Understanding View Options

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated September 7, 2019)

It seems that Word can be customized in an almost unlimited number of ways. One way in which you can customize Word is by specifying how information will appear when it is viewed on your screen. The types of customizations available, however, depend on the View you are using. (Views--such as Normal, Page Layout, and Outline--have been covered in other WordTips.) The upshot of this is that you should check the View tab of the Options dialog box (choose Options from the Tools menu, then click on View) in each of your different Views. At the top of the dialog box you can see a notation of which View you are using, and the rest of the dialog box contains the specific options Word maintains for that View.

The behavior of the View tab is a bit different in Word 2000 and Word 2002. In these versions, Word doesn't differ the controls in the View tab based on the view you are using. Instead, all available controls are shown in the tab, but they are organized differently than in previous versions of Word.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (652) 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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Using the Organizer to Manage AutoText

There are times you need to move your AutoText entries from one template or document to another. Use Organizer to do this ...

Discover More

Locking Table Contents

When you get information in your document "just right," you may want to make sure that others cannot change it. Here's a ...

Discover More

Setting a Default File Format

Excel normally saves workbooks using a default file format that is peculiar to your version of the program. You can ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Turning Off ScreenTips

All those little ScreenTips bug you when moving through Word's toolbars? You can turn them off by following the steps in ...

Discover More

Unchanging Toolbars

Create a macro to return Toolbars to the default settings.

Discover More

Returning Word to Default Settings

Want to set everything back to a pristine state in Word? Doing so is more involved than you may believe.

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 four less than 5?

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.