Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Changing Measurement Units.

Changing Measurement Units

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 27, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

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:

Choose Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the Options dialog box.
Click on the General tab. (See Figure 1.)

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

In the Measurement Units pull-down list, select the units of measurement you want used by default.
Click on OK.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1157) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Changing Measurement Units.

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

Controlling Where a Full-page Border is Printed

When you add full-page borders to your document, you may be bothered to find out that one or more sides of the border ...

Discover More

Inserting the Document Revision Number

Need to know how many times your document has been saved? Word keeps track of this information, and makes it easily ...

Discover More

Stopping Automatic Changes from Being Tracked

Track Changes is a great feature for keeping track of what gets changed in a document. There are some things (such as ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

Changing Built-in Word Commands

Want to replace Word's internal commands with your own macros? It's easy to do if you know the key discussed in this tip.

Discover More

Too-Big Toolbars

Work around Words inability to have a multi-row toolbar.

Discover More

Changing the Insertion Point Cursor

Want to change the characteristics of the insertion point used by Word? You may be out of luck, unless you make some ...

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 7 + 9?

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.