How can I set the paper size of a Word (.docx) output to A4?

[cbrnr]

How can I set the paper size of a Word (docx) output to A4? Both pdf and typst have specific options for this, but I don't see an equivalent setting for docx.

[mcanouil]

You use the template document, see Word Templates.

edit:

• Support papersize variable when converting .md to .docx jgm/pandoc#6550

[mcanouil]

USA does not use the metric system thus A<digit> formats.
John MacFarlane is from the USA, so the default is "US Letter" format.

Same for margins, etc., most in Pandoc uses inches (R also uses inches by default).

[cbrnr]

Yeah, it's still crazy given that >>80% of the world uses A4.

Related follow-up question, I'm trying to get A4 output for apaquarto-docx, but just specifying

format:
  apaquarto-docx:
    reference-doc: apaquarto.docx

gives a warning and the produced document is still Letter. I guess this has to be supported by the extension, right?

[mcanouil]

As usual, a fully reproducible example is required.

(For my mental well-being, I try my best to stay far away from Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.)

[cbrnr]

OK, so should I ask this question here or is it better to ask the extension developer?

I'm not using Word myself, but it is unfortunately necessary because I need to distribute a manuscript to people who do not / cannot / will not work with anything other than Word 🙈.

[mcanouil]

OK, so should I ask this question here or is it better to ask the extension developer?

First, you could try without any extension and see how it goes.
If the warning/error only happens in the extension, then yes.
If not, there might be something missing or a bug/limitation in Pandoc/quarto. => Open a new Q&A discussion with a reproducible example.