Opening Documents in Print Layout View

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 18, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2003

Max is having a problem with Word 2003. It seems that whenever he opens a document, it is in reading layout mode. He is forced to switch each document to Print Layout view, which is his preference.

There are two things you need to do to start fixing this problem. Follow these general steps to accomplish both tasks:

Open your Normal.dot document. (Open it directly in Word, don't create a new document based on it.)
Choose Options from the Tools menu to display the Options dialog box.
Make sure the General tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The General tab of the Options dialog box.

Clear the Allow Starting in Reading Layout check box.
Click on OK.
Switch to Print Layout view at whatever zoom setting you want.
Save Normal.dot.
Exit and restart Word.

If the problem isn't fixed by the above steps, then it is possible that there is some AutoOpen macro that is kicking in and changing the viewing mode behind the scenes. Check to see if this is the case. You could also create your own AutoOpen and/or AutoNew macros to set the viewing mode to your preferences. If you decide to go this route, just make sure that the macros contain commands similar to the following:

With ActiveWindow.View
    .ReadingLayout = False
    .Type = wdPrintView
End With

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 (510) applies to Microsoft Word 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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Searching for Breaks

Word allows you to insert different types of breaks in your text that help control how your document is paginated. If you ...

Discover More

Changing the Default Font

It makes sense that when Excel creates a blank workbook, it must figure out which font to use for that workbook. ...

Discover More

Saving Styles in a Macro

If you are trying to limit what styles can and can't be used in a document, you might think a good approach is to store ...

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 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Saving Documents Faster

If you are using Word versions 97 through 2003, there's a setting you can make that will allow you to save your documents ...

Discover More

Turning Off HTML Conversions

Don't want Word to load up your HTML documents as formatted text? There are a couple of ways you can instruct Word to be ...

Discover More

Weird Characters in File Names

If you ever end up with file names that contain percent signs followed by numbers, it could be due to some sort of file ...

Discover More

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 4 - 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

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.