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: Saving a Preview with Your Template.

Saving a Preview with Your Template

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 26, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

You already know that Word allows you to save your own document templates. These files are blueprints for documents you want to create in the future. When you select New from the File tab (Word 2010 and later versions) or Office button (Word 2007), you can use the resulting controls to see a list of templates available for creating new documents. In the left side of the dialog box (Word 2007) are the templates and at the right side is a preview of what that template looks like.

You may have already noticed that some of the templates you create don't have a preview available in the dialog box. If this is the case with your template, and you want to have a preview available, you can follow these steps:

Press F12 to display the Save As dialog box.
Along the bottom edge of the dialog box is a Save Thumbnail check box. Turn it on to save a preview of the template itself.
Confirm that the Save As Type input field is still set to the appropriate Word Template file type.
Confirm that the template is being saved to the right folder.
Confirm that the file name is correct, that it hasn't accidentally been changed.
Click on the Save button to save the changes.

At this point you can close the template file. Now when you display templates when creating a new document, your template should have a preview available.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8659) 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: Saving a Preview with Your Template.

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...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Extra Document File Being Saved

You may be surprised sometime to save a document and find out that Word actually saves what appear to be two copies of ...

Discover More

Quickly Entering Data

Excel includes a handy shortcut for entering data that is similar to whatever you entered in the cell above your entry ...

Discover More

Ignoring Hyphens in Word Counts

When you instruct Word to tell you how many words are in a document, it treats hyphenated words or phrases as if they are ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Changing the Attached Template

Templates, when attached to a document, can greatly affect how that document looks. You can change from one template to ...

Discover More

Where is the Normal Template Stored?

The Normal template is used all the time in Word. If you want to figure out where the template is stored on your system, ...

Discover More

Determining the Template Attached to a Document

If you've opened a document in Word, that document has a template attached to it. This tip looks at what those templates ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 9 - 3?

2025-01-14 11:46:48

William Davis

This worked for me, thank you! (i can't believe I didn't see the checkbox the first time lol)

2020-04-15 05:47:37

Nope. Doesn't work. Still shows just a general "grey lines of text"-thumbnail. :-(

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.