All Word documents are based on a template, even if you’ve just opened the program. By default, your AutoText entries, styles, macros, toolbars, and keyboard shortcuts are stored in a file called normal.dot.

Normal.dot is a special kind of template called a global template. It’s given that name because it applies to all documents, no matter what the document type. Normal.dot is loaded every time you open Word (unless you have changed the default template). Even if you open another template, normal.dot is loaded first so that all of your customizations still appear. If that file is renamed, any of those items that have been customized will be reset to the default settings.

You don’t need to worry about saving your customized elements to normal.dot, as by default this is done for you. Just be aware that this is the global template that by default stores most of your customizations.