Justify the text word

Align text left, center, or right

1. Click anywhere in the paragraph that you want to align.

2. On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, do one of the following:

To	Click
Align text left	Align Text Left
Center text	Center Text
Align text right	Align Text Right

Justify text

When you justify text, space is added between words so that both edges of each line are aligned with both margins. The last line in the paragraph is aligned left.

1. Click anywhere in the paragraph that you want to justify.

2. On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click Justify Text  .

Align text left, center, or right

1. Click anywhere in the paragraph that you want to align.

2. On the Home tab, under Paragraph, do one of the following:

To	Click
Align text left	Align Text Left
Center text	Center Text
Align text right	Align Text Right

Justify text

When you justify text, space is added between words so that both edges of each line are aligned with both margins. The last line in the paragraph is aligned left.

1. Click anywhere in the paragraph that you want to justify.

2. On the Home tab, under Paragraph, click Justify Text  .

Distribute text

When you distribute text, space is added between characters so that both edges of each line are aligned with both margins. The last line in the paragraph is distributed as well.

1. Click anywhere in the paragraph where you want to distribute text.

2. On the Home tab, under Paragraph, click Distributed Text  .

To simply put, a justified text is spaced so that the sides of your paragraphs are aligned to both the left and right margins.

MS Word automatically fills in spaces between words to achieve clean-cut edges rendering paragraph lines to be of the same length. 

• Using the Justify text-alignment button
• Using a shortcut key
• Using the Context menu

Lets get started.

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Method 1: Using the Justify Text-alignment Button

Step 1: Open an MS Word document. 

Step 2: Select the text. 

Select the text that you want to be justified. Then, go to the Home tab and select the Justify icon found under the Paragraph group. 

This will justify the selected text.

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Method 2: Using a Shortcut Key

Step 1: Open an MS Word document. 

Step 2: Select the text. 

Select the text you want to justify.

Now, hit the CTRL + J keys on your keyboard to justify the selected text. 

There you have it! You’ve just used a shortcut key to justify text in Word! 

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Method 3: Using the Context Menu

Step 1: Open a Word document. 

Step 2: Select the text. 

Now that you have your document ready, go ahead and select the text that you want to be justified. 

Step 3: Access the Context menu. 

With the text selected, right-click on it and select Paragraph.

This will display the Paragraph dialogue box right in the middle of your screen.

On the dialogue box, under Indents and Spacing, click the Alignment drop-down menu and select Justified. 

Click the OK button to save or Cancel to revert changes. 

Voila! You’ve just used the context menu to justify text in Word. 

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Conclusion

We hope you’ve found this article helpful!

Apply Left, Center, Right or Justify Alignment to Text in Microsoft Word

by Avantix Learning Team | Updated April 13, 2022

Applies to: Microsoft^® Word^® 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 and 365 (Windows)

You can align or justify text or other content in Word in several ways including using keyboard shortcuts, selecting commands in the Ribbon, using the Paragraph dialog box or modifying a style. It’s important to note that alignment or justification is paragraph formatting so applies to entire paragraphs. You can align text or inline graphics in paragraphs that are followed by a hard return (you pressed Enter or Return).

To see where paragraphs have been created in a Word document, it’s helpful to turn on Show/Hide ¶ on the Home tab in the Ribbon.

In this article, we’ll review 4 different ways to change horizontal alignment or justification in Word documents.

Recommended article: How to Insert a Line in Word (3+ Ways)

Do you want to learn more about Microsoft Word? Check out our virtual classroom or in-person Word courses >

There are 4 types of alignment that can be applied to paragraphs:

• Align left – aligns text or inline graphics with the left margin or indent
• Center – centers text or inline graphics between the left and right margins or indents
• Align right – aligns text or inline graphics with the right margin or indent
• Justify – distributes text evenly between the left and right margins or indents

A paragraph aligns within the indents (indent markers appear on the Ruler). The indents may be different from the margins. Paragraphs are also entered in cells in tables and each paragraph in a cell may have different indents and alignment settings.

1. Align or justify using keyboard shortcuts

To align or justify paragraphs using keyboard shortcuts:

• Align left – select the paragraph(s) and press Ctrl + L to align to the left.
• Align right – select the paragraph(s) and press Ctrl + R to align to the right.
• Align center – select the paragraph(s) and press Ctrl + E to align center.
• Justify – select the paragraph(s) and press Ctrl + J to justify.

2. Align or justify using the Ribbon

To align or justify paragraphs using the Word Ribbon

1. Select the paragraph(s) to which you want to apply alignment or justification. If you would like to select all paragraphs, press Ctrl + A.
2. Click the Home tab in the Ribbon and then click Align Left, Center, Align Right or Justify in the Paragraph group.

Align and Justify commands appear on the Home tab in the Ribbon in the Paragraph group:

3. Align or justify using the Paragraph dialog box

To align or justify paragraphs using the Paragraph dialog box:

1. Select the paragraph(s) to which you want to apply alignment or justification. If you would like to select all paragraphs, press Ctrl + A.
2. Right-click and select Paragraph. The Paragraph dialog box appears.
3. From the Alignment drop-down menu, select Left, Center, Right or Justify.
4. Click OK.

You can also display the Paragraph dialog box by clicking the Home tab in the Ribbon and then clicking the dialog box launcher on the bottom right of the Paragraph group.

The Paragraph dialog box includes a drop-down menu to select Alignment:

4. Align or justify by modifying a style

When you create a new blank document, it starts out using the Normal style which contains default paragraph and character formatting.

If you want to apply alignment or justification to multiple paragraphs throughout a document (such as a heading), you can modify a style (such as Heading 1).

To change the alignment for a heading style (such as Heading 1):

1. Click in a paragraph using the heading style (typically applied through the Home tab in the Ribbon).
2. Click the Home tab in the Ribbon.
3. In the Styles group, right-click the heading style. A dialog box appears.
4. Click Format. A drop-down menu appears.
5. Click Paragraph. The Paragraph dialog box appears.
6. From the Alignment drop-down menu, select Center or your preferred alignment.
7. Click OK twice.

Below is the Modify Style dialog box with align and justify commands:

There may be issues if you modify alignment or justification in the Normal style since other styles are based on this style by default. Cells in tables would likely be affected and so would other styles that are based on the Normal style (such as Header, Footer and Heading styles). Paragraphs using these styles would then inherit the alignment or justification (unless alignment or justification has been specifically modified in these styles). If you are comfortable using styles, you could create your own style or modify a different Word style to avoid this issue.

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How to Double Space in Word (4 Ways + Shortcut)

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Justify text

1. In the Paragraph group, click the Dialog Box Launcher. , and select the Alignment drop-down menu to set your justified text.
2. You can also use the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl + J to justify your text.

How do you change the alignment of words in Word?

Change text alignment
Place the insertion point anywhere in the paragraph, document, or table that you want to align. Do one of the following: To align the text left, press Ctrl+L. To align the text right, press Ctrl+R.

What is the shortcut for justify or justified alignment?

To make text justified, select and highlight the text first, then hold down Ctrl (the control key) on the keyboard and then press J. To make the text left aligned again, press and hold down Ctrl on the keyboard and press L.

How do you justify margins in Word?

Click the “Home” tab and select the “Justify Text” icon in the Paragraph group. This icon is identifiable by the multiple horizontal lines that are aligned on the left and right sides.

How do I fix justify spacing in Word?

Click the “Home” tab and then select the “Distributed” button in the Paragraph group. Alternatively, press “Ctrl-Shift-J.” This applies a full justification effect that evenly distributes spaces in both words and characters.

How do I insert alignment lines in Word?

Snap charts, pictures, and objects to a grid to align them in…

1. Select a chart, picture, or object in the document.
2. On the right end of the ribbon, select Format > Align > Grid Settings. The Grid and Guides dialog box appears.
3. Turn on one or both of these options: Option. Description.

How do I center align in Word?

Open the document in Word that contains the text you want to center. Use your mouse to select the text. Click the Home tab at the top of the window. Click the Center button in the Paragraph section of the ribbon.

What is CTRL F2?

Ctrl+F2 displays a print preview window in the Microsoft Word. Quickly rename a selected folder or file. Enter the CMOS Setup. F3. Often opens a search feature for many programs, including the Microsoft Windows.

Which key is used for justify?

Align and format paragraphs

To do this	Press
Center the paragraph.	Ctrl+E
Justify the paragraph.	Ctrl+J
Align the paragraph to the left.	Ctrl+L
Align the paragraph to the right.	Ctrl+R

What is the keyboard shortcut for center aligning a text in Msword *?

Ctrl+E
Centered text is text that is centered between two edges. You can also center-align your text with the shortcut Ctrl+E (Cmnd+E).

How do I create a right aligned line in Word?

Now, let’s create that right-aligned tab as follows:

1. On the Home tab, click the Paragraph group’s dialog launcher and then click Tabs in the bottom-left corner.
2. Enter 6.5 in the Tab stop position.
3. Click Right in the Alignment section (Figure C).
4. Click Set.
5. Click OK.

How do I fix weird justified spacing in Word for Mac?

Right-click on the text, and click Paragraph. On the Indents and Spacing tab, click the drop-down next to Alignment, and click Justified, OK. Right-click on the text again, and click Format, Font.

1. Click the Tools menu, Options. Then click the Compatibility tab.
2. Tick “Do full justification like WordPerfect…”
3. Click OK.

How do you make the last line of a paragraph not justified?

Press “Enter” or “Return” on your keyboard. This will remove the justification and left-align this last line while preserving the justification of the rest of the paragraph.

How do you control the word spacing in justified text with CSS?

How to control word-spacing in justified text with CSS?

1. What you are looking for is the text-justify property, which can be used along with text-align: justify;
2. The content below gives you the details about values that can be used with the text-justify property (copied from the MOZ page).
3. none.
4. auto.
5. inter-word.

What is the use of F9?

F9 – Refreshes a document in Microsoft Word and sends and receives emails in Outlook. F10 – Activates the menu bar of an open application. Shift + F10 is the same as right clicking.

What is Ctrl Shift F5?

Chrome also offers the reload shortcut combinations of “Ctrl + F5” and “Ctrl + Shift + R” to reload the currently open page and override the locally cached version. F5 refreshes the page you are currently on. Crtl+F5 or Shift+F5 will re-download cached content (i.e. JavaScript files, images, etc…)

What is Alt Shift?

Shift was an initiative politicising a new generation of activists for social justice and global change. It was a project of UK aid and development charity Christian Aid.

What is the shortcut key for align right?

Ctrl + R
Ctrl + E — Align selected text or line to the center. Ctrl + R — Align selected text or line to the right.

What is Ctrl L used for?

In Microsoft Word, Ctrl+L is used to left align a paragraph. Also referred to as Control L and C-l, Ctrl+L is a shortcut key that varies depending on the program being used. In Microsoft Word, Ctrl+L is used to left align a paragraph.

How do I use Ctrl J?

Ctrl+J in Word and other word processors
In Microsoft Word and other word processors, pressing Ctrl + J justifies the current line to evenly space its text or words between the left and right margins of the page. Full list of Microsoft Word shortcuts.

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In this chapter, we will discuss text alignments in Word 2010. There are four types of paragraph alignment available in Microsoft Word — left-aligned, center-aligned, rightaligned, and justified.

Left-Aligned Text

A paragraph’s text is left aligned when it is aligned evenly along the left margin. Here is a simple procedure to make a paragraph text left-aligned.

Step 1 − Click anywhere on the paragraph you want to align and click the Align Text Left button available on the Home tab or simply press the Ctrl + L keys.

Center Aligned Text

A paragraph’s text will be said center aligned if it is in the center of the left and right margins. Here is a simple procedure to make a paragraph text center aligned.

Step 1 − Click anywhere on the paragraph you want to align and click the Center button available on the Home tab or simply press the Ctrl + E keys.

Right-Aligned Text

A paragraph’s text is right-aligned when it is aligned evenly along the right margin. Here is a simple procedure to make a paragraph text right-aligned.

Step 1 − Click anywhere on the paragraph you want to align and click the Align Text Right button available on the Home tab or simply press the Ctrl + R keys.

Justified Text

A paragraph’s text is justified when it is aligned evenly along both the left and the right margins. Following is a simple procedure to make a paragraph text justified.

Step 1 − Click anywhere on the paragraph you want to align and click the Justify button available on the Home tab or simply press the Ctrl + J keys.

When you click the Justify button, it displays four options, justify, justify low, justify high and justify medium. You need to select only the justify option. The difference between these options is that low justify creates little space between two words, medium creates a more space than low justify and high creates maximum space between two words to justify the text.

MS-Word is a word processing application that provides many powerful tools, these tools provide a great advantage to the user. It is used to create documents like letters, articles, etc. MS-Word is an interactive and very user-friendly application. It has been developed by Microsoft Corporation Ltd.

Text Alignments

This is one of the features provided by MS-Word to its user. This feature is used by the user to align text or paragraphs so that it gives a good look or a kind of systematic look. There are 4 types of text alignments which are left-aligned, center-aligned, right-aligned, and justified. (All 4 are shown in the below image.

Left-Aligned Text

A paragraph or a text is left-aligned when that paragraph or text is aligned evenly along the left margin of the page in MS-Word. Now, we will learn step by step with the help of a diagram to make a paragraph text left-aligned.

Step 1: First open MS-Word on your PC.

Step 2: Now, Open the document or create a new one in which you want to perform this operation.

Step 3: Now, select the paragraph text which you want to make Left-aligned.

Step 4: Now, go to the “Home” tab and click on that. (As shown in the below image)

Step 5: Now, go to the “Paragraph” section in the “Home” tab and click on the Left-Align text button. 

Step 6: The paragraph text is aligned to left successfully.

Alternate way or using shortcut key:

The shortcut key for Left-Aligned Text is “Ctrl + L”.

Now, we can use a shortcut key for the same. Let us see this also step by step:

Step 1: First open MS-Word on your PC.

Step 2: Now, Open the document or create a new one in which you want to perform this operation.

Step 3: Now, select the paragraph text which you want to make Left-aligned.

Step 4: Now, use the Shortcut key which is “Ctrl +L “.

Step 5: The paragraph text is aligned to left successfully.

Center Aligned Text

A paragraph’s text or a text will be center-aligned if the paragraph or text is in the center of the left and right margins of the page in MS-Word. Now, we will learn step by step with the help of a diagram to make a paragraph text center-aligned.

Step 1: First open MS-Word on your PC.

Step 2: Now, Open the document or create a new one in which you want to perform this operation.

Step 3: Now, select the paragraph text which you want to make Center-aligned.

Step 4: Now, go to “Home” tab and click on that. (As shown in the below image)

Step 5: Now, go to the “Paragraph” section in the “Home” tab and click on the Center-Align text button.

Step 6: The paragraph text is aligned to the center successfully.

Alternate way or using shortcut key:

The shortcut key for Center-Aligned Text is “Ctrl + E”.

Now, we can use a shortcut key for the same. Let us see this also step by step:

Step 1: First open MS-Word on your PC.

Step 2: Now, Open the document or create a new one in which you want to perform this operation.

Step 3: Now, select the paragraph text which you want to make Center-aligned.

Step 4: Now, use the Shortcut key which is “Ctrl +E“.

Step 5: The paragraph text is aligned to the Center successfully.

Right-Aligned Text

A paragraph’s text is said to be right-aligned when it is aligned evenly along the right margin of the page in MS-Word. Now, we will learn step by step with the help of a diagram to make a paragraph text right-aligned.

Step 1: First open MS-Word on your PC.

Step 2: Now, Open the document or create a new one in which you want to perform this operation.

Step 3: Now, select the paragraph text which you want to make Center-aligned.

Step 4: Now, go to the “Home” tab and click on that. (As shown in the below image)

Step 5: Now, go to the “Paragraph” section in the “Home” tab and click on the Right-Align text button.

Step 6: The paragraph text is aligned to the center successfully.

Alternate way or using shortcut key:

The shortcut key for Right-Aligned Text is “Ctrl + R”.

Now, we can use a shortcut key for the same. Let us see this also step by step:

Step 1: First open MS-Word on your PC.

Step 2: Now, Open the document or create a new one in which you want to perform this operation.

Step 3: Now, select the paragraph text which you want to make Right-aligned.

Step 4: Now, use the Shortcut key which is “Ctrl +R“.

Step 5: The paragraph text is aligned to the Right successfully.

Justified Text

A paragraph’s text is said to be justified when it is aligned evenly along both the left side and the right side margins of the page in MS-Word. Now, we will learn step by step with the help of a diagram to make a paragraph text justified.

Step 1: First open MS-Word on your PC.

Step 2: Now, Open the document or create a new one in which you want to perform this operation.

Step 3: Now, select the paragraph text which you want to make justified text.

Step 4: Now, go to the “Home” tab and click on that. (As shown in the below image)

Step 5: Now, go to the “Paragraph” section in the “Home” tab and click on Justify text button.

Step 6: The paragraph text is aligned to the Justified text successfully.

Alternate way or using shortcut key:

The shortcut key for Justified Text is “Ctrl + J”.

Now, we can use a shortcut key for the same. Let us see this also step by step:

Step 1: First open MS-Word on your PC.

Step 2: Now, Open the document or create a new one in which you want to perform this operation.

Step 3: Now, select the paragraph text which you want to make Justified Text.

Step 4: Now, use the Shortcut key which is “Ctrl +j“.

Step 5: The paragraph text is aligned to the Justified text successfully.