Howto: Fix the Outlook 2007 Double Spacing Problem

I use Outlook 2007 and have experienced crazy formatting problems under certain circumstances that are not always reproducible. Here’s what I did to fix the problem:

  1. Close both Outlook and Word if they are running
  2. Browse to my C:\Documents and Settings\User\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates directory and rename the normal.dotm and normalemail.dotm files. These files will be automatically recreated the next time you launch Outlook. Note that renaming these files may cause you to lose signatures and other custom settings.
  3. Launch Outlook, then close Outlook. This will cause your normalemail.dotm file to be recreated.
  4. Launch Word, then close Word. This will cause your normal.dotm file to be recreated.
  5. Recreate your signatures if needed.
  6. Repeat this process for any other user profiles you may have.

I’m sure there is a more elegant way to fix this problem, but I’ve tried modifying everything I could think of inside both Outlook and Word – styles, formatting, stationary, Outlook templates, etc.

Posted in howto, office. Tags: , . 13 Comments »

13 Responses to “Howto: Fix the Outlook 2007 Double Spacing Problem”

  1. Derek Says:

    Which is exactly why I use thunderbird.

  2. I had the same problem! Says:

    Actually this is caused by HTML formatting. Either hit SHIFT+ENTER twice or hit ENTER only once instead of twice. There isn’t a problem with Outlook. HTML is supposed to do that.

    Thunderbird has it’s issues too. No software is perfect.

  3. Andib Says:

    But, in Word, you can change so that, even in HTML mode, it will not insert a line space between paragraphs. I can’t seem to get that to save in Outlook.

  4. John Says:

    This fixed the problem.
    Thanks

  5. Suds Says:

    I have been annoyed by this quirk of Outlook 2007 for some time.

    SHIFT+ENTER works fine but is inconvenient.

    I like right clicking on the message after I’m done composing and then selecting “Paragraph…” In the popup window select “Single” for Line spacing and click the button for:
    “Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style”
    Slightly inconvenient but works well.

    • Suds Says:

      I found a better and more permanent fix on another website.
      This one fixes the problem “permananently” because it
      automatically sets “Don’t add space between paragraphs”

      Maldevane
      View profile
      (1 user) More options Aug 28 2008, 10:35 am
      Newsgroups: microsoft.public.outlook.general
      From: Maldevane
      Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:35:06 -0700
      Local: Thurs, Aug 28 2008 10:35 am
      Subject: RE: Any Fix For Font & Spacing Issues in Outlook 2007?
      Reply to author | Forward | Print | Individual message | Show original | Report this message | Find messages by this author
      Follow these steps in order one by one…
      Open a new message.
      Click ‘Format Text’ in the tabs at the top.
      Left click on ‘Quick Styles’ so that it drops down.
      Right click on ‘Normal’ and choose modify.
      Where it says ‘Style for following paragraph’ choose ‘No Spacing’.
      Then select the radio button below that says ‘New documents based on this
      template’.
      Click the little format button near the bottom of the dialog window and
      select ‘Paragraph’ from the drop down.
      On that new window, make sure line spacing is set to single.
      Make sure the Spacing -> After value is set to 0pt.
      Ensure that there is a check in the box that says ‘Don’t ass space
      between……’
      Say OK to that window.
      Say OK to the window under it.
      Close that new message.
      Start a new message and try some typing …

  6. Keith Says:

    Follow these steps in order one by one…
    Open a new message.
    Click ‘Format Text’ in the tabs at the top.
    Left click on ‘Quick Styles’ so that it drops down.
    Right click on ‘Normal’ and choose modify.
    Where it says ‘Style for following paragraph’ choose ‘No Spacing’.
    Then select the radio button below that says ‘New documents based on this
    template’.
    Click the little format button near the bottom of the dialog window and
    select ‘Paragraph’ from the drop down.
    On that new window, make sure line spacing is set to single.
    Make sure the Spacing -> After value is set to 0pt.
    Ensure that there is a check in the box that says ‘Don’t ass space
    between……’
    Say OK to that window.
    Say OK to the window under it.
    Close that new message.
    Start a new message and try some typing …

  7. Bouaketh Says:

    I followed many suggestions here and the most recent didn’t work for me. So what I did was take MS Word’s Normal Template which is single spaced and formatted as prescribed above and made a copy of it. I renamed Normalemail something else and renamed the the copy Normalemail. I had to fix this for some 50-100 users so I just copied both Normal.dotm and Normalemail.dotm into the appropriate directory. Seems to be working so far.

  8. Daniel Earl Says:

    Many thanks for the instructions on how to do this Julie. This was driving me mad but now it’s fixed!

  9. Steve H Says:

    Here is a better solution:

    http://www.fix-outlook-line-breaks.com/

    It automatically remaps Enter to Shift+Enter whenever you are composing HTML mail in Outlook. This is the only thing I’ve found which is actually a usable fix to the problem.

  10. Michelle Says:

    What I’m having problems with is getting it formatted for a reply and I’m using a stationary.

    I had figured it out before, but got a new computer and now can’t get it to work right.

  11. Bob Says:

    Julie, that worked GREAT!
    Thank you so very much, this was most annoying.
    Now it works like it used to.


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