10 Word defaults you can customize to work the way YOU want

Word does a good job of assuming how the average user works, but some of Word's default settings can be annoying and inefficient. Some users don't know they can permanently change these settings, so they continue to reset them for each new document or just struggle along. Users should consider resetting the following defaults to work more productively. Of course, there are more defaults to set; feel free to share your suggestions in the discussion below.

1: Line spacing

The default line spacing setting in Word 2007 and 2010 is 1.15, not 1, as it is in 2003. Microsoft believes 1.15 is more readable online. If you're not generating Web content, adjust the style(s) you use in Word's template (Normal.dotx), as follows:

1. Click the Home tab.
2. Right-click Normal in the Styles Quick gallery and choose Modify.
3. Choose Paragraph from the Format list.
4. In the Spacing section, change the At setting from 1.15 to 1, as shown in Figure A.
5. Click OK.
6. Check the New Documents Based On This Template option.
7. Click OK.

Figure A

This change will adjust all Word styles based on Normal, so be sure that's what you want.

2: Smart quotes

If you generate Web content or other published material, you probably have to undo Word's smart quotes in favor of straight quotes. You can do so quickly enough by pressing [Ctrl]+Z, but that becomes tedious after a while and you might forget. If you use straight quotes more than smart quotes, disable smart quotes as follows:

1. Click the File menu and choose Options under Help. In Word 2007, click the Office button and click Word Options. In Word 2003, choose Auto Correct Options from the Tools menu and skip to step 4.
2. Choose Proofing in the left pane.
3. Click AutoCorrect Options in the AutoCorrect Options section.
4. Click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
5. Deselect the Straight Quotes With Smart Quotes option in the Replace As You Type section, shown in Figure B.
6. Click OK.

Figure B

Disable smart quotes for all new documents.

3: Paste special

Word's paste special feature retains the source formatting. If you're pasting from foreign sources, you probably reformat it once it's in your Word document. If you do this a lot, change the Paste Special default as follows:

1. Click the File tab and choose Options. In Word 2007, click the Office button and then click Word Options.
2. Select Advanced in the left pane.
3. In the Cut, Copy, and Paste section, choose Use Destination Styles from the Pasting Between Documents When Style Definitions Conflict drop-down.
4. Choose Keep Text Only from the Pasting From Other Programs drop-down, as shown in Figure C.
5. Click OK.

Figure C

Several paste settings make this a flexible feature; choose the setting that's most efficient for you.

This feature is significantly different in Word 2003. From the Tools menu, choose Options, and click the Edit tab. In the Cut And Paste section, click the Settings button to display the options shown in Figure D.

Figure D

Word 2003 is more specific, but it allows some control.

4: File location

Word saves your documents in My Documents. If you find yourself resetting the save location a lot, reset the default as follows:

1. Click the File tab and choose Options. In Word 2007, click the Office button and then click the Word Options button. In Word 2003, choose Options from the Tools menu.
2. Select Save in the left pane. In Word 2003, click the File Locations tab.
3. Specify the new folder in the Default File Location field shown in Figure E. Or click Browse and locate it that way. In Word 2003, highlight the Documents item and click Modify. Use the Modify Location dialog to specify the new folder and click OK.
4. Click OK.

Figure E

Word will save documents to the specified folder instead of My Documents.

5: Spacing between paragraphs

When you press [Enter], Word increases the line spacing to add a bit more white space between paragraphs. This extra space isn't the same as a blank line, so you can't delete it by pressing Backspace. To eliminate this extra spacing, do the following:

1. Click the Home tab. In Word 2003, select Paragraph from the Format menu.
2. Click the Paragraph group's dialog launcher (the small arrow in the lower-right corner). In Word 2003, click the Indents And Spacing tab.
3. Check the Don't Add Space Between Paragraphs Of The Same Style option.
4. Click Set As Default, as shown in Figure F. (Not available in Word 2003, but you can change this format for the current document.)
5. Click OK.

Figure F

Eliminate the additional white space between paragraphs.

6: Mini toolbar

When you select text, Word displays the mini toolbar, which hosts several formatting options. Even though it's dimmed, it still annoys some users. You can press [Esc] to hide it or you can permanently disable it, as follows:

1. Click the File menu and choose Options. In Word 2007, click the Office button and then click Word Options.
2. Choose General in the left pane (if necessary).
3. In the User Interface Options section, uncheck the Show Mini Toolbar On Selection option, shown in Figure G.
4. Click OK.

Figure G

Uncheck this option to disable the mini toolbar.

7: Drawing canvas

Word's drawing canvas is a distinct layer for drawing. Objects placed in a canvas have an absolute position and remain together as a group. Most users find the canvas layer difficult to work with and frankly, most users don't need it. If you're still using Word 2003, disable the canvas layer as follows:

1. From the Tools menu, choose Options.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Uncheck Automatically Create Drawing Canvas When Inserting AutoShapes in the General Options section.
4. Click OK.

Word 2007 and 2010 disables the canvas layer by default. If you happen to be working with the drawing canvas enabled, disable it as follows:

1. Click the File menu and then choose Options. In Word 2007, click the Office button and then click Word Options.
2. In the left pane, choose Advanced.
3. In the Editing section, uncheck the Automatically Create Drawing Canvas When Inserting AutoShapes option, shown in Figure H.
4. Click OK.

Figure H

The drawing canvas is annoying enough that Microsoft finally disabled it by default in the Ribbon versions.

8: Normal.dotx

Word bases new documents on Normal.dotx, but the template's settings might not fit your needs. If you have just a few changes, customize Normal.dotx. A common customization is to change the font and size. To make the change at the template level, do the following:

1. Open a new document and click the Home tab.
2. Click the Font group's dialog launcher (the arrow in the bottom-right corner). In Word 2003, choose Font from the Format menu.
3. Make the necessary font changes. For instance, you might choose Arial, 12.
4. Before closing the dialog, click the Set As Default button. In Word 2003, click Default.
5. In the resulting confirmation dialog, select the option to set the default for all documents based on the Normal template, as shown in Figure I.
6. Click OK twice.

Figure I

Make a font change at the template level.

Other template customizations you might want to make include margins and styles. Use a custom template, rather than Normal.dotx, to meet requirements that are more complex.

9: Word selection

When you select part of a word and then part of the next, Word selects the whole word for you -- whether you meant to or not. To disable this selection option, do the following:

1. Click the File tab and choose Options. In Word 2007, click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2003, choose Options from the Tools menu.
2. Choose Advanced in the left pane. In Word 2003, click the Edit tab.
3. In the Editing Options section, deselect the When Selecting, Automatically Select Entire Word option, as shown in Figure J.
4. Click OK.

Figure J

Ridding yourself of this annoying selection behavior is easy.

10: Spelling, grammar, and formatting

Word identifies misspelled words, grammatical errors, and formatting inconsistencies, as you type:

• A red line indicates a word not found in the dictionary (possibly misspelled).
• A green line indicates a possible grammatical error.
• A wavy blue line indicates an inconsistent format.

I recommend that you get used to the display and not disable these features -- they're a helpful indication that something might be wrong. On the other hand, if you find them distracting, you can disable them. To disable the red and green lines, do the following:

1. Click the File tab and then choose Options. In Word 2007, click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2003, choose Options from the Tools menu.
2. Select Proofing in the left pane. In Word 2003, click the Spelling & Grammar tab.
3. In the When Correcting Grammar and Spelling In Word section, uncheck the first three options: Check Spelling As You Type, Use Contextual Spelling, and Mark Grammar Errors As You Type, as shown in Figure K. (There's no contextual spelling option in Word 2003.)
4. Click OK.

Figure K

You can disable Word's spelling and grammar indicators.

To rid documents of the wavy blue line, do the following:

1. Click the File tab and then choose Options. In Word 2007, click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2003, choose Options from the Tools menu.
2. Select Advanced in the left Pane. In Word 2003, click the Edit tab.
3. In the Editing Options section, uncheck the Mark Formatting Inconsistencies option under Keep Track Of Formatting. In Word 2003, deselect the Mark Formatting Inconsistencies check box in the Editing Options section.
4. Click OK.

Even the most competent users make an occasional error and these features identify potential problems. Adjusting to them will probably serve most users better than turning them off.

10 Outlook defaults you can customize to work the way YOU want

Perhaps no other Office app lends itself to customization as much as Outlook does. But with all that flexibility often comes confusion and frustration because users don't always know how to help themselves work more efficiently. Changing Outlook's out-of-the-box settings can help you reduce repetitive tasks and help you work a bit more efficiently via the interface. Here are some useful tweaks to make.

Note: This article covers 2007 and 2010; the instructions for 2007 will often be similar for Outlook 2003, but this article doesn't include specific instructions for 2003.

1: Opening folder

When you launch Outlook, it displays Outlook Today view or moves straight to a specified folder. Opening to your preferred folder can eliminate a few clicks and put you right where you want to start your session. To specify which folder Outlook selects when launching, do the following:

1. Click the File tab and choose Options (under Help). In Outlook 2007, choose Options from the Tools menu, click the Other tab, and skip to step 3.
2. Choose Advanced in the left pane.
3. In the Outlook Start And Exit section, click Browse. In Outlook 2007, click the Advanced Options button in the General section and click Browse.
4. In the resulting dialog, select the folder you want as the default. Figure A shows a secondary Inbox selected, but your view will be unique to your system.
5. Click OK. Figure B shows the new setting.
6. Click OK again.

Figure A

Select the folder you want Outlook to select when launched.

Figure B

Check the setting here.

The next time you launch Outlook, it will open to the window specified in step 4. Your default window can be your Inbox or the Calendar, Tasks, or Contacts window. If you create a custom Inbox, you can specify it (as shown in Figure A). The default window can be almost any Outlook folder.

2: Custom address book

If you save addresses in a custom address book, making Outlook default to that address book will allow you to access your contacts with just a few clicks. To make a custom address book the default, do the following:

1. On the Home tab, click Address Book in the Find group. In Outlook 2007, click the Address Book icon on the Standard toolbar or press [Ctrl]+[Shift]+B.
2. From the Tools menu, choose Options. The default setting is Start With Global Address List (GAL). If yours is different, someone has already changed it. If you're on Exchange, the GAL is usually members of your organization. This list won't contain the contacts you add yourself. Your contacts are personal to you and are in the Contacts list.
3. If you want Outlook to default to your contacts, click the Start With Contact Folders option. Or click Custom to make a custom address book the default and set the order of reference using the arrow icons to the right.
4. To set the actual default address book, select the appropriate book from the When Opening The Address Book, Show This Address List First drop-down (Figure C). In Outlook 2007, it's the When Sending Mail... option.
5. Click OK.

Figure C

You can control which address book Outlook uses as the default.

3: Message format

Most users know that they can send email in different formats:

• Plain Text uses text characters with no formatting, so it's compatible with all email clients.
• HTML applies HTML formatting. Most clients can handle HTML, but they don't always render the HTML coding by default.
• Rich Text allows simple text formatting that's specific to Outlook.

Mobile technologies are quickly displacing this setup, but for now, many users still prefer Plain Text because it's less trouble -- many lists and Web clients don't allow anything else. You can set this default, as follows:

1. Click the File tab and choose Options under Help. In Outlook 2007, choose Options from the Tools menu, click the Mail Format tab, and skip to step 3.
2. Choose Mail in the left pane.
3. In the Compose Messages section, choose Plain Text from the Compose Messages In This Format drop-down, shown in Figure D.
4. Click OK.

Figure D

You can set the default message format.

You may want to let the default setting handle most of your messages, but you can easily change the default for individual messages. In the message window, click the Format Text tab and choose the appropriate format in the Format group.

4: Appointment interval

Calendar view defaults to 30-minute intervals. If you maintain a different schedule, you might want to change the default interval as follows:

1. Right-click the timebar in the day or one of the week views.
2. Choose one of the intervals shown in Figure E.

Figure E

This shortcut is the easiest way to reset the default interval.

5: Appointment reminder

Outlook reminds you 15 minutes before a scheduled appointment. If you often change the reminder time when you create appointments, change that default reminder to better suit the way you work, as follows:

1. Click the File tab and choose Options under Help. In Outlook 2007, choose Options from the Tools menu, click the Preferences tab (if necessary), and skip to step 3.
2. Choose Calendar in the left pane.
3. In the Calendar Options section, choose the appropriate reminder time from the Default Reminders drop-down, shown in Figure F.
4. Click OK.

Figure F

Don't work around the default -- set a reminder time that best reflects your scheduling needs.

You're not limited to the listed times, either. For instance, if you want a three-minute reminder, enter "3 minutes."

6: Name order

When you click To in the message window to access the default address book, Outlook displays contact names in First Name, Last Name order. If you have a long list, you might prefer to see contacts alphabetized by last name first. To make this change, do the following:

1. Click the File tab. In Outlook 2007, choose Account Settings from the Tools menu and skip to step 3.
2. In the resulting window, choose Account Settings from the Account Settings drop-down.
3. Click the Address Books tab.
4. Choose the appropriate account (probably Outlook Address Book) and click Change (just above the list of accounts).
5. In the resulting dialog box, click the File As (Smith, John) option in the Show Names By option, shown in Figure G.
6. Click Close twice.
7. Exit Outlook and reopen it. Outlook won't recognize this change until you do.

Figure G

Display contacts by last name first.

7: Reading pane

The quickest way to see more message text in the Reading Pane is to display less dataabout the message in the header section. To reduce this section to a single line, do the following:

1. In the Mail window, click the View tab.
2. From the Change View drop-down, choose Single, as shown in Figure H.

Figure H

Reduce the header information to a single line to free up space in the Reading Pane.

Outlook 2007 users have a very different route:

1. With the Reading Pane open, choose Current View from the View menu. Then, choose Customize Current View.
2. Click the Other Settings button.
3. In the Other Options section, uncheck the Use Compact Layout option.
4. Check the Always Use Single-Line Layout option.
5. Click OK twice.

8: Work week

The default work week displays only five days -- Monday through Friday. If you work a nontraditional week, you can change this default to display the days you need, as follows:

1. Click the File tab and choose Options under Help. In Outlook 2007, choose Options from the Tools menu, click Calendar Options in the Calendar section, and skip to step 3.
2. Choose Calendar in the left pane.
3. In the Work Time section, check the days you want to include in your work week. You can include only a few or all seven. Figure I shows a work week that includes Monday through Saturday.
4. From the First Day Of Week drop-down, choose the day that represents the first day of your work week.
5. Click OK.

Figure I

Your calendar will accommodate your work week schedule.

9: Download interval

Outlook downloads mail at regular intervals, but you can disable that feature or change the default interval. Do so as follows:

1. Click the Send/Receive tab. In Outlook 2007, choose Options from the Tools menu, click the Mail Setup tab, click Send/Receive in the Send/Receive section, and skip to step 3.
2. Click the Send/Receive Groups drop-down in the Send & Receive group and choose Define Send/Receive Groups.
3. Enter the interval in minutes to the right of the checked Schedule An Automatic Send/Receive Every option to change the interval. You can also uncheck the option to disable the feature and download your mail manually.
4. Click Close.

10: Months in To-Do

Many of us schedule events well beyond the current month, but the To-Do Bar displays only the current month. With just a few clicks you can display the current and future months, as follows:

1. Click the View tab. In Outlook 2007, Choose To-Do Bar from the View menu.
2. Choose Options from the To-Do Bar drop-down in the Layout group. In Outlook 2007, choose Options.
3. In the Show Date Navigator section, enter the number of months (up to 9) to display in the Number Of Month Rows option, as shown in Figure J. (Enter 0 to display no months.)
4. Click OK.

Figure J

Entering 3 will display the current and next two months in the To-Do bar.