[garfield-n-odie [MVP]]

Easy to change... start a new document, click on the little arrow at the
bottom right corner of the Font group on the Home tab, click on the
Character Spacing tab, change what you want, click on Default, and click
on OK. If you are prompted to save changes to your global template when
you exit Word, say yes.

SB Mull wrote:

Thanks. I will try to figure out how to modify the normal template
permanently. If anyone else has had my experience, please respond.
Sandra