Default

The pre-set values for options in a computer software program. The default settings are settings the manufacturer selected for whatever reason. As an example, the default font setting for Microsoft^® Word could be New Times Roman. The default font size could be 10px. Users are not required to use default settings. Default settings are meant to be changed in order to make a program more comfortable or useful to the user. It can also be a means of personalizing a program.

To set a value to something other than the default, the user may select other options that are available in the program. Sometimes this is done by accessing Preferences. As an example, a user could select Ariel instead of New Times Roman, and might prefer to have the font size larger than the default. So the user could change the font size to 12px or +1 (one size larger than the default).

Default can also be used as a verb, as in "the program defaulted to its original setting." Don't worry, this only happens if the program detects a technical reason why the user's selection will not work.

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