How to Reset MS Word to Its Default SettingsHow to Reset MS Word to Its Default SettingsHow to Reset MS Word to Its Default SettingsHow to Reset MS Word to Its Default Settings

by Anni Martin, Demand Mediaby Anni Martin, Demand Mediaby Anni Martin, Demand Mediaby Anni Martin, Demand Media

Microsoft Word is used by many businesses as its primary

word processing program and it can sometimes develop

glitches. If the version of Word on your business computer is

displaying grayed-out options, or if your paragraph styles are

changing for unknown reasons or if all the tab settings are not

looking correct, it is time to hit the reset button.

Unfortunately, there is no button in Word to reset the

program to its default settings. However, you can rename

Word’s global template to see if that fixes its problems. If

Word continues to have issues or it runs very slow, another

option is to delete Word’s registry key. This forces Word

back to the original default settings.

RRRRename the Global Template Fileename the Global Template Fileename the Global Template Fileename the Global Template File

Step 1 Close Word and any other Microsoft Office programs you are

running.

Step 2

Right-click the Windows “Start” button and select “Open

Windows Explorer.”

Step 3

Browse to ‘C:\Users\(your username)\AppData\

Roaming\Microsoft\Templates.” Sometimes you can’t see the

AppData file since it is hidden. You can type the full path into

your Explorer address window and press Enter to go to the

Templates subdirectory.

Step 4

Right-click on the “Normal.dot” file and choose “Rename.”

Type in a name like “OldNormal.dot” or “Normalold.dot.”

Step 5

Open Word. The program will recreate the Normal.dot file

based on its default settings.

Microsoft’s Fix lt Wizard

Step 1

Launch a Web browser and navigate to Microsoft’s support

page to download the Fix It program (see Resources). This

option should be used if Word is running very slow or if

renaming the global template did not fix your Word issues.

Close Word or other Office products before you run the Fix

It wizard.

Step 2

Click the “Microsoft Fix It” button in the middle of the page.

Step 3

Click “Run” in the File Download dialog box and follow the

steps in the Fix it Wizard.

Step 4

Open Word after you have run the Fix It program. Microsoft

Office will automatically run the Setup program to reinstall

the registry key.

Fix It Manually

Step 1

Close Word and any Microsoft Office programs you have

running.

Step 2

Click the Windows “Start” button, type “regedit” in the

Search field and press “Enter” to open the Registry Editor.

Step 3

Browse through the registry keys by double-clicking on the

registry names in the left pane to expand them in the right.

According to Microsoft, the key for Word 201 0 is located in

“HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\l 4.0\Word.”

Step 4

Select the key that you want to delete, click the “File” drop-

down menu and choose “Export.” Type a name for the file and

click “Save” so you have a backup of the Word registry entry

you are about to delete.

Step 5

Select the registry key again, click ‘Edit” and click “Delete”.

Click “Yes” to confirm your decision and close the Registry

Editor.

Step 6

Open Word and allow the computer to rebuild the registry key

from the Setup program.