How to Restore Factory Settings in Microsoft Word

There may be times when you want to set Microsoft Word back to a pristine, first-installed condition. For instance, you may be offering Word training, and you want to reset Word between each class offered.

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  • Choose the Run option from the Start menu. This displays the Run dialog box.
  • In the Open box enter the name regedit.
  • Click on OK. This starts the Regedit program.

~ If you are using Word 2010, select the HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Office/14.0/Word <keyChoice>.

~  If you are using Word 2007, select the HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Office/12.0/Word <keyChoice>.

~   If you are using Word 2003, select the HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Office/11.0/Word <keyChoice>.

~  If you are using Word 2002, select the HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Office/10.0/Word <keyChoice>.

~   If you are using Word 2000, select the HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Office/9.0/Word <keyChoice>.

~  Press the Delete key. You are asked if you want to really delete the key.

~   Click on Yes. The selected key is deleted.

~   Close the Registry Editor.

~   Restart Word. Word has been reset to default settings.

TIPS:

  • You should remember that you cannot do “resetting” of Word while the program is running. This is because Word saves configuration information as it exits. If you make changes and then exit, you overwrite any resetting you did.
  • Understand that when you make all these changes, there are still a couple of settings that can then only be changed by a complete reinstall. For instance, the company name you entered when you first installed Word is actually stored in the Word program file.
  • You may want to protect yourself from potential problems by backing up the Registry first.
  • The Data key and the Options key are the most frequently changed areas.