How to Change the Default Open View in MS Word

1. Close any Microsoft Word documents or windows on your computer.
2. Locate the \"Normal.dot\" file on your computer. This is the default template for all new Word documents. If you are using Windows XP, navigate to \"c:\\documents and settings\\username\\application data\\Microsoft\\templates\", changing \"username\" to your user name on the computer. For Windows Vista or Windows 7, go to \"c:\\users\\username\\appdata\\roaming\\Microsoft\\templates\", again, changing the username to your user name on Windows.
3. Right-click \"Normal.dot\" and select \"Open.\" A new Word document will open, which is actually the default document template.
4. Change the view to the one you desire. To do so in Word 2003, go to the \"View\" menu and click on the view you want to use. In Word 2007 or 2010, go to the \"View\" tab and select a view.
5. Type something into the document and then delete it. This allows Word to recognize that a change has been made to the template without adding any unwanted items. Click the \"Save\" button or press the \"Ctrl\" and \"S\" keys to save the changes to your default Word template.