If this is Word 2002 or 2003 and you have Track Changes enabled (and
balloons), Word displays a wide margin to accommodate the balloons. When the
document prints, it will be reduced to fit on the page.

Or it could be that it appears abnormally wide because the "white space"
above and below the margins is not displayed; see
http://home.earthlink.net/~wordfaqs/WhiteSpace.htm

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"paper size" paper wrote in message
...
I have selected a document paper size of 8 1/2 x 11 - but it width of the
paper appears larger than normal -- therefore margins and appearance of
document is not correct