Changing Measurement Units

Summary: When working in Word's dialog boxes, most people understand that you should enter measurements using inches. If you don't like inches, you can change the default unit of measurement to something more to your liking. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, Word 2003, and Word 2007.)

Word allows you to modify your work environment extensively. One of the changes you can make involves the default units of measurement used in dialog boxes and on the ruler. By default, Word uses inches, but you can customize the program so it will use centimeters, picas, points, or millimeters.

To change the default measurement units, follow these steps if you are using a version of Word prior to Word 2007:

Choose Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the Options dialog box.
Click on the General tab. (Click here to see a related figure.)
In the Measurement Units pull-down list, select the units of measurement you want used by default.
Click on OK.

If you are using Word 2007, follow these steps:

Click the Office button and then click Word Options. Word displays the Word Options dialog box.
Click Advanced at the left side of the dialog box.
Scroll through the available options until you see the Display section. (Click here to see a related figure.)
Using the Show Measurements in Units Of drop-down list, select the units of measurement you want used by default.
Click on OK.

Tip #1157 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

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Changing Measurement Units