
The paragraph spacing only lets you add or remove a preset spacing before the paragraph or after the paragraph. If you want to choose another spacing, or revert to the original spacing, click the “Line and Paragraph Spacing” option again and select a different multiple. Select the multiple you want, and Word applies it to the selected paragraphs. “2.0” is double spacing, “3.0” is triple spacing, and so on. This opens a dropdown menu with presets for line spacing (at the top) and paragraph spacing (at the bottom). On the Home tab, click the “Line and Paragraph Spacing” button. Select all of the paragraphs you want to change (or place your insertion point anywhere in a single paragraph you want to change). If you select text from multiple paragraphs, you’ll change things for all those paragraphs. If you place your insertion point in a paragraph, you’ll change things for that paragraph. Remember that line and paragraph spacing are both applied at the paragraph level. Word has some common preset options for you to choose from.
#Microsoft word remove space between lines how to#
Let’s take a closer look at how to do all this. By default, Word adds eight points of space after a paragraph and no additional space before the paragraph, and you can change both of those values however you like. However, if you want to fine tune things, you can also specify an exact point size to use. If you choose double spacing, that space between lines will be 24 points. If you choose single line spacing, the space between lines will be 12 points. For example, say you’re using a 12 point font for the text in your paragraph. In Word, line spacing is most commonly measured in multiples of whatever font size the paragraph is using. Paragraph spacing controls how much space comes before and after the paragraph. Line spacing controls how all lines of a paragraph are spaced.

RELATED: How to Embed Fonts in a Microsoft Word DocumentĪnd weird as it might sound at first, both line and paragraph spacing are applied at the paragraph level. And like using the right font or proper margins, controlling spacing is an important part of document formatting. Paragraph spacing is the amount of white space between two paragraphs. Line spacing is the amount of white space between two lines of text. Have a question for Angela (writing/publishing) or Richard (marketing)? Contact us here.They are both pretty much what they sound like. (If you view the paragraphs with the Show option still on, you won’t be able to easily see the spacing errors.) When you find another problem, simply click, rinse, and repeat all over again, per the paragraphs above. (It can be a tedious job to fix each and every one!)Īfter you fix one paragraph, turn off the show/hide button, and review more pages until you find another errant paragraph with weird spacing. In our experience, those don’t need to be fixed. Now, some paragraphs in your book will have those empty zeroes and you won’t notice any spacing errors at all.

After you remove all the odd characters from the line, your spacing between words will be even. To do that, simply put your cursor after the odd character, click your backspace key, and then click your space bar. You want to get rid of the odd characters and replace them with the plain black dot. We occasionally see what appears to be a tiny, microscopic apostrophe, which causes problems, too. But, in some places, you will see the what look like empty circles. When you do this, you will be able to see the odd symbols that are causing the annoying spacing errors.īetween most words, you’ll see a plain black dot. This is necessary because the symbols are so tiny. Next, click the “View” option in MSWord and Zoom to 200%.

You can also click View, and then see the Show/Hide option. Here is one example where the button looks like a paragraph symbol. Different versions of the program have different buttons/options for finding that option. There is a fix, however!įirst, in your document, go to the affected paragraph, and then click on the show/hide option in MSWord. The problem you’re describing is one we see on occasion. Copying and pasting text from one program to another (and even saving from an old version of a program to a newer one) always carries somewhat of a risk. The errors you’re seeing are being caused by something inserted by your version of MSWord, or perhaps even from a previous program. Luckily, many of these gremlins can be fixed with a little creativity. Can you help?Īfter formatting thousands of books for over the past 16 years, I’ve seen pretty much every bug MSWord can throw our way. Why are some of the spaces between words in my fully-justified manuscript uneven? There are normal spaces between most words, and weird, long spaces between others…on the same line of text! It doesn’t make any sense.
