WD: How to Change Default Tabs Stops Globally in Microsoft Word

• Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.1a
• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
• Microsoft Word for Windows NT, version 6.0
• Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SUMMARY

This article describes how to change the default tab stops so that every new document you create that is based on the Normal template will have the same default tab stop settings.

MORE INFORMATION

When you change the Default Tab Stops option in the Tabs dialog box, Word sets the default tabs stops for the current document only. New documents will not reflect the change.

When you create a new document based on the Normal template, the default tab stop settings occur every 0.5 inch. Therefore, to make certain all new documents have the same default tab settings, you must open the Normal.dot file and make the change to the template. Use the following instructions to modify your Normal template:

1. On the File menu, click Open. Open Normal.dot (Windows) or Normal (Macintosh).

   NOTE: To determine the location of Normal.dot, click Options on the Tools menu, click the File Locations tab, and note the path in the User Templates setting.

2. On the Format menu, click Tabs.

3. Change Default Tab Stops to the desired value.

4. Click OK.

5. On the File menu, click Save.

6. Close the template.

NOTE: You can set the default tab stops in any template, following the above procedure, but instead of opening the Normal template, open the desired template and make the same changes in steps 2-5.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word for Windows User's Guide," version 2.0, page 179

"Microsoft Word for Windows User's Guide," version 6.0, Chapter 7 - Formatting Paragraphs, "Setting and Clearing Tab Stops" section