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RE MS Word 2011:

For some reason I can no longer automatically change font size in my document templates (so that each subsequent new document opens with such format).
When closing a document, if the font size has been changed and I wish to retain such, I would normally select such, either through a pop-up window or by deleting all other options under My Templates. A couple weeks ago that stopped happening, and no matter what I try I cannot remedy the situation (short of creating a blank document with the requisite specs and putting it on the desktop — which is a waste of space, as well as annoying.) Whatever I might have done to cause the problem is lost to the vicissitudes of cerebral decrepitude.
I've run all manner of hardware and software troubleshooting apps — to no avail.

Short of my reinstalling the application (+ numerous updates) from scratch, I thought I'd put the quandary out there for assembled FTMers to toss around.

As for reinstalling, I'll guess that all your years of updates will be boiled down to just one.

And as for your problem, chances are that it's got nothing to do with the app itself, but results from a corrupted pref file.

I checked out the latter possibility by rebuilding the preference file — no dice.

I use only Excel from the Office suite, and I hold my breath and cringe every time I launch it.

A while ago, it slowed down to a crawl, and I went through conniptions before I managed to get it working correctly.

Good luck!

I don't know if his will be at all helpful, but in my case, I wound up copying the data in my spreadsheets, trashing the spreadsheets themselves, opening up new spreadsheets, pasting the data I had copied, and then completely recreating the original formats...in other words, starting from scratch.

Unless you first deleted the preference file, the corruption may still be there.

Hmmm... Under the current "rules," wouldn't he need to restart after deleting that pref?

I re-updated the final update for Microsoft Word (which supposedly overwrote everything involving the app).
No magic. Default format template still comes up with the "wrong" font size — even when the only templates (ostensibly available) have the correct font size.
So there is something way down deep which has killed the keep font size from each application use for next time use.

[The problem is way more frustrating than having to uncheck "Add this thread to my Followed Threads" + "Add Signature" under Post Options each and every time I want to post to the Forum. And there's no apparent way of fixing that either.]

Have you tried trashing and recreating your default format template?

I find having to uncheck "Add this...." every time I post totally annoying. I've never understood why it's default.

But as for "Add Sig," have you got a sig? I don't remember ever seeing one. So you're saying that the box is checked by default even if you haven't got a sig in your profile?

Wow! I just deleted my sig from my profile, and the box was still checked. That's a bug which I'll report.

If, in fact, you haven't got a sig in your profile, why don't you just leave the box checked? It would seem to be meaningless.

I repeatedly trashed and recreated my default template — to absolutely no avail.

And I've generally disabled my signature (under preferences).

The correct method for dealing with preference files has changed over the years, and I've got absolutely no idea what that means, anyhow, so, if you haven't done so already, this is the procedure you need to follow. (This is going to be a bit tricky to explain, because you're working with earlier versions of both the app and OS than I am.):

1. Quit Word.
2. Move your default template to the trash, but DON"T empty it (so Word can't find it).
3. Trash whichever of these files you've got: /Users/grelber/Library/ Preferences/com.microsoft.Word.plist OR /Users/grelber/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Word.plist. (Trash both if you've got both.)
4. Restart your Mac.
5. Recreate your default template from scratch.

If that doesn't solve your problem, I throw in the towel, and you can move your default template out of the trash to wherever it originally lived.

Thanks. I previously did all that and, as noted, no dice.

Personally, then, I'd just use Find Any File to trash every vestige of Word and start from scratch,

Word has continued to "act up" — formatting up the wazoo, etc etc. It's moot at this point how much the problem might be due to my iMac's misbehaving in its dotage.

Apple's Pages only works with macOS 13 and up. (I'm still working in El Capitan — 10.11.6 — which is as high as I can go).

I'm going to give Bean a shot. It's compatible with Word documents and is supposedly way more streamlined. It gets good reviews. We shall see.

I used Bean many years ago when I needed a word processor and couldn't afford MS Office, and, for the minimal demands I made of it, I was totally happy with it.

I don't hesitate to encourage you to try it!

Since you are accustomed to the idiosyncrasies of Word, you might consider, or perhaps re-consider, LibreOffice. It is compatible with .doc and .docx documents and supports all but the most exotic and seldom used Word features (but not necessarilly in the same menu). The price is right -- FREE -- and they have been good about retaining compatibility with older macOS versions.