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Setting Default Font Formatting

October 5, 2011 by Sue Huckle

I have a problem with trying to set a default font. I change the font style, check yes for making it the default font, but it won’t keep it. I had the same problem with the default paragraph format and had to use the Mr. Fixit program which seems to have worked. Is there a Mr. Fixit for font styles?

— Submitted by JT

ANSWER:

For some reason, there is not a Microsoft Fixit for problems with setting the default font.

This is an intermittent bug in Microsoft Word: changes to the default will not save. So every time you open Microsoft Word you have to reset the default which is a giant waste of time. TMoney explains how to alter your normal.dot template to permanently save default paragraph and font formatting if you are having this problem.

For other readers, if you have not tried to set the default font yet, try the easy way first (as described below).

icon

Edit Fonts Shortcut

Press CTRL+D to open the fonts dialog box for quickly editing fonts and character spacing.

Setting the default Microsoft Word font

Follow these steps to change the default font in Microsoft Word 2007 or 2010:

  1. Highlight some text in your open document or create a new document and enter some text.
  2. On the Home tab in the Font group, click the launcher icon launcher icon to open the Font dialog box.
  3. Style the text font as desired. (font-family, size, color, etc.)
  4. Click Default. In Word 2010, click Set As Default.
  5. A dialog box opens: “Do you want this change to affect all new documents based on the NORMAL template?” Click Yes. (If you click No, it will save the new default font to the current document only.)
  6. In Word 2010, select All New Documents based on the Normal.dotm Template, then click OK.

Note: Only new documents will use the new default font. Previously created documents will not be changed.

Keep in mind that this saves the new default font to the template currently in use. If you are using a custom template and save a new default font, the change will not be applied to the NORMAL.dot template.

Information about setting the default font in Word 2003 can be found on the Microsoft Support website.

More Word Tips:

  • Setting Default Paragraph Formatting
  • 5 Steps for Avoiding Microsoft Word Formatting Mishaps
  • Styles Created When Formatting Text
  • Microsoft Office Theme Basics

Filed Under: Document Formatting Tagged With: formatting, word styles

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Sue Huckle Hi, I'm Sue. Thanks for stopping by! I hope you find the answers you need to your Microsoft Word questions.

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