Forum Discussion
Margin default issue in Word
- Jul 25, 2023
When I open your document, I see what you see: the left margin is wider than it should be. My unit of measurement is centimeters, but the end result is the same, with a 2" margin rather han a 1" one (not counting the first line indent which is also specified in the sample file).
Since you are seeing this peculiar error in new, blank documents, I recommend that you exit Word and rename the Normal template.
Any existing documents that exhibit the error can then be copied into a new, blank document and the issue should be fixed. Note that when you copy, omit the final paragraph mark of the source document and copy the rest of the content.
To show/hide paragraph marks (¶) as well as other nonprinting marks, you can use the ¶ icon on the Home tab.
Unfortunately, your screen shot doesn't give much information. It only tells us that the left margin is wide.
If you want to, you can share a sample document with the forum so that we can take a closer look.
I'm happy to provide an example document to show what the problem is. Is a Dropbox link acceptable?
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/o9nhvvnub6zgpsldb5t5y/Docu-Example.docx?rlkey=w3qgpuqnbler6ncggs4ey0rdx&dl=0
This is really vexing me, I'm sure the fix is ridiculously simple but I can't ID it.
Thanks!
- Stefan_BlomJul 25, 2023MVP
When I open your document, I see what you see: the left margin is wider than it should be. My unit of measurement is centimeters, but the end result is the same, with a 2" margin rather han a 1" one (not counting the first line indent which is also specified in the sample file).
Since you are seeing this peculiar error in new, blank documents, I recommend that you exit Word and rename the Normal template.
Any existing documents that exhibit the error can then be copied into a new, blank document and the issue should be fixed. Note that when you copy, omit the final paragraph mark of the source document and copy the rest of the content.
To show/hide paragraph marks (¶) as well as other nonprinting marks, you can use the ¶ icon on the Home tab.
- AClark0806Jul 25, 2023Copper ContributorThat worked. Thank you.
- Charles_KenyonJul 25, 2023Bronze Contributor
Note that the Normal template can hold a number of user customizations.
Many of these can be copied to a newly created template. If you need to do this, please post a new question on how to copy the particular customization.
- Macros (Recorded macros saved in the NewMacros module of the template)
- AutoText (and other custom Building Blocks)
- Formatted AutoCorrect Entries
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Custom Page layout for new documents
- Custom Styles and Modified Built-In Styles
It is possible to routinely create backups using a macro. Here is a my article on doing this.