Customize Document Default Settings in Zoho Writer

How to customize the default settings of documents?

Overview 

Document Default Settings control the formatting style that is automatically applied to all new documents you create. These settings define how your documents look by default, saving you from adjusting styles manually each time.
Key Defaults Include:
  1. Font Style & Size – Choose your preferred typeface and size.
  2. Line Spacing – Set consistent spacing for readability.
  3. Text Color – Apply a default page background.
  4. Ruler Units – Define measurements in inches or millimeters.
  5. Locale preferences and date format
  6. Auto-formatting Behavior – Control how lists, links, capitalization, and other formatting appear.

 Steps 

    1. Click the Settings icon in the top-right corner of your screen. A drop-down menu will appear.
    2. Click More Settings to bring up the Settings Dialog

 Change the default font settings

In Writer, each new document automatically uses the default font style, line spacing, and text color. You can customize these at any time and apply them to all future documents using the Set as Default option. Once set, every new document you create will use your chosen settings by default.

To define default formatting,

  1. Click More>Format tab.

  2. Select your preferred settings for font.

  3. In the Format tab, under Font, click Default. A small window will appear displaying the settings you have selected. To apply these settings to all documents you create, check the box labeled Set as default for all new documents.

  4. Click OK.

 

Set Auto-format Options

Once you have set auto-formatting preferences, it automatically formats your text or data, saving you time and ensuring consistency in its appearance. To set auto-formatting preferences,

  1. Check/uncheck the auto-format options listed in the Preferences tab.

  2. Click Save.


 

Changing the Default Date Format (AutoField)   

Zoho Writer’s Today’s Date AutoField format is governed by your document’s locale preferences and date settings. To change how this date appears (e.g., DD/MM/YYYY, MM-DD-YYYY, or a localized style), you need to adjust these settings.
  1. Select Language & Region from the dropdown.
  2. In the settings dialog, find the Date Format field.
  3. Choose your preferred date format from the list.
  4. Click Save to apply the changes.

Once saved, all dynamically inserted “Today’s Date” fields will automatically adopt this new format.

Image Compression Settings

Inserting large images (such as photos, maps, and diagrams) increases your document size. if your document has lots of images, you can easily end up with a 20 page document that’s more than 50 MB.
Go to Top band -> Settings to have compression turned on to compress images of your document without losing the quality of those images.This is enabled by default.

Set auto-correct options

Auto-correction mostly helps when you want to replace a common misspelling with the correct spelling every time you type it. However, you can also use this feature for replacing input entries with symbols which you cannot type from the keyboard.  To set auto-correct options,
  1. Go to the Auto correct tab.
  2. Add auto-correct entries by entering the misspelled/unformatted text in the Replace field and the correct spelling/formatted text in the With field. Click the Add icon to the right of the text box and save settings.



Change writing suggestion settings   

 You can change writing suggestion settings like spell check, grammar, and writing quality suggestions.  To change default spell check settings,

  1. Open the Writing Suggestions tab.

  2. Enable or disable options as per your preferences. Click Save.

 

Change ruler units

You can always switch between inches and millimeters while using the ruler without having to convert one to the other.
To change ruler unit,
  1. In the Preferences tab, under Units you can change the ruler unit as shown



Troubleshooting Tips

Problem :  1

Description  : There is no the gear-shaped icon at the top-right corner of the editor, but I need it to customize the settings of the ruler.
Solution : Changing Document and Editor Settings is not possible in Desktop App.  This will is in our development plan.

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