Hi Jackie

Your normal.dot template should be in the folder identified at Tools >
Options > File Locations > User Templates.

If you *also* have a normal.dot file in the folder identified there as the
Startup folder, then Word will ignore it, and you should delete it.

If you want to make a change to your normal.dot file, then follow the
instructions at
How to change the default settings for Word documents
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CustomizeNormalTemplate.htm

However, many people would advise you against putting page numbers in your
normal.dot file. This is because, once you've put a header or footer in any
file, you can't delete them. You can delete the content in a header or
footer, but you can't delete it completely.

When you can't delete a header or footer, it makes it very difficult to
print anything with very small margins, like a page of labels.

The best advice is to do File > New and choose to create a new template.
Make the changes you need there, add your page numbers and save it. Now,
when you want a document with page numbers, do File > New and choose your
template.

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly.  Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

Furthering Shauna Kelly's advice, do not put these in normal.dot, unless you
never want to do labels or envelopes!

Create a custom template and use that.

Do not use Insert > Page Number. Instead, go into the header/footer view and
put them in your header or footer. You can use AutoText entries of the
appropriate fields from the header/footer toolbar.