Changing Stubborn Ruler Measurements

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 11, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


1

Barbara has a problem on her system: The Ruler seems to be divided into points, but she needs it to display inches. She went through the usual approach of choosing Tools | Options | General tab to change the measurement units, but that wouldn't change things for her.

What Barbara is experiencing is a glitch in Word related to the Ruler. What she is seeing is not points, but character units, which are used when Word is working with Asian languages. This problem is described, along with a fix, at the following Knowledge Base article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299339

As the article says, this problem sometimes occurs when upgrading to Word 2003, but there have also been reports of it happening spontaneously in other versions of Word. As the article describes, there are two possible solutions.

One solution is to delete the data settings key in the Registry. This, of course, may also delete other configuration settings you don't want to lose in Word. (How to delete the data settings key, besides being described in the Knowledge Base article, is also described in other issues of WordTips.) Because of this drawback, it's best to try the other solution first:

  1. Press Alt+F11 to display the VBA Editor.
  2. Press Ctrl+G to display the Immediate window.
  3. Type this single command into the Immediate window, then press Enter:
     Options.UseCharacterUnit=False
  • Close the VBA Editor.
  • That's it; the character units should be gone, and your Ruler will use whatever setting you've made in Tools | Options | General tab.

    Note:

    If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

    WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (240) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

    Author Bio

    Allen Wyatt

    With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

    MORE FROM ALLEN

    Blocking a Theme Change

    Word provides different themes you can use to modify the look and feel of your documents. These themes can, however, play ...

    Discover More

    Calculating Averages by Date

    When you have a huge amount of daily data to analyze, you may want to calculate an average of values for any given date ...

    Discover More

    Turning Off Paragraph Hyphenation

    Need to make sure that a particular paragraph never has any hyphenated words in it? You can make sure that Word won't ...

    Discover More

    The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

    More WordTips (menu)

    Changing from Pirated to Permitted Software

    When you install Microsoft Office, you are required to enter a product key that unlocks the software for your use. This ...

    Discover More

    Getting Help in Dialog Boxes

    Dialog boxes are prevalent in a program like Word, and they can contain dozens (if not hundreds) of options. This tip ...

    Discover More

    Reducing Word's CPU Load

    A series of options for checking the CPU load of your Word document.

    Discover More
    Subscribe

    FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

    View most recent newsletter.

    Comments

    If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

    What is six more than 1?

    2025-07-17 03:28:04

    Hale

    Oh, that is cool!
    Options.UseCharacterUnit=False

    I just wonder how many morons in the net keep reposting that cr@p about options, which obviously NEVER works, and people are coming there only when they face this problem... I just wonder how MS office dept manages to keep against Google Docs when this child deciese keeps appering 22 years after the engine was released; and was never fixed.


    This Site

    Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

    Videos
    Subscribe

    FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

    (Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

    View the most recent newsletter.