Microsoft Office stores all your templates in the same folder, which is supposed to make management a bit easier for you. Unfortunately, that arrangement sometimes confuses users. When asked to help, you’ll want the quickest route to the templates folder. Here are some suggested options:

Option1:
* Click the File tab (the Office button in Word 2007 or the File menu in Word 2003).
* Choose New.
* Click My Templates. Windows 7 users should click My Templates under Templates in the left pane. In Word 2007, you’ll find options in the New Document pane.

This route lets you open templates stored in the default template folder. It takes three clicks to find this folder and its contents.

Option 2:
* In Word 2007 and 2010, Click the File tab or Office button.
* Choose Open.
* Click Trusted Templates in the Favorite Places bar. (On a Windows 7 system, click Templates under Microsoft Office Word.)

This route opens the template as a template document.

To complicate things, the location of the default template folder varies.

Option3:
Another quick way to find the default templates folder is to enter %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates in Windows Explorer. If Windows Explorer isn’t open, you can enter the same string in the Run app (Start menu). If you’re using Windows 7, you can also enter the same string in the Search box (Start menu). Either will open the templates folder in the Windows Explorer.

As a precaution, its advised to make a backup of Normal.dot before making changes. In Windows Explorer, click Normal.dot and choose Copy from the Edit menu. Then, choose Paste from the Edit menu, and Windows will create Copy of Normal.dot in the same folder. Rarely does anyone need the copy, but if you do, you’ll be glad you took this extra step. If you want to start over with a clean copy of Normal.dot, simply browse to the Templates folder and delete Normal.dot. Word will create a new version of the template the next time you launch Word.

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Summaried by the WOUGNET TechSupport team from an article by Susan Harkins on TechRepublic .