How can I set the default font in LibreOffice or Microsoft Office?

Question

When I open Microsoft Word, Excel or LibreOffice Writer, I need to have a default font configured.

How can I set this up in LibreOffice / Microsoft Office under Linux (e.g. Ubuntu), Windows XP or Windows 7?

Answer 1

LibreOffice Writer

The easiest way is to set up a default template, which will have this font selected.

The default template contains the default formatting information for new text documents. If you want, you can create a new template and use it as the default template.

To Create a Default Template

• Create a document and the content and formatting styles that you want.
• Choose File - Templates - Save.
• In the New Template box, type a name for the new template.
• In the Categories list, select "My Templates", and then click OK.
• Choose File - Templates - Organize.
• In the Templates list, double-click the "My Templates" folder.
• Right-click the template that you created, and choose Set as Default Template. Click Close.

Microsoft Word

A similar procedure for changing the default template ("Normal.dot") in Word.

• On the File menu, click Open, and then navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates.
• If no templates are listed in the Open dialog box, click the arrow next to the Files of type box, and then click Document Templates.
• Double-click the Normal.dot file to open it. To be certain that you're working in the default template, check to see that Normal.dot appears in the Word title bar.
• Make any changes you want, using the menus and dialog boxes just as you would to change default settings for a document, but remember that any changes you make to Normal.dot will be applied to documents that you create in the future.
• When you have finished, on the Standard toolbar, click Save.