Setting the Return Address Used in Word

Every time Vicki opens Word to make an envelope, her return address is empty even though she asks Word to save the return address every time. The return address is retained for the current session, but as soon as Vicki exits Word it goes away and is blank the next time she starts the program.

The proper way to set the return address and make it stick is to follow these steps:

1. Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 or a later version display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
2. At the left side of the dialog box click Advanced.
3. Scroll through the options available until you see the General section. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The General section of the advanced options of the Word Options dialog box.

4. In the Mailing Address area, enter your return address. (Which is, of course, the same as your mailing address.)
5. Click OK.

Whenever you want to print an envelope, your return address (the one you entered will appear as the default. If this does not work, it could be that you have a corrupted document template. Outside of Word (in Windows) locate and rename the Normal template to something else, such as OldNormal. Restart Word, follow the steps outlined above, and try to print your envelopes.

If this still doesn't work for you, then it could be that you have a more serious corruption problem. You can find a good description of how to track down and fix any corruption problems here:

http://windowssecrets.com/forums/showthread.php/32641

Even though this website refers to older versions of Word, the concept is still applicable to newer versions.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6700) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Setting the Return Address Used in Word.