Change the Default Margins Used in New Word Documents

If you use the same fields in most Word documents, you can set the default fields once, which will be used for each new Word document that you create. This post shows you how to set default margins for Word 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016.

Word 2007 through Word 2016

The procedure for setting default margins in Word 2007 – Word 2016 is the same except for aesthetic design changes over the years. To set the default margins, go to the Page Layout tab.

Click the Fields button and select Custom Fields from the drop-down menu.

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The Page Setup dialog box opens. Make sure the Margins tab is active. Enter the fields you want to use as the default in the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right edit boxes under the Fields section. Click the “Default” button.

NOTE. In Word 2010 and later versions, the Default button is named Default.

A confirmation dialog box appears, confirming that you want to change the default settings for the page settings. Click “Yes” to accept the changes.

NOTE. When you click Yes in the confirmation dialog box, the Page Setup dialog box also closes.

If you need to temporarily change fields to values ??other than the default values ??for a specific document in Word, click the Page Layout tab and select a set of predefined field values ??from the drop-down menu.

You can also select Custom Fields from the drop-down menu on the Fields button and enter your desired custom values ??in the Fields section of the Page Setup dialog box. Click OK to accept other values ??instead of clicking Default (or Set as Default).

Word 2003

To set the default margins in Word 2003, choose Page Setup from the File menu.

The Page Setup dialog box opens. You can enter your own fields and then click the “Default” button. Everything else is the same as shown above. Enjoy!

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