Word.Tips.Net Welcome toWord.Tips.Net

Helpful Links

Tips.Net Home
WordTips Home

Ask a Word Question
Make a Comment

Tips.Net Store

WordTips FAQ
WordTips Premium

Learn Access Now

Beauty Tips
Car Tips
Cleaning Tips
College Tips
Cooking Tips
Excel2007 Tips
ExcelTips
Family Tips
Gardening Tips
Health Tips
Home Tips
Money Tips
Organizing Tips
Pest Tips
Pet Tips
Wedding Tips
Word2007 Tips
WordTips

Advertise on the
WordTips Site

Newest Tips

Changing Tabs Using the Ruler

Moving Drawing Objects

Standardizing Note Reference Placement

Selecting Printing of Color Pictures

Stubborn Foreign Languages

Sizing the Preview Pane

Moving Rows and Columns With the Mouse

 

Startup Template Changes

Summary: How to start Word with different templates for different purposes. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 6, Word 95, Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, and Word 2003.)

Normally, when you start Word, it starts with a blank document based on the Normal.Dot template. There may be times when you want to use a different template as the basis of the document displayed when you start Word. Obviously, if you want this other template to be used as the default all the time, you can simply name the existing Normal.Dot something else, and then rename your desired template as Normal.Dot.

Things get a bit stickier when you want to use a different template each time you start up. If you know which template you want to use, you could just start Word in a different manner: Simply double-click on the name of the template you want to use, and Word is started with a blank document based on that template. A closely related solution is to create Windows shortcuts to the templates you want to use. When you then double-click on the shortcuts, you start Word with a blank document based on that template.

To create a shortcut for a template and add it to the Start menu (where it is easily accessible), follow these steps:

  1. Using your favorite Windows navigation method, locate the template you want to use as the basis of your shortcut.
  2. Drag the template and drop it on the Start menu button.

That's it! Windows creates a new menu option (which is a shortcut) and you can choose it to create a new document based on the template.

A related solution is to create a new shortcut to Word. You can edit the shortcut so that it starts Word with a particular template. This means that you could have multiple shortcuts, each designed to start Word with a different template. For instance, assume that I wanted to create a shortcut that would start Word using MyTemplate.Dot as the basis for a blank document. To accomplish this task, simply follow these steps:

  1. Create a shortcut that points to Word. (The easiest way to do this is to simply copy an existing Word shortcut from your system, and then paste it on the desktop.)
  2. Right-click on the shortcut, and choose Properties from the Context menu. Windows displays the Properties dialog box for the shortcut.
  3. Make sure the Shortcut tab is selected. (Click here to see a related figure.)
  4. Examine the contents of the Target box. It probably looks something like this:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\WINWORD.EXE"
  • Edit the contents of the Target box so it appears like this:
  • "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\WINWORD.EXE" /t"d:\wfw data\dotfiles\mytemplate.dot"
    
  • Click on OK.
  • You should make sure of two things in step 5. First, make sure there is no space between the /t switch and the start of the path for the template you want to use. (If you include a space, the /t switch is ignored and the template itself is opened in Word.) Second, you should make sure that you use the full path for the location of the template you want to use. Obviously, the example shown reflects the path to a template on my system, which will be different from yours.

    Tip #860 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

    Step Up and Take Control! Subscribers to WordTips know just how valuable a resource it is. WordTips Premium provides twice the number of exceptional, easy-to-understand tips every week in an ad-free newsletter, as well as substantial discounts on WordTips archives and e-books.
     
    Check out WordTips Premium today!