Restore MS Word to Default Settings

Question

Restore MS Word to Default Settings

Jay Thomas 0

I am having terrible problems with my MS Word. It always thinks I want to use really little size paper, like 1” x 2”. And it wants to print with 1 character per column vertically. I can’t figure out how I broke it and I can’t figure out how to fix it. Can I restore MS Word to all of it’s Default values, exactly the way it was when I originally installed it?

Jay Thomas 0 Reputation points

2026-10-29T14:05:26.9533333+00:00

I don’t see a file named “Normal.dotm” anywhere on my hard drive.
Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 438.5K Reputation points

2026-10-29T14:39:15.9966667+00:00

In all probability it shouldn't be necessary to replace the Normal.dotm template... That may not even be the solution & could cause the loss of any custom keyboard shortcts , Styles, etc. which you have created..

Please provide the specific Version Number of both macOS [> About This Mac] & Office [Word> About Microsoft Word]..

Additionally, a screen shot of the entire document window would be helpful. With a new Word document displayed use the Mac keyboard shortcut Shift+Control+Command+# to capture the scree then simply Paste into a reply here.
Jay Thomas 0 Reputation points

2026-10-29T14:50:27.5966667+00:00

MacOS 27.2 (26B123), MS Word Version 16.114.3 (26102720)

I think I might have found the Normal.dotm file. I renamed the one that was there. It seems a new one was created. I have not fully tested it yet, but my initial testing suggests this might have worked.

1 answer

Your answer

Jay Thomas 0 Reputation points

2026-10-29T14:05:26.9533333+00:00

I don’t see a file named “Normal.dotm” anywhere on my hard drive.
Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 438.5K Reputation points

2026-10-29T14:39:15.9966667+00:00

In all probability it shouldn't be necessary to replace the Normal.dotm template... That may not even be the solution & could cause the loss of any custom keyboard shortcts , Styles, etc. which you have created..

Please provide the specific Version Number of both macOS [> About This Mac] & Office [Word> About Microsoft Word]..

Additionally, a screen shot of the entire document window would be helpful. With a new Word document displayed use the Mac keyboard shortcut Shift+Control+Command+# to capture the scree then simply Paste into a reply here.
Jay Thomas 0 Reputation points

2026-10-29T14:50:27.5966667+00:00

MacOS 27.2 (26B123), MS Word Version 16.114.3 (26102720)

I think I might have found the Normal.dotm file. I renamed the one that was there. It seems a new one was created. I have not fully tested it yet, but my initial testing suggests this might have worked.

Answer 1

DaveM121 946.1K Independent Advisor

On your Mac, go to ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Templates.

In there, you should find the Normal.dotm template file

Jay Thomas 0 Reputation points

2026-10-29T14:52:32.08+00:00

This is the path where I found it. I renamed the one that was there. It seems a new one was created. I have not fully tested it yet, but my initial testing suggests this might have worked.
DaveM121 946.1K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-29T14:54:01.9166667+00:00

That is great news, glad to help!