Macros disappear

The symptoms suggest that the Normal.dot template that contains the macros (or Normal.dotm, if you have Word 2007 or later) has been replaced by a default "empty" version of the file. That could happen if the original file was moved or renamed, so that there was no file with that exact name, and then Word was started.

If you have a backup of that file or of the whole drive, restore it to replace the current copy. If you don't have a backup, look in the %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates folder for a file named "Backup of Normal.wbk" that you could rename to replace the current Normal template. If that isn't available, you're out of luck -- there is no other copy elsewhere that will contain your macros.

As a general philosophy, the Normal template is a terrible place to store anything you want permanently. Its convenience is generally outweighed by its likelihood of being replaced or corrupted. When you have a macro that you've tweaked the way you want it, especially if it's something you expect to use frequently, move it to another template that you store in the %appdata%\Microsoft\Word\Startup folder, which makes it a global add-in.

Jay is right. Your normal template may still be there but Word isn't seeing it, or it may have been overwritten.

Like Jay, I believe in keeping macros (and other global template resources) in a different Global Template kept in Word's Startup Folder. i also maintain a time-stamped backup because in Word 2010 I do keep much of my AutoText in the normal template.

One other possibility would be that you changed the location of your User Templates Folder within Word's options without moving your normal template.

You can search your computer for normal.dot and normal.wbk. By default, different versions of Word (and different operating systems) have used different folders for the normal template. Note that the templates folder, by default, is a hidden system folder. You have to explicitly tell the search function to look in such folders.

The following page gives instructions for finding the normal template but the vba method will only find the location of the file currently in use by Word. Normal Template in Microsoft Word - How to Find or Open the Normal Template