Spacing after, which is more commonly used in legal documents than spacing before, is what makes the cursor appear to skip a line when you press the Enter key after typing the text of a paragraph. It’s really spacing between paragraphs, but it is created as an attribute of a paragraph, not by pressing the Enter key. In essence, you can configure paragraphs so that they incorporate extra white space – kind of like a buffer – above and/or below them.
Let’s quickly review “ spacing before” and “ spacing after,” since experience has taught me that even long-time Word users aren’t always sure of the meaning of those terms. And you can do so for multiple paragraphs simply by selecting / highlighting the paragraphs first. Sometimes, though, it’s convenient to add or remove spacing before or spacing after. The pre-set line spacing choices – 1.0, 1.15, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 – aren’t particularly useful for legal documents (and where standard single and double spacing are appropriate, it’s easy to apply those options with the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl 1 and Ctrl 2). The options are limited to a few pre-set line spacing choices a command that opens the Paragraph dialog and, at the very bottom, context-sensitive commands that alternate among “Remove Spacing Before,” “Add Spacing Before,” “Remove Spacing After,” and “Add Spacing After,” depending on the configuration of the paragraph your cursor is in. However, the Line and Paragraph Spacing drop-down can be useful for a few specific types of formatting.
The Paragraph dialog, which provides access to a full range of configuration options including paragraph alignment, indentation, line spacing, before and after spacing, widow and orphan control, tab settings, and more – it’s sort of a “one-stop shop” for paragraph formatting – comes in very handy in most situations. That’s because I typically open the Paragraph dialog when I want to change the line and/or paragraph spacing of document text. In all candor, I actually hadn’t noticed the drop-down until a client pointed it out to me several years ago. Training clients sometimes ask me about the Line and Paragraph Spacing drop-down in the Paragraph group on the Home tab in Word. Subscribe to get more articles like this oneĭid you find this article helpful? If you would like to receive new articles, join our email list.The Line and Paragraph Spacing drop-down menu (Word) Typically, when Word seems to insert a character or change formatting automatically, a setting in AutoCorrect is causing the change. If you click the AutoCorrect tab, there are many spelling errors that are fixed automatically (for example, if you type teh, AutoCorrect changes it to the). There are also several other tabs in this dialog box including AutoCorrect and Math AutoCorrect. AutoFormat options will change an existing document. AutoFormat as You Type options will make changes as you type. You can turn off options in the AutoFormat As You Type tab of the AutoCorrect dialog box:ĭon't confuse AutoFormat As You Type with AutoFormat. Deselect on uncheck the desired options (such as Ordinals with superscript, Hyphens with a dash or Fractions with fraction character).In the categories on the left, select Proofing.To turn AutoFormat As You Type options off: Turning AutoFormat As You Type options off To access AutoCorrect, you'll need to display the Word Options dialog box and then click Proofing in the categories on the left (screenshots are from Word 365 but a similar in other versions of Word): When Word seems to change formatting automatically, AutoCorrect options are typically causing the change (such as correcting spelling errors, adding lines, changing straight quotes to smart quotes, formatting ordinals with superscript, changing internet paths to hyperlinks and applying automatic bullets and numbering).
Recommended article: How to Hide Comments in Word (or Display Them)ĭo you want to learn more about Microsoft Word? Check out our virtual classroom or live classroom Word courses > If text or formatting is changing, there are several options you can turn off. You can stop Word from changing formatting automatically in your documents by turning off AutoFormat As You Type settings in the AutoCorrect dialog box. By Avantix Learning Team | Updated October 9, 2021Īpplies to: Microsoft ® Word ® 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019 or 365 (Windows)