
clicked on to start Windows), then Applications (or something like that),
Microsoft, Templates. Or, in Windows Explorer or My Computer, do a search on
"normal.dot". It will show you where the normal.dot is kept. Write down the
path and then you can navigate to it in Word.

Open normal.dot, and make your changes. Save it and then close it. That
should fix it.

Good luck!

"renee1021" wrote:

I have Microsoft Word 2002 and my Normal template was somehow changed so that
it now has text in it. I've read the previous posts about this, and none of
them has worked. Does anyone know how to change the Normal template so that
it comes up blank?

  #2  
Old July 21st, 2008, 09:25 AM posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Stefan Blom
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8,433
Default How do I change my Normal template?

Note that you have replied to a message that is three years old.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


"Sandhill54" wrote:

I've not read the other posts, so I'm not sure what they said. I just today
upgraded to Office 2007 (that's why I was here looking for answers to
something else).

When I had Word 2002, this is how I adjusted the normal.dot. I'll see if I
remember it without being able to see it.

In Word, click File, Open, then click on the bottom window to select
"template .dot" or something like that. It should automatically take you to
the place Office keeps the templates.

In my Office 2002, templates were in my user account (the name that I
clicked on to start Windows), then Applications (or something like that),
Microsoft, Templates. Or, in Windows Explorer or My Computer, do a search on
"normal.dot". It will show you where the normal.dot is kept. Write down the
path and then you can navigate to it in Word.

Open normal.dot, and make your changes. Save it and then close it. That
should fix it.

Good luck!

"renee1021" wrote:

I have Microsoft Word 2002 and my Normal template was somehow changed so that
it now has text in it. I've read the previous posts about this, and none of
them has worked. Does anyone know how to change the Normal template so that
it comes up blank?

  #3  
Old July 21st, 2008, 08:22 PM posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Sandhill54
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default How do I change my Normal template?

How embarrassing; thanks for telling me. Shows how brain-dead I was after
upgrading my Office XP to 2007, huh?

I was searching for help on changing the normal template in Word 2007 to fit
my needs, and ended up there. I was so relieved to see that I might have a
bit of knowledge to contribute, I just answered it.

Next time I try to be helpful, I'll check the date.

"Stefan Blom" wrote:

Note that you have replied to a message that is three years old.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


"Sandhill54" wrote:

I've not read the other posts, so I'm not sure what they said. I just today
upgraded to Office 2007 (that's why I was here looking for answers to
something else).

When I had Word 2002, this is how I adjusted the normal.dot. I'll see if I
remember it without being able to see it.

In Word, click File, Open, then click on the bottom window to select
"template .dot" or something like that. It should automatically take you to
the place Office keeps the templates.

In my Office 2002, templates were in my user account (the name that I
clicked on to start Windows), then Applications (or something like that),
Microsoft, Templates. Or, in Windows Explorer or My Computer, do a search on
"normal.dot". It will show you where the normal.dot is kept. Write down the
path and then you can navigate to it in Word.

Open normal.dot, and make your changes. Save it and then close it. That
should fix it.

Good luck!

"renee1021" wrote:

I have Microsoft Word 2002 and my Normal template was somehow changed so that
it now has text in it. I've read the previous posts about this, and none of
them has worked. Does anyone know how to change the Normal template so that
it comes up blank?

  #4  
Old July 22nd, 2008, 09:54 AM posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Stefan Blom
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8,433
Default How do I change my Normal template?

Well, the underlying problem is that the search results you get in the web
interface for newsgroups are not sorted by date. :-(

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


"Sandhill54" wrote in message
...
How embarrassing; thanks for telling me. Shows how brain-dead I was after
upgrading my Office XP to 2007, huh?

I was searching for help on changing the normal template in Word 2007 to
fit
my needs, and ended up there. I was so relieved to see that I might have
a
bit of knowledge to contribute, I just answered it.

Next time I try to be helpful, I'll check the date.

"Stefan Blom" wrote:

Note that you have replied to a message that is three years old.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


"Sandhill54" wrote:

I've not read the other posts, so I'm not sure what they said. I just
today
upgraded to Office 2007 (that's why I was here looking for answers to
something else).

When I had Word 2002, this is how I adjusted the normal.dot. I'll see
if I
remember it without being able to see it.

In Word, click File, Open, then click on the bottom window to select
"template .dot" or something like that. It should automatically take
you to
the place Office keeps the templates.

In my Office 2002, templates were in my user account (the name that I
clicked on to start Windows), then Applications (or something like
that),
Microsoft, Templates. Or, in Windows Explorer or My Computer, do a
search on
"normal.dot". It will show you where the normal.dot is kept. Write
down the
path and then you can navigate to it in Word.

Open normal.dot, and make your changes. Save it and then close it.
That
should fix it.

Good luck!

"renee1021" wrote:

I have Microsoft Word 2002 and my Normal template was somehow changed
so that
it now has text in it. I've read the previous posts about this, and
none of
them has worked. Does anyone know how to change the Normal template
so that
it comes up blank?








  #5  
Old September 5th, 2008, 12:12 AM posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Barb Meek
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default How do I change my Normal template?

I'm very frustrated trying to change my normal.dotm in Word 2007. First of
all, the directions for even locating it are inaccurate in Microsoft's help
center. But...I searched and think I found the document anyway. For some
reason, the "normal" style defaults to "10 pt after paragraph" and won't
accept my change to delete that. Or maybe I'm looking at the wrong
normal.dotm file. There seem to be several.

Any way I can find the real base template for my blank documents and get it
to stop doing that?

Any help is appreciated -- Barb

"Sandhill54" wrote:

How embarrassing; thanks for telling me. Shows how brain-dead I was after
upgrading my Office XP to 2007, huh?

I was searching for help on changing the normal template in Word 2007 to fit
my needs, and ended up there. I was so relieved to see that I might have a
bit of knowledge to contribute, I just answered it.

Next time I try to be helpful, I'll check the date.

"Stefan Blom" wrote:

Note that you have replied to a message that is three years old.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


"Sandhill54" wrote:

I've not read the other posts, so I'm not sure what they said. I just today
upgraded to Office 2007 (that's why I was here looking for answers to
something else).

When I had Word 2002, this is how I adjusted the normal.dot. I'll see if I
remember it without being able to see it.

In Word, click File, Open, then click on the bottom window to select
"template .dot" or something like that. It should automatically take you to
the place Office keeps the templates.

In my Office 2002, templates were in my user account (the name that I
clicked on to start Windows), then Applications (or something like that),
Microsoft, Templates. Or, in Windows Explorer or My Computer, do a search on
"normal.dot". It will show you where the normal.dot is kept. Write down the
path and then you can navigate to it in Word.

Open normal.dot, and make your changes. Save it and then close it. That
should fix it.

Good luck!

"renee1021" wrote:

I have Microsoft Word 2002 and my Normal template was somehow changed so that
it now has text in it. I've read the previous posts about this, and none of
them has worked. Does anyone know how to change the Normal template so that
it comes up blank?

  #6  
Old September 5th, 2008, 12:18 AM posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Bob Buckland ?:-\)
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,766
Default How do I change my Normal template?

Hi Barb,

With a blank document open, try using Alt, T, I
and then in the dialog that comes up if the Attached template listed is 'Normal' click on the [Attach] button. That will take you
to the folder where the currently in use copy resides

Can you provide a link or a title of the help page that appears to have the incorrect information?

===========
"Barb Meek" wrote in message ...
I'm very frustrated trying to change my normal.dotm in Word 2007. First of
all, the directions for even locating it are inaccurate in Microsoft's help
center. But...I searched and think I found the document anyway. For some
reason, the "normal" style defaults to "10 pt after paragraph" and won't
accept my change to delete that. Or maybe I'm looking at the wrong
normal.dotm file. There seem to be several.

Any way I can find the real base template for my blank documents and get it
to stop doing that?

Any help is appreciated -- Barb
--

Bob Buckland ?:-)
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*


  #7  
Old September 5th, 2008, 07:09 AM posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Graham Mayor
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,297
Default How do I change my Normal template?

There should only be one normal.dotm file (the others could be links?) and
it will be in the folder defined at Word Options Advanced File Locations
User Templates. If there really are more than one normal template, you

might investigate why the rest are present and if they are not required by
other users, remove them.

With the template open for editing, you can edit the normal style to remove
the spacing (and it might be a plan to edit the no spacing style and add the
spacing - then rename it (say) Spaced Normal.)

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org




Barb Meek wrote:
I'm very frustrated trying to change my normal.dotm in Word 2007.
First of all, the directions for even locating it are inaccurate in
Microsoft's help center. But...I searched and think I found the
document anyway. For some reason, the "normal" style defaults to "10
pt after paragraph" and won't accept my change to delete that. Or
maybe I'm looking at the wrong normal.dotm file. There seem to be
several.

Any way I can find the real base template for my blank documents and
get it to stop doing that?

Any help is appreciated -- Barb

"Sandhill54" wrote:

How embarrassing; thanks for telling me. Shows how brain-dead I was
after upgrading my Office XP to 2007, huh?

I was searching for help on changing the normal template in Word
2007 to fit my needs, and ended up there. I was so relieved to see
that I might have a bit of knowledge to contribute, I just answered
it.

Next time I try to be helpful, I'll check the date.

"Stefan Blom" wrote:

Note that you have replied to a message that is three years old.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


"Sandhill54" wrote:

I've not read the other posts, so I'm not sure what they said. I
just today upgraded to Office 2007 (that's why I was here looking
for answers to something else).

When I had Word 2002, this is how I adjusted the normal.dot. I'll
see if I remember it without being able to see it.

In Word, click File, Open, then click on the bottom window to
select "template .dot" or something like that. It should
automatically take you to the place Office keeps the templates.

In my Office 2002, templates were in my user account (the name
that I clicked on to start Windows), then Applications (or
something like that), Microsoft, Templates. Or, in Windows
Explorer or My Computer, do a search on "normal.dot". It will
show you where the normal.dot is kept. Write down the path and
then you can navigate to it in Word.

Open normal.dot, and make your changes. Save it and then close
it. That should fix it.

Good luck!

"renee1021" wrote:

I have Microsoft Word 2002 and my Normal template was somehow
changed so that it now has text in it. I've read the previous
posts about this, and none of them has worked. Does anyone know
how to change the Normal template so that it comes up blank?



  #8  
Old September 29th, 2008, 06:24 AM posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Dr. Paul
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1
Default How do I change my Normal template?

Bob,

After Barb Meek wrote, "the directions for even locating it [Normal.dotx]
are inaccurate in Microsoft's help center," you asked, "Can you provide a
link or a title of the help page that appears to have the incorrect
information?"

Having just gotten Word 2007 two days ago and like Barb wanting to edit
Normal.dotm, I believe I may have experienced her problem.

But there were two different ways in which Word Help seemed to mislead me.

(1) In Word Help, I searched for "Normal.dotx." The first result was "Change
the Normal template (Normal.dotm)." Clicking this result provided the
following directions:

"Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Open. ... In Microsoft
Windows Vista: Click Templates, and then double-click the Normal.dotm file to
open it."

Clicking the Microsoft Office Button, then clicking Open, brings up Windows
Explorer inside the dialog box. "Templates," of course, is the first item in
the navigation pane on the left, in the top half called "Favorite Links."

However, previously, while in Windows Explorer itself, I had moved the
horizontal bar in the navigation pane upward so that I could see more of the
directory tree in the bottom half ofd the navigation pane. In fact, I had
moved the bar so high that I covered over all of the "Favorite Links.," I
thought to myself, "Who needs 'Favorite Links'? I can always find what I need
via the directory tree."

Consequently, when Windows Explorer appeared in the Word dialog box, there
was no "Templates" item for me to click on. It seemed that Windows Help was
misdirecting me. Perhaps this is why it seemed to Barb that "the directions
for even locating [Normal.dotx] are inaccurate in Microsoft's help center."

(2) The other possibility is this.

In Word Help, I searched for "Normal.dotx." The fourterenth result was
"Create a new template." Since I couldn't find Normal.dotx, I thought to
myself, "Perhaps I'll create my own template and tell Word 2007 to always
load it."

Clicking on "Create a new template" provided the following directions:

"You can find Word templates for most kinds of documents on Microsoft Office
Online. If you have an Internet connection, click the Microsoft Office
Button, click New, and then click the template category that you want."

Clicking the Microsoft Office Button, then clicking New, brings up the "New
Document" page. In the left pane, there are two headings: "Templates" and
"Microsoft Office Online." But because they have gray backgrounds, I did not
realize that they were two headers. I did not even see the "Templates"
heading immediately under "New Documents"; and I assumed that "Microsoft
Office Online" was in a gray rectangle because Word Help was highlighting it
by default. So the templates that I saw in the right pane -- "Blank Document"
etc. -- were assumed by me to be the only offerings available under
"Microsoft Office Online."

Now, of course, I realize that "Templates" is the first heading, with four
items under it, and that "Microsoft Office Online" is the second heading,
with many items under it. But on first seeing the "New Documents" page, I was
quite confused.

My confusion in the two instances above are just the sort of mistake that
new users make. If it is possible to bring these difficulties to the
attention of the writers of Word's help files or of Microsoft's usability lab
workers, I -- and probably many other new users as well -- would be most
grateful.



"Bob Buckland ?:-)" wrote:

Hi Barb,

With a blank document open, try using Alt, T, I
and then in the dialog that comes up if the Attached template listed is 'Normal' click on the [Attach] button. That will take you
to the folder where the currently in use copy resides

Can you provide a link or a title of the help page that appears to have the incorrect information?

===========
"Barb Meek" wrote in message ...
I'm very frustrated trying to change my normal.dotm in Word 2007. First of
all, the directions for even locating it are inaccurate in Microsoft's help
center. But...I searched and think I found the document anyway. For some
reason, the "normal" style defaults to "10 pt after paragraph" and won't
accept my change to delete that. Or maybe I'm looking at the wrong
normal.dotm file. There seem to be several.

Any way I can find the real base template for my blank documents and get it
to stop doing that?

Any help is appreciated -- Barb
--

Bob Buckland ?:-)
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*



  #9  
Old October 25th, 2008, 08:32 PM posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
JGT
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 124
Default How do I change my Normal template?

OK now I'm totally confused after reading all the previous post. Recently I
upgraded from Office 2003 to Office 2007 (wow what a pain-in-the-ass change)
and cannot easily find stuff (sorry but IMHO the ribbon is a GIANT step
backwards). I get so tired of clicking on things only to discover what I'm
looking for is not there. In office 2003 I made extensive modifications to
the normal.dot file and now I want these changes in my normal.dotm file. In
2003 I could open a document and merge the template of the open document into
my normal template. Is this possible in 2007? If so how?
  #10  
Old October 25th, 2008, 08:55 PM posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Suzanne S. Barnhill
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 31,786
Default How do I change my Normal template?

It has never been possible to "merge the template of the open document into"
Normal.dot. It is (still) possible to set some defaults in a document that
are saved to Normal.dot (see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customizat...lTemplate.htm), and
many customizations are saved in Normal.dot (or Normal.dotm) by default.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

"JGT" wrote in message
...
OK now I'm totally confused after reading all the previous post. Recently
I
upgraded from Office 2003 to Office 2007 (wow what a pain-in-the-ass
change)
and cannot easily find stuff (sorry but IMHO the ribbon is a GIANT step
backwards). I get so tired of clicking on things only to discover what I'm
looking for is not there. In office 2003 I made extensive modifications to
the normal.dot file and now I want these changes in my normal.dotm file.
In
2003 I could open a document and merge the template of the open document
into
my normal template. Is this possible in 2007? If so how?



 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 05:20 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 OfficeFrustration.
The comments are property of their posters.