Adjust indents and spacing

Applies To
Word for Microsoft 365 Word 2024 Word 2021 Word 2019 Word 2016

Explore paragraph dialog box options

There are general, indentation, and spacing options available in the Paragraph dialog box options. At the bottom of the dialog box, you can see a Preview of how the options will look before you apply them.

  • Before Adjusts the amount of space before a paragraph.

  • After Adjusts the amount of space after a paragraph.

  • Line spacing

    • Choose Single to single-space text. To quickly single space your entire document, see Single space lines in a document.
    • Choose 1.5 lines to space text one-and-one-half times that of single spacing.
    • Choose Double to double-space text. To quickly double space your entire document, see Double space lines in a document.
    • Choose At least > At to set the minimum amount of spacing needed to fit the largest font or graphic on the line.
    • Choose Exactly > At to set fixed line spacing, expressed in points. For example, if the text is in 10-point font, you can specify 12 points as the line spacing.
    • Choose Multiple > At to set line spacing as a multiple expressed in numbers greater than 1. 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).

  • Don't add Choose Don’t add space between paragraphs when you don’t want extra space between paragraphs.

If you want to save the settings you chose as your default, select Set as Default.

Explore paragraph dialog box options

There are general, indentation, and spacing options available in the Paragraph dialog box  Dialog box launcher options. At the bottom of the dialog box, you can see a Preview of how the options will look before you apply them.

General  
Alignment Choose Left to align text to the left with a ragged right edge (or use the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+L).
Choose Center to center text with a ragged left and right edge (Ctrl+E).
Choose Right to align text to the right with a ragged left edge (Ctrl+R).
Choose Justify to align text both left and right, adding space between words (Ctrl+J).
Outline level The level at which the paragraph appears in Outline view.
Choose Collapsed by default if you want the document to open with headings collapsed by default. See Collapse or expand parts of a document to learn more.
Indentation  
Left Indents the paragraph on the left by the amount you choose.
Right Indents the paragraph on the right by the amount you choose.
Special Choose First line > By to indent the first line of a paragraph. To quickly create a first line indent using the ruler, see Create a first line indent.
Choose Hanging > By to create a hanging indent. To quickly create a hanging indent using the ruler, see Create a hanging indent.
Mirror indents When you choose this, Left and Right become Inside and Outside. This is for book style printing.
Spacing  
Before Adjusts the amount of space before a paragraph.
After Adjusts the amount of space after a paragraph.
Line spacing Choose Single to single-space text. To quickly single space your entire document, see Single space lines in a document.
Choose 1.5 lines to space text one-and-one-half times that of single spacing.
Choose Double to double-space text. To quickly double space your entire document, see Double space lines in a document.
Choose At least > At to set the minimum amount of spacing needed to fit the largest font or graphic on the line.
Choose Exactly > At to set fixed line spacing, expressed in points. For example, if the text is in 10-point font, you can specify 12 points as the line spacing.
Choose Multiple > At to set line spacing as a multiple expressed in numbers greater than 1. 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).
Don’t add Choose Don’t add space between paragraphs when you don’t want extra space between paragraphs.

If you want to save the settings you chose as your default, select Set as Default.