Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Changing the Startup Directory.

Changing the Startup Directory

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 20, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

When you first install Word, the working directory is set to a default directory, which is normally "My Documents." You may want to change the default location to match your working habits. You can quickly change the default startup directory by following these steps:

Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 and Word 2013 display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
At the left side of the dialog box click Save. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Save options of the Word Options dialog box.

To the right of the Default File Location field (Word 2007) or the Default Local File Location field (later versions of Word), click the Browse button. Word displays a dialog box in which you can browse and select directories.
Select the directory you want used as the startup directory for your documents.
Click on the OK button to select the directory.
Click on the OK button to close the Word Options dialog box.
Exit and restart Word.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7721) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Changing the Startup Directory.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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What is five more than 5?

2020-05-08 16:03:31

Jim McCartney

Is there a way to make Quick Access the default location?

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