Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 365. 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: Automatically Saving Changes to Defaults.
Many of Word's configuration settings are stored in the Normal template. This template is used to help create new, blank documents and to define some of the system-wide settings used by Word. As you make changes to these settings, Word marks the Normal template as "dirty" so that it will be saved when you exit the program.
By default, Word saves the Normal template without any notification to you. However, you may want notification. Why? In case there were some changes done without your explicit action—for instance, by running a macro. If you want Word to notify you when it is about to save the Normal template, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Advanced options in the Word Options dialog box.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8437) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Automatically Saving Changes to Defaults.
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2018-09-20 08:14:45
Jennifer Thomas
Does anyone have a list of the options that are saved in a document's template vs. which ones are saved in the local computer's configuration? I used to know that for *.doc, but haven't been able to find the information for *.docx (which may now need to include what is in xml, but not sure).
I would be handy to know for macros and other reasons, so thanks in advance if you can provide that or point me in the right direction.
2014-06-02 11:57:39
Jennifer
how do i configure my Normal template on Office 2013 for my own settings, as i never knew how to do this?
2014-05-31 10:28:38
Sheldon
I don't understand why the template would be changed without manually changing it. With the box checked, Word asks if the template should be changed every time I close Word. That seems to be a common problem, because another tip tells you to de-select this option. The real problem is that Word doesn't tell you what has changed. How can you decide if you want to change it if you don't know what changed? I have this option turned off so I don't get the question every time I use Word, and 99% of the time it's not a problem. Once in a while, though, it seems a document from outside will change settings. Recently, it took me a few days to get everything back to the way I had it.
Word should not allow template changes without specific direction. Period.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 365. 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: 
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