Have you ever opened Microsoft Word, ready to use your templates, only to find the Personal tab missing? I have. In this tutorial, I’ll guide you on how to restore it and bring organization back to your projects. Discover what causes this issue and explore some Word Options settings you might not have known such as the Default personal templates location.
Knowledge You’ll Gain:
- Restore your missing Personal tab to access custom templates instantly.
- Navigate Word Options settings to solve common template issues.
- Identify causes of template accessibility problems for quick troubleshooting.
- Manage Microsoft Word templates to improve your workflow efficiency.
Missing Personal Tab & Custom Templates
I was putting the final revisions on my Word letterhead template tutorial. The interface had changed slightly and I wanted new screen captures. However, when I got to the step about clicking Personal, my tab wasn’t there. The area was missing. I tried to repair Word via Control Panel and that didn’t work. I even tried modifying my Word template directory. Again, I was greeted with the screen below.
My first thought was Microsoft moved the feature. However, the references I found still showed the feature in the same place with links for Office and Personal.
I even double-checked my folder locations for my user templates.
Multiple Settings for Template Folders
While my templates were saved in the proper folder, I couldn’t access them through the Personal tab since it didn’t show. It seems there is another Word Options setting that controls the Office and Personal links. It’s under Save and called Default personal templates location.
How to Add Personal Templates Location
- Open a new Word document
- Click File.
- Scroll down the left navigation and click Options.
- On the Word Options dialog box, click Save.
- Paste or type the location of your User templates folder.
- Click OK.
Finding User Templates Folder Location
If you’re unsure of the templates folder location, try these steps which are similar to the above. For most Windows users, your template path is something like: C:\Users\<your_username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates
- Open a new Word document.
- Click File.
- Scroll down to left navigation and click Options.
- On the Word Options dialog, click Advanced.
- Scroll down to the General section.
- Click the File Locations… button.
- On the File Locations dialog, highlight User templates.
- Click the Modify… button.
- On the Modify Location dialog, right-click on the address bar.
- Select Copy address as text.
- Click Cancel.
- Click Close.
- On the Word Options dialog, click Save.
- Scroll to Default personal template locations:
- Paste in your template folder location.
- Click OK.
I’m still not sure what caused my Personal tab to disappear. I know I had that functionality because I had my old screen captures. And I honestly don’t recall ever setting the Default personal templates location field. But now I at least know it exists and its purpose.
Now that you’re familiar with the solution, take a moment to try them out in your documents. If you found this tutorial helpful, you might benefit from exploring the related tutorials below.