Microsoft Word 2007

Changing the Normal Style Defaults

Word's Normal style affects the style of text in all new documents. In Word 2003, Normal style included Times New Roman, 12-point font with no specified paragraph spacing (i.e., the 0 space after a paragraph meant you pressed [Enter] twice to get a blank line between paragraphs). In Word 2007, Normal style is set to Calibri, 11-point font with 10-point spacing after each paragraph. The 10-point spacing after each paragraph means that you need to press [Enter] only once.

If you find yourself adjusting either the font or paragraph spacing regularly, you may want to modify the Normal style to reflect your word processing preference.

NOTE: For general information on styles, refer to Styles: An Overview.

The following instructions show you how to modify Normal style using the example of setting the font to Times New Roman, 12-point font with 0 space after paragraphs.

From the Home command tab, in the Styles group, click STYLES
The Styles task pane appears.
From the styles list, select thenext to Normal » select Modify...
The Modify Style dialog box appears.
From the Formatting section, make your desired changes
EXAMPLE:
From the Font pull-down list list, select Times New Roman.
From the Font Size pull-down list, select 12.
HINTS:
If you do not know the function of a button, hover your mouse over it. The button's title will appear.
The changes are reflected in the Text Sample viewing pane.
For advanced formatting options,
1. Click FORMAT » select a desired formatting category
  EXAMPLE: Click FORMAT » select Paragraph
  The Paragraph dialog box appears.
2. From the dialog box that appears, make your desired changes
  EXAMPLE: In the Spacing section, in the After text box, type 0
3. Click OK
  The dialog box closes.
4. Repeat steps a-c as necessary
To apply your changes only to the open document, from the Modify Style dialog box, select Only in this document
To apply your changes to all future documents, select New documents based on this template
EXAMPLE: Select New documents based on this template
To save the reformatted Normal style, click OK
The Modify Style dialog box closes.
In the Styles task pane, click CLOSE
The Styles task pane closes.