When I start a new document in Word 2003 it automatically gives me a .5"
first line indent. Is there a way to disable that feature?

Try "Creating a new Normal.dot from scratch" as described in
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/...ocNotBlank.htm .

Ken Hennessey wrote:

When I start a new document in Word 2003 it automatically gives me a .5"
first line indent. Is there a way to disable that feature?

Here's a suggestion. Check your formatting for the Normal style. You may
have it set to indent the first line of each paragraph. The way to fix this
varies a little depending on your version of Word, but the basics are the
same.

Here's how to do it in Word 2003. Open a new blank document (unless you
select another template a new blank document in Word is based on the
"Normal" template which is saved as Normal.dot) and put your cursor at the
point where you would start entering text--where Word has already indented
the first line, as you say. Go to Format, Styles and Formatting. Unless
you have modified your template the style at that spot should be Normal;
that is the default setting. That's what I will assume for present
purposes; these instructions will work for whatever style you have there if
it is something different. In the list of styles select Normal and then
Modify. Select Format, Paragraph. In the section Indentation you will see
a little widow under Special. If you see "First Line" in that window you
have found the problem! (You should also see a value in the window next to
it, such as 0.5 inches; ignore it for now.) If so, change "First Line" to
"None" and there will be no more automatic indenting--in this document. To
make this change permanent (i.e., to apply your changes to the Normal
template) be sure you put a check mark in the box Add to Template. When you
close out of this document (no need to save it) you will be asked if you
want to save your changes to Normal.dot. The answser is Yes. Henceforth
each new document you open will have no automatic first line indents.

"Ken Hennessey" Ken wrote in message
...
When I start a new document in Word 2003 it automatically gives me a .5"
first line indent. Is there a way to disable that feature