Chapter 23: Important Word Files

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There are several files that Word uses on your PC. As you use Word, these files become changed with settings that you have updated. If something happens to your hard drive, or if these files become corrupt, you may have to rebuild them. Learning their filenames, locations and what is stored in them helps you keep the your settings safe.

Files to Back Up

Some reasons you may want to back up important Word files:

• You are moving to a new PC at the same company or you are going to work for another employer.

• You want to share your settings with a coworker or with your own PC at home.

• Your hard drive crashes and becomes unrecoverable.

• Your IT department has informed you that they’re going to update or reinstall your version of Word. Though many IT departments do take care of backing up these types of files, there are those who do not. Make it your responsibility, because you’re the one that really loses if you don’t.

If any of the above occurs, or rather, before any of the above occurs, you will want to make copies or backups of the following files, as well as all the regular documents you’ve created.

I’ve just read one of Microsoft’s articles on this subject and they suggest you use a floppy disk. I don’t condone the use of floppy disks for any reason.

Here, I provide a description of what each file stores:

File Name	Description
Normal.dot	Each time you create a new document, a copy of normal.dot is provided for your use as the new document. Any settings you may have changed are stored in this file. Custom toolbar settings are stored in normal.dot as well. If you lose normal.dot, you’ll have to set up all those toolbars/buttons again. Custom macros. If you’ve created custom macros that you use all the time, they’ll be stored in normal.dot and you’ll want to keep them safe. Normal.dot also stores your autotext entries. Some people would kill if they lost them.
Custom.dic	This is YOUR custom dictionary for Word. If you, from time to time, have added words to your dictionary during spell-check, then this is where those words are stored. This is particularly nice for Word users that work in medical offices or other jobs that require special terminology.
*.dot	Any other template files that you might have created. At work, many of us are provided a network share for our files. However, templates are by default stored on the hard drive. If for some reason you lose it, you won’t have your custom templates anymore.
*.acl	Stores your Autocorrect entries, however, I strongly suggest you check the Microsoft Technet Knowledgebase for the complete story on backing up these files. There seem to be many anomalies.

Any of these files may become corrupt for no apparent reason. To protect yourself, back these files up to another location like a network drive or a coworker’s PC or, at very least, another location on your own PC.

Suppose you work in a doctor’s office and have added thousands of words to the dictionary. The Custom.dic file suddenly becomes corrupt. If you back this file up from time to time, you can likely delete the one that Word uses and replace it with the backup and recover some or most of the entries.

I mention backing up certain files several times throughout this book because I cannot stress enough how much efficiency you’ll lose if you cannot remember every setting. Bottom line: If you’ve set Word up to your desired liking, keep a copy of these files somewhere safe.

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