To update a template, Click File > Open. Double-click This PC. Browse to the Custom Office Templates folder in My Documents. Click your template, and click Open. Make the changes you want, then save and close the template.

The Normal template opens whenever you start Word, and it includes default styles and customizations that determine the basic look of a document. Any changes that you make to Normal.dotm will be applied to documents that you create in the future.

On the File tab, click Open. Go to C:\Users\user name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates. Open the Normal template (Normal.dotm). Make any changes that you want to the fonts, margins, spacing, and other settings. You can use the same commands and features that you use to change a document — but remember that any changes that you make to Normal.dotm will be applied to documents that you create in the future. When you have finished, click the File tab, and then click Save.

If Normal.dotm is renamed, damaged, or moved, Word automatically creates a new version (which uses the original default settings) the next time that you start Word. The new version will not include any of the customizations that you made to the version that is damaged or deleted, therefore make sure you keep a backup of Normal template if you customize it.

The custom templates you created using an earlier version of Office are still there, but Office doesn’t show them by default. Instead when you open an Office program, you’ll see the templates provided by Office. If you want to see your custom templates on the Personal tab when you start an Office program, here’s how to do it.

In Windows 10, copy and paste the following in the Cortana box, and then press Enter:

%appdata%\Microsoft\Templates\ (or click Start type Run, and paste this line in the Run box that opens).

Copy the address that’s displayed in the File Explorer address bar. In your Office program, click File > Options > Save, and then paste the address into the Default personal templates location box. Make sure you do this for each Office program. After you’ve updated your template location, any new templates will be saved to this default location.