new blank document ISN'T blank... help?

[mbmaz]

The very first time I opened a document in Word for Mac I wrote a few sentences and closed the doc. I must have somehow saved this doc as the 'new blank document' template, because now every time I open a new doc I have to clear it to begin.

I also need to clear it from the title field or new docs will try to Save as the first sentence of my trial paragraph. Weird. Any ideas on how to clear it? Thanks so much. mb

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Use File | Open to open your Normal template at
[username]/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User
Templates/Normal.dotm. Make sure to use File | Open from within Word.

Delete the text and clear the title field in the actual Normal template,
and you should be fine for all new docs, which are based on the Normal
template.

 

[mbmaz]

Thanks Daiya! Worked great and I feel fantastically unencumbered by my old stupid paragraph! Thanks thanks thanks!

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

glad to help.

 

[Phillip Jones]

an even quicker way if you have applied a lot of formatting you want to
keep.

Quit word Locate Normal if using W2004 or Normal.dotm; if using W2008
place in Trash and open word should rebuild a new one. If still opens
with old settings you may have to quit and empty trash the try again.

If you have stuff you need to save such as special formatting or
specific Font the do as Daiya says.

Use File | Open to open your Normal template at
[username]/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User
Templates/Normal.dotm. Make sure to use File | Open from within Word.

Delete the text and clear the title field in the actual Normal template,
and you should be fine for all new docs, which are based on the Normal
template.

The very first time I opened a document in Word for Mac I wrote a few
sentences and closed the doc. I must have somehow saved this doc as
the 'new blank document' template, because now every time I open a new
doc I have to clear it to begin.

I also need to clear it from the title field or new docs will try to
Save as the first sentence of my trial paragraph. Weird. Any ideas on
how to clear it? Thanks so much. mb

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phillip M. Jones, CET |LIFE MEMBER: VPEA ETA-I, NESDA, ISCET, Sterling
616 Liberty Street |Who's Who. PHONE:276-632-5045, FAX:276-632-0868
Martinsville Va 24112 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
------------------------------------------------------------------------

If it's "fixed", don't "break it"!

mailto[email protected]

<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/default.htm>
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<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Harris/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Jones/default.htm>

<http://www.vpea.org>

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Phillip, trashing Normal is never a good idea. When troubleshooting,
Normal should only be moved to the desktop so that Word cannot find it,
rather than risk losing customizations by trashing it.

However, there is no need to create a new Normal in this case--editing
the existing Normal is actually faster, as there is no need to quit Word.

an even quicker way [unless, not if] you have applied a lot of
formatting you want to keep.

Quit word Locate Normal if using W2004 or Normal.dotm; if using W2008
place in Trash and open word should rebuild a new one. If still opens
with old settings you may have to quit and empty trash the try again.

If you have stuff you need to save such as special formatting or
specific Font the do as Daiya says.

Use File | Open to open your Normal template at
[username]/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User
Templates/Normal.dotm. Make sure to use File | Open from within Word.

Delete the text and clear the title field in the actual Normal
template, and you should be fine for all new docs, which are based on
the Normal template.

The very first time I opened a document in Word for Mac I wrote a
few sentences and closed the doc. I must have somehow saved this doc
as the 'new blank document' template, because now every time I open
a new doc I have to clear it to begin.

I also need to clear it from the title field or new docs will try to
Save as the first sentence of my trial paragraph. Weird. Any ideas
on how to clear it? Thanks so much. mb

 

[Phillip Jones]

Why? I've run into cases in the past That problems couldn't be fixed
unless I quit Word and trashed Normal. Then open and restyled (choose
fonts etc).

Phillip, trashing Normal is never a good idea. When troubleshooting,
Normal should only be moved to the desktop so that Word cannot find it,
rather than risk losing customizations by trashing it.

However, there is no need to create a new Normal in this case--editing
the existing Normal is actually faster, as there is no need to quit Word.

an even quicker way [unless, not if] you have applied a lot of
formatting you want to keep.

Quit word Locate Normal if using W2004 or Normal.dotm; if using W2008
place in Trash and open word should rebuild a new one. If still opens
with old settings you may have to quit and empty trash the try again.

If you have stuff you need to save such as special formatting or
specific Font the do as Daiya says.

Use File | Open to open your Normal template at
[username]/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User
Templates/Normal.dotm. Make sure to use File | Open from within Word.

Delete the text and clear the title field in the actual Normal
template, and you should be fine for all new docs, which are based on
the Normal template.

(e-mail address removed) wrote:
The very first time I opened a document in Word for Mac I wrote a
few sentences and closed the doc. I must have somehow saved this doc
as the 'new blank document' template, because now every time I open
a new doc I have to clear it to begin.

I also need to clear it from the title field or new docs will try to
Save as the first sentence of my trial paragraph. Weird. Any ideas
on how to clear it? Thanks so much. mb

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phillip M. Jones, CET |LIFE MEMBER: VPEA ETA-I, NESDA, ISCET, Sterling
616 Liberty Street |Who's Who. PHONE:276-632-5045, FAX:276-632-0868
Martinsville Va 24112 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
------------------------------------------------------------------------

If it's "fixed", don't "break it"!

mailto[email protected]

<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/90th_Birthday/index.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Fulcher/default.html>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Harris/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Jones/default.htm>

<http://www.vpea.org>

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Phillip, it's not that trashing the Normal Template won't fix the problem.
It's just overkill, unnecessary, and means that you will lose any
customizations you have made to Normal. It may be easy for *you* to restore
Normal to the way you like it if you haven't customized it much; but it
won't be easy for someone who has!

So in general, it's better to rename Normal or drag it to the desktop. That
way you can use Organizer to copy over most customizations. *Then* you can
trash it.

Note: By customizations, I don't mean default fonts and the like. I mean
things like custom toolbars and custom styles. Just because you don't use
them doesn't mean that others don't.

--
***Please always reply to the newsgroup!***

Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/Mac/WordMacHome.html>
My Site: <http://www.bethrosengard.com>

 

[Phillip Jones]

If you notice my original post after Diaya's even suggested if you had
done a lot of customization use her(?) method.

The op sound like they had just go started and hadn't customized anything.

An d I have run into cases where the Normal template on Word2004
actually became corrupt.


So if you've just gotten started and haven't set up many customizations.
my procedure will work just as well. But if a lot of customization has
been done don't use the original procedure.

Also, explain if removing normal or normal.dotm is so wrong why have
from time to time have MVP's recommended renaming to something else.
Isn't that doing about the something? Forcing Word to rebuild a new one?

Phillip, it's not that trashing the Normal Template won't fix the problem.
It's just overkill, unnecessary, and means that you will lose any
customizations you have made to Normal. It may be easy for *you* to restore
Normal to the way you like it if you haven't customized it much; but it
won't be easy for someone who has!

So in general, it's better to rename Normal or drag it to the desktop. That
way you can use Organizer to copy over most customizations. *Then* you can
trash it.

Note: By customizations, I don't mean default fonts and the like. I mean
things like custom toolbars and custom styles. Just because you don't use
them doesn't mean that others don't.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phillip M. Jones, CET |LIFE MEMBER: VPEA ETA-I, NESDA, ISCET, Sterling
616 Liberty Street |Who's Who. PHONE:276-632-5045, FAX:276-632-0868
Martinsville Va 24112 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
------------------------------------------------------------------------

If it's "fixed", don't "break it"!

mailto[email protected]

<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/90th_Birthday/index.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Fulcher/default.html>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Harris/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Jones/default.htm>

<http://www.vpea.org>

 

[Beth Rosengard]

The principle ­ forcing Word to create a new Normal ­ is completely sound.
But there are various ways to do it. Renaming Normal or dragging the old
file to the desktop both preserve the original Normal in case it's needed.
Trashing the original file destroys it.

--
***Please always reply to the newsgroup!***

Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/Mac/WordMacHome.html>
My Site: <http://www.bethrosengard.com>