Word 2010 - Can't set default style and normal.dotm changes do not appear to “stick”

Question

I have Microsoft Word 2010 32-bit running on Windows 7 64-bit. Ultimately I want to eradicate extra spaces after a carriage return for any new blank documents. No method that I have tried so far appears to make that style option "stick" for newly created documents.

Methods I've tried so far:

• Going to Home Tab >> Styles >> Right-clicking the "No Spacing" style and selecting "modify" >> clicking the radio button that says "New documents based on this template."
• Going to Home Tab >> Styles >> left-clicking the pop-out button in the lower left corner of the styles section >> selecting "No spacing" >> clicking "Options" link >> selecting "New documents based on this template"
• Going to Home Tab >> Paragraphs >> left-clicking the pop-out button in the lower left corner of the paragraphs section >> clicking "Don't add space between paragraphs of the same style" >> clicking "Set as default" >> selecting "All documents based on the normal.dotm template"

The above changes will make the current document perform the way that I want. However, nothing above has allowed me to save those formatting options as a default for newly created documents. All newly created documents put space after a carriage return.

How can I change the default formatting options within Word for all newly created blank documents?

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EDIT 1

I created a new custom style, and then performed each of the three methods above to make it the default for new documents. However, new documents that are created from the Blank Document template all use the "Normal Style" and not the custom style.

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Edit 2

I uninstalled the entire Office 2010 Suite, rebooted and then reinstalled the suite. No change in behavior.

Answer 1

I believe I have a solution for you: the Normal.dotm file resides in a folder that is read-only by default. You should be able to fix the problem, if you have admin privileges on your machine.

1. Find the Normal.dotm file. The easiest way to do this is to enter this string in the search box in the Start Menu:

   %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates

2. If you look at the properties of the Templates folder (in which the Normal.dotm file is located), you will likely note that it has been marked "Read Only (only applies to files in folder)". Clear this check-box.

3. Use your third method to edit the Nomral.dotm file. (IIRC, the other methods you described are for creating a new template, not for altering the Normal template).