For example, if the text is in 10-point font, you can specify 12 points as the line spacing. Select Exactly > At to set fixed line spacing, expressed in points. Select At least > At to set the minimum amount of spacing needed to fit the largest font or graphic on the line. Select 1.5 lines to space text one-and-one-half times that of single spacing. When you select Automatically adjust right indent when document grid is defined, the right indent is automatically adjusted for the paragraph when a document grid is defined. Select Hanging to create a hanging indent, and then specify the size of the indent in By. Select First line to indent the first line of a paragraph, and then specify the size of the indent in By. Moves in the right side of the paragraph by the amount you choose. Moves in the left side of the paragraph by the amount you choose. Select the level at which the paragraph appears in Outline view.
Select Justified to align text both left and right, adding space between words ( + J). Select Right to align text to the right with a ragged left edge ( + R). Select Centered to center text with a ragged left and right edge ( + E). Select Left to align text to the left with a ragged right edge (or use the keyboard shortcut, + L). At the bottom of the dialog box, the Preview box shows you how the options look before you apply them. If you want to save the settings you chose as your default, select Set as Default.Ĭhoose from these options in the Paragraph dialog box. For example, setting line spacing to 1.15 will increase the space by 15 percent, and setting line spacing to 3 increases the space by 300 percent (triple spacing).Ĭhoose Don’t add space between paragraphs when you don’t want extra space between paragraphs. For example, if the text is in 10-point font, you can specify 12 points as the line spacing.Ĭhoose Multiple > At to set line spacing as a multiple expressed in numbers greater than 1. To quickly double space your entire document, see Double space lines in a document.Ĭhoose At least > At to set the minimum amount of spacing needed to fit the largest font or graphic on the line.Ĭhoose Exactly > At to set fixed line spacing, expressed in points. To quickly single space your entire document, see Single space lines in a document.Ĭhoose 1.5 lines to space text one-and-one-half times that of single spacing.Ĭhoose Double to double-space text. This is for book style printing.Īdjusts the amount of space before a paragraph.Īdjusts the amount of space after a paragraph.Ĭhoose Single to single-space text. When you choose this, Left and Right become Inside and Outside. To quickly create a hanging indent using the ruler, see Create a hanging indent. To quickly create a first line indent using the ruler, see Create a first line indent.Ĭhoose Hanging > By to create a hanging indent. Indents the paragraph on the right by the amount you choose.Ĭhoose First line > By to indent the first line of a paragraph. Indents the paragraph on the left by the amount you choose. See Collapse or expand parts of a document to learn more. The level at which the paragraph appears in Outline view.Ĭhoose Collapsed by default if you want the document to open with headings collapsed by default. At the bottom of the dialog box, you can see a Preview of how the options will look before you apply them.Ĭhoose Left to align text to the left with a ragged right edge (or use the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+L).Ĭhoose Center to center text with a ragged left and right edge (Ctrl+E).Ĭhoose Right to align text to the right with a ragged left edge (Ctrl+R).Ĭhoose Justify to align text both left and right, adding space between words (Ctrl+J). Furthermore, you can assign keyboard shortcuts to your "styles" and use them to apply the desired formatting directly to the document (much like you would by pressing CTRL+T, for example).There are general, indentation, and spacing options available in the Paragraph dialog box options. If you have different levels of hanging indents that you want to use in a document, it is much more efficient to create one or more "styles" than to define a hanging indent. The hanging indent shortcut is rather generic in its effect, however. You can also use SHIFT+CTRL+T to undo the indent by one tab stop (to the left).
Each press of the shortcut (CTRL+T) indents the paragraph one more tab stop to the right. If there are no previously defined tab stops in the paragraph, Word indents to the next default tab stop (typically in one-half inch intervals). This "hangs" a paragraph to the next tab stop. In MS Word, you can initiate a hanging indent by pressing CTRL+T on your keyboard.
Hanging indents are a very common format used in many documents because it coordinates information. A hanging indent is created when the first line of the paragraph starts at the start of the left margin, but the second and subsequent lines are indented.