# Solved: MS Word Normal View Too Small



## snapfade (Dec 28, 2006)

Ms Word 2003, View=Normal is my default view. It was fine until just a few days ago when it all at once became much smaller than before. By that I mean that the normal portrait page ruler that appears on the top of the page takes up only a fraction of the width of the available window size where it used to appear about the full size of the default text, 12 pt. It is as if the zoom had been changed to something smaller. When I check the Zoom size it says it is at 71%. I click the 100% radio button and then click OK but nothing is changed.

How can i get zoom to work properly for Word's Normal View and make it default to 100% as it apparently did in the past?

tom


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## slurpee55 (Oct 20, 2004)

Go to View, Zoom and reset the number to 100. The radio button should do it, but try that.
And welcome to the forum!


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## snapfade (Dec 28, 2006)

Thanks for the quick reply but I think you missed the part in my original post about the zoom not working. I can click 100% radio button, or any other radio button but nothing changes. I can change the percentage. Again nothing changes. It seems to work in that it allows me to change the percent or click the radio buttons but clicking the OK button changes nothing. tom


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## slurpee55 (Oct 20, 2004)

I can't duplicate your error, but this code might make it work...I'm fairly new at coding, let me know if it doesn't (or does!).
Private Sub Document_Open()
'Run Code when Document Opens:
SetView wdNormalView
End Sub

Private Sub SetView(ByVal iView As Integer)
'Set Default View for Document:
With ActiveDocument
.Fields.Update
.ActiveWindow.View.Type = iView
.ActiveWindow.View.Zoom.Percentage = 100
End With
End Sub


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## snapfade (Dec 28, 2006)

Thanks for trying, Slurpee, but I just want Word to behave like it should. If it comes to writing macros, i'll just reinstall. I was looking for an answer from a Word guru. Thanks, again. tom


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## slurpee55 (Oct 20, 2004)

Look around and see if Dreamboat is online - she knows more about Word than I ever will.
Actually, I sent her a message - if she can't fix it, well, there's always Notepad.


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## Anne Troy (Feb 14, 1999)

Rarely does reinstalling Word fix anything.
Try the troubleshooting steps:
http://www.officearticles.com/word/steps_to_troubleshooting_microsoft_word.htm

Nice try, though, Slurpee. Here's what might work better if a macro is the answer (in this case, I think there is an issue with Word):
http://vbaexpress.com/kb/getarticle.php?kb_id=65

Thanks for calling me in, Slurp.


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## JackAndCoke (Apr 26, 2007)

Clearly it's not about what you know, it's about who you know.


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## cristobal03 (Aug 5, 2005)

lol, I was going to post that very article. Deleting your Normal.dot file ought to fix you up.

HTH,

chris.


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## snapfade (Dec 28, 2006)

Thanks, All for the extra advice. Unfortunately, nothing has worked to enable the zoom on normal view. I have deleted normal.dot a couple times and even restarted for good measure. I tried detect and repair before my original post and again just a few minutes ago. Nada. Finally, i deleted the registry entry to no avail.

The only thing i haven't done yet is reinstall but it's already been noted that reinstall is rarely the solution.

Any more ideas?

Thanks again for all the helpful suggestions. 

tom


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## cristobal03 (Aug 5, 2005)

...If deleting Normal.dot entirely didn't solve the problem, you must have another layer on top of it that also needs to be removed. Does this problem present with any document you open in Word, or only one specific document?

Reinstalls usually do not make a difference because most people do a light install or an overinstall. When Word starts, it creates (and relies on) some new files that aren't affected by the installer. Reinstalling the application only replaces the executable files and (maybe) libraries. Therefore, when Word starts again, it finds the same files that were previously created on startup, so the original problem still exists. Clean or full uninstall/reinstalls tend to work simply because they remove the created files. However, if the problem was saved along with one of your documents, no amount of clean uninstalling/reinstalling will help that particular document.

I hope that sheds a little more light on what we're looking for. Did the problem appear after you opened a file that was sent to you? Did you download anything around the same time, like a Word add-on?

chris.


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## cristobal03 (Aug 5, 2005)

[bump]

Also, the script Anne linked would be failrly easy to implement and test, which might at least give you a working solution in the meantime.

chris.


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## snapfade (Dec 28, 2006)

the problem presents itself for new files. when i open existing files it is okay. I believe i may have opened a file a few days ago that showed up with the smaller view...gotta check into that.

Just learned something interesting. If i open a saved document it first of all appears in the proper view size but moreover, zoom works just fine! 

I suppose i gotta find that word doc i received recently, huh?

tom


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## cristobal03 (Aug 5, 2005)

Also, could you tell us the path to the Normal.dot file you deleted? The one affecting you directly should be under your user directory in the Documents and Settings tree, but you may have more than one on your system.

chris.


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## snapfade (Dec 28, 2006)

normal.dot was located in the specified location and a search turned up NO other verisons at all.

This just in...i found the original Word doc that apparently caused the problem. When i open it, it shows up smaller and zoom does not work. It is a pretty simple word file (meeting minutes) that i created initially and sent along to others. the problem file was this same file returned to me. and if i recall, when i first opened it, it was in RFT format rather than Doc. I am wondering now if the file i sent was opened in some other word processor.

tom


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## WendyM (Jun 28, 2003)

Hi Tom, welcome to TSG.

A few random things to try. What happens if you save the document under a different name? If that doesn't change anything, what happens if you delete all of the contents and THEN save it under a different name? Can you post the document here? And what happens if you open one of your saved documents where the zoom DOES work, delete all the contents, and then save that over your current normal.dot? Does a new document still have the same problems?


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## cristobal03 (Aug 5, 2005)

Alright, I re-read this thread twice and I'm trying to recreate some stuff on my machine. Can you post a screenshot of the incorrect behavior? You might not have a high enough post count yet, but if you can it might help.

Just to make sure I understand correctly, this problem pertains exclusively to Normal view for new documents, such that if you open a new document, switch to *Print Layout*, and try to change the zoom level, you see no issues? If you open an older document in Normal view and try to change the zoom level, again, you see no issues? You've deleted Normal.dot and dumped your Word registry but have not yet tried the *Document_Open* script. Is all this correct?

chris.


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## cristobal03 (Aug 5, 2005)

> *Originally posted by WendyM:*
> 
> what happens if you open one of your saved documents where the zoom DOES work, delete all the contents, and then save that over your current normal.dot?





> *back in the day by cristobal03:*
> 
> Wendy's smart. The end.


chris.


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## snapfade (Dec 28, 2006)

PROBLEM SOLVED!

I mentioned that the doc i sent out had been opened, edited and saved as rft and sent back to me. That was when the problem began. I have since hunted down all verison of the doc in the tem internet files and deleted them. I just dragged the old rft doc out of the recycle bin and opened it. It opened in the normal size (to my surprise). Zoom worked. I closed word, started a new word file and the normal view showed up properly.

I am baffled at what happened or how exactly it righted itself but i thank all of you for your wonderful help!

tom


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## WendyM (Jun 28, 2003)

Fabulous, glad it's fixed. And now you have a ton of suggestions for any Word problem ever - just in case!  You can mark this thread as solved by using the thread tools above your first post.


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## cristobal03 (Aug 5, 2005)

Glad to hear it. You may mark this thread "Solved" using the *Thread Tools* at the top of the page.

chris.


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## WendyM (Jun 28, 2003)

cristobal03 said:


> Glad to hear it. You may mark this thread "Solved" using the *Thread Tools* at the top of the page.


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## slurpee55 (Oct 20, 2004)

And now snapfade, you just became our expert to turn to if someone else comes here with this strange problem!


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