Do you ever open up a Word document, and end up spending 5, 10 (or even more) minutes on adjusting things like font style/size/color, bolding or underlining words, or adding pages numbers?

This is because when you open up a blank Word document it is automatically formatted based off of the “normal” template, and that may not match your preferred style (or match accessible best practices). However, if you take a few minutes to adjust the “normal” template and save it, every time you open a new Word document, your saved styles and formatting will be used. Saving you those 5, 10 (or even more) minutes you’d spend formatting, every single Word document!

How to Adjust the “Normal” Template in Word

1. Open Word
2. Click on the “File” tab, and then select “Open”
3. Click “browse” and then type “C:\Users\user name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates” into the file path, edit user name to be your username, and then click enter
   • Hint: copy the file path above (minus the quotation marks) and then paste it into the file path instead of typing it out
4. Open the “Normal” template (Normal.dotm)
5. Adjust this blank document to have all of the different fonts, size, styles, etc… that you’d like to be default in Word for you
   • Don’t forget to adjust your heading levels as well!
6. After you’re done, click on the “File” tab, and then click save
7. Open a new blank document in Word, and it should be set with the formatting you just saved!

Video Instructions

Accessible Formatting

When you are adjusting your “normal” template, please make sure that you are following accessible best practices and selecting accessible fonts, colors, etc…
Accessible Documents – Red River College Polytechnic

• Sans Serif font such as Arial, Calibri or Verdana
• Minimum 12 point font (including headers, footers or page numbers)
• 1.15 line spacing (for larger fonts use a greater line spacing value)
• High color contrast between text color and page color
• Pages are numbered
• Text is not written in ALL CAPS
• There is adequate spacing between sections of text
• No watermarks or background text/images
• Appropriate use of heading levels

Additional Resources

• Change the Normal template (Normal.dotm ) – Microsoft Support
• Customize or create new styles – Microsoft Support
• Video: Check the accessibility of your document – Microsoft Support
• Video: Creating Accessible Documents in Microsoft Office – LinkedIn Learning