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You can change the spacing between characters of text for selected text or for particular characters. In addition, you can stretch or compress an entire paragraph to make it fit and look the way that you want it to.
Change the spacing between characters
Selecting Expanded or Condensed alters the spacing between all selected letters by the same amount. Kerning alters the spacing between particular pairs of letters — in some cases reducing and in other cases expanding the space depending upon the letters.
Expand or condense the space evenly between all the selected characters
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Select the text that you want to change.
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On the Home tab, click the Font Dialog Box Launcher, and then click the Advanced tab.
Note: If you’re using Word 2007 the tab is called Character Spacing.
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In the Spacing box, click Expanded or Condensed, and then specify how much space you want in the By box.
Kern the characters that are above a particular size
Kerning refers to the way spacing between two specific characters is adjusted. The idea is to give a better looking result by reducing the spacing between characters that fit together nicely (such as «A» and «V») and increasing the spacing between characters that don’t.
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Select the text that you want to change.
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On the Home tab, click the Font Dialog Box Launcher, and then click the Advanced tab.
Note: If you’re using Word 2007 the tab is called Character Spacing.
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Select the Kerning for fonts check box, and then enter the point size in the Points and above box.
Stretch or scale the text horizontally
When you scale the text, you change the shapes of the characters by percentages. You can scale text by stretching it or by compressing it.
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Select the text that you want to stretch or compress.
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On the Home tab, click the Font Dialog Box Launcher, and then click the Advanced tab.
Note: If you’re using Word 2007 the tab is called Character Spacing.
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In the Scale box, enter the percentage that you want.
Percentages above 100 percent stretch the text. Percentages below 100 percent compress the text.
Change the line spacing
To increase or decrease the amount of vertical space between lines of text within a paragraph, the best method is to modify the style the paragraph uses.
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Find the style you’re using in the Styles gallery on the Home tab.
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Right-click the style you want to change and select Modify.
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Near the center of the dialog box you’ll find the line spacing buttons that let you select single, 1.5x or double spaced. Choose the spacing you want to apply and click OK.
If you’d like to apply more specific line spacing to the style, clickthe Format button at the bottom left corner of the Modify Style dialog box and select Paragraph. The Line spacing drop-down lets you select or set more specific line spacing.
For more information on modifying styles in Word, see: Customize styles in Word.
See also
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Using Styles in Word — a free, 10-minute video training course.
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Change the font size
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Set page margins
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Align text left or right, center text, or justify text on a page
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Change the line spacing in Word
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Single-space part of a document
- Select the paragraphs you want to change.
- Go to Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing .
- Choose 1.0.
Contents
- 1 How do I set Microsoft Word to default to single space?
- 2 How do I change word from double space to single space?
- 3 Why will Microsoft Word not single space?
- 4 How do I fix the spacing between words in Word?
- 5 Is 1.5 single spacing in Word?
- 6 Is 1.0 single spacing?
- 7 What is the shortcut key for 1.5 line spacing?
- 8 Is 1.15 single spacing?
- 9 What size is single spacing?
- 10 What is the shortcut command of single spacing?
- 11 What is Ctrl +N?
- 12 What is L Ctrl?
- 13 How do you single space in Word on a Mac?
- 14 Should I use 1.5 spacing?
- 15 What does single space in word mean?
How do I set Microsoft Word to default to single space?
Set single space as the default
- Go to Design > Paragraph Spacing > Custom Paragraph Spacing.
- Under Line Spacing, choose Single.
- At the bottom, select New documents based on this template.
- Select OK.
How do I change word from double space to single space?
You can double-space all or part of a Word document. To double-space the whole document, go to Design > Paragraph Spacing, and choose Double. Tip: To double-space only part of the document, select the paragraphs you want to change, go to Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing, and choose 2.0.
Why will Microsoft Word not single space?
The default paragraph spacing in Word 2010 is 1.15 lines and 10 points Spacing After. In order to get completely single spacing, you must not only change the line spacing to Single but also change the Spacing After to 0.
How do I fix the spacing between words in Word?
Change the spacing between characters
- Select the text that you want to change.
- On the Home tab, click the Font Dialog Box Launcher, and then click the Advanced tab.
- In the Spacing box, click Expanded or Condensed, and then specify how much space you want in the By box.
Is 1.5 single spacing in Word?
In the Paragraph dialog box, select one of the options from the dropdown menu under “Line spacing.” You can select single-, 1.5-, or double-spacing, or you can select “Multiple” and set your own custom line spacing. To apply your selected line spacing, select “OK.”
Is 1.0 single spacing?
Line spacing is the distance between lines. In earlier versions of Word, the default line spacing distance is “1.0,” or single-spacing, which stacks lines closely together with minimal space between. The amount of that space varies depending on the font used.
What is the shortcut key for 1.5 line spacing?
Ctrl+5
Pressing Ctrl+5 changes to 1.5 line spacing.
Is 1.15 single spacing?
The value of “single” line spacing is 1.15 or 115%.
What size is single spacing?
Line spacing is the distance between lines. In earlier versions of Word, the default line spacing distance is “1.0,” or single-spacing, which stacks lines closely together with minimal space between. The amount of that space varies depending on the font used. Single line (1.0 line) spacing is Word’s default.
What is the shortcut command of single spacing?
Ctrl+1
Align and format paragraphs
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| Apply single spacing to the paragraph. | Ctrl+1 |
| Apply double spacing to the paragraph. | Ctrl+2 |
| Apply 1.5-line spacing to the paragraph. | Ctrl+5 |
| Add or remove space before the paragraph. | Ctrl+0 (zero) |
What is Ctrl +N?
☆☛✅Ctrl+N is a shortcut key often used to create a new document, window, workbook, or another type of file. Also referred to as Control N and C-n, Ctrl+N is a shortcut key most often used to create a new document, window, workbook, or another type of file.
What is L Ctrl?
Alternatively referred to as Control+L and C-l, Ctrl+L is a keyboard shortcut whose function differs depending on the program being. For example, in Microsoft Word, Ctrl+L is used to align text with the left edge of a document (margin).Ctrl+L in Excel and other spreadsheet programs.
How do you single space in Word on a Mac?
Current Document Line Spacing
- Open the document in Word for Mac, and select all text you would like to format to single space.
- Click the “Home” tab in the top navigation ribbon, and then click “Line Spacing” in the Paragraph section.
- Click the “Single Space” icon to change the selected text to single space.
Should I use 1.5 spacing?
Go to the menu under Line spacing . Exactly is best—enter a fixed measurement. Single , 1.5 lines , and Double are equivalent to about 117%, 175%, and 233% line spacing, contrary to what their names suggest. Don’t use these—they miss the target zone of 120–145%.
What does single space in word mean?
: to type or print with no blank lines between lines of text.
While you might have experience changing the formatting for your Word documents to meet the requirements for your school or job, you might encounter a situation where you need to use different settings.
Microsoft Word is full of different tools and menus that let you customize your document, and line spacing is something that you can adjust.
Our tutorial below will show you how to single space in Word, even if you have already written and edited the entire document.
How to Make a Word Single Space Document
- Open the document.
- Click inside the document and press Ctrl + A to select everything.
- Select the Home tab at the top of the window.
- Click the Line and Paragraph Spacing button.
- Choose the 1.0 option.
Our guide continues below with additional information on how to make a document single space instead of double space in Microsoft Word, including pictures of these steps.
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Document spacing can impact several things, including the number of pages in the document. Microsoft Word includes several different options from which you can select to control the amount of space between the lines in your document.
Many schools and organizations have their own rules and preferences when it comes to the amount of line spacing that you have in your documents. Often they want you to use double spacing, but it’s entirely possible that they might want single spacing to reduce the number of pages in documents.
A document in Microsoft Word can have a lot of different formatting options, including the amount of space between lines.
If your current document is double spaced, or if it appears to have more or less spacing than the single spacing you need, you may be looking for a way to adjust that.
You can make a Microsoft Word single space document by opening the document, selecting all of the text, choosing the Home tab, clicking the Line and Paragraph Spacing button, then choosing the 1.0 option from the drop down menu.
Our guide below will show you how to single space in Word by selecting all of the text in the document and adjusting the line spacing setting.
You can also check out our tutorial on how to select all in Word if you would like to know more about using that option.
How to Use Single Spacing in Word for Office 365 (Guide with Pictures)
The steps in this article were performed in the Microsoft Word for Office 365 version of the application but will work in most other versions as well.
Step 1: Open your document in Microsoft Word.
Step 2: Click inside the document, then press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to select everything.
If this is a new, blank document, you can skip this step.
Step 3: Select the Home tab at the top of the window.
Step 4: Click the Line & Paragraph Spacing button in the Paragraph section of the ribbon.
Step 5: Choose the 1.0 option from the dropdown menu to switch the document to single spacing.
Note that there is a Line Spacing Options button at the bottom of that dropdown menu.
If you select that option, you will be able to customize your document spacing further and set a new default spacing option if you would like.
Our tutorial continues below with additional discussion about how to make a document single spaced in Word.
You can also read our article on how to double space in Word for additional information about Microsoft Word line spacing.
How to Change Default Line Spacing in Microsoft Word
While you can change line spacing in every document that you create or edit in Microsoft Word, you might not want to adjust spacing every time.
But if your Word Normal template is defaulting to double spacing and you need to have single spacing more often, then constantly switching the line spaces can not only be tedious, it can be something that you forget to do.
Fortunately, among all of the different formatting adjustments that you can make for your document, there is a way to set the default line spacing.
- Open Microsoft Word.
- Select the Home tab.
- Click Line and Paragraph Spacing.
- Choose Line Spacing Options.
- Click the Line spacing drop down.
- Select your default line spacing preference.
- Click Set as Default.
- Choose All documents based on the Normal template.
- Click OK.
Now any new documents that you create in Microsoft Word that use the Normal template will have the line spacing that you just chose.
this will not affect the line spacing in any of your existing documents.
More Information on How to Apply Single Line Spacing in Word
While we have focused on changing the line spacing setting in an MS Word document, for the entire document, you can also format a document so that only some of it is single spaced.
Rather than selecting the whole document, simply use your mouse to select the part of the document for which you want to change the spacing, then follow the steps above to apply a new line spacing setting to that selection.
Another thing that you can adjust that relates to line spacing is the paragraph space setting. This affects the amount of line spacing that appears before and after your paragraphs.
You can find the paragraph spacing settings by clicking the Home tab, then clicking the small Paragraph Settings button at the bottom-right corner of the Paragraph group in the ribbon. This will open the Paragraph dialog box.
There you can select line spacing options in the “Spacing” section so that you can choose the amount of space before and after a paragraph, as well as determine the line spacing type.
Frequently Asked Questions About How to Make a Document Single Spaced in Word
How do I get to the paragraph spacing menu in Word?
While this document has focused on using the Line and Paragraph Spacing drop down menu to change document spacing, you might want to adjust some other spacing options, too.
if you select the Home tab, then click the Paragraph Spacing button at the bottom-right of the Paragraph group, it will open a Paragraph dialog box.
At the top of the Paragraph dialog box, you will see Indents and Spacing, as well as Line and Page Breaks tabs.
Here you can customize the spacing before and after your paragraphs, as well as select line spacing options.
What is the Set as Default button at the bottom of the Paragraph dialog box?
If you have made a lot of changes in this dialog box and want them to apply to new documents that you create in the future, you have the option of using these settings as the default for future documents.
Simply click the Set as Default button at the bottom of the Paragraph menu, then confirm that you want to make this change.
Can I have single spaced text in just part of my Microsoft Word document?
Yes, you can have a mixture of different types of spacing in a single document.
Simply follow the steps above, but rather than selecting the entire document, select only the part of the document that you want to single space.
Then when you click the Line and Paragraph Spacing button in the Paragraph group and choose the 1.0 option, it will only affect the part of the document that’s currently highlighted.
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Last Update: Jan 03, 2023
This is a question our experts keep getting from time to time. Now, we have got the complete detailed explanation and answer for everyone, who is interested!
Asked by: Dorothea Dietrich
Score: 4.8/5
(14 votes)
: to type or print with no blank lines between lines of text.
What is single spaced in Word?
Line spacing is the space between each line in a paragraph. Microsoft Word allows you to customize the line spacing to be single spaced (one line high), double spaced (two lines high), or any other amount you want.
Is 1.5 single spacing in Word?
In the Paragraph dialog box, select one of the options from the dropdown menu under “Line spacing.” You can select single-, 1.5-, or double-spacing, or you can select “Multiple” and set your own custom line spacing. To apply your selected line spacing, select “OK.”
What is single spaced type?
single-spaced — (of type or print) not having a blank space between lines; «business letters are usually single-spaced» spaced — arranged with spaces between; often used as a combining form; «widely spaced eyes» Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection.
How many words is a single spaced page?
While a general guideline is one page is 500 words (single spaced) or 250 words (double spaced), this is a ballpark figure. The truth is the number of words per page depends on a variety of factors such as the type of font, the font size, spacing elements, margin spacing, and paragraph length to name a few.
18 related questions found
What is the difference between single and double spaced?
Single spacing is used within paragraphs, double spacing between paragraphs. A double space is a full line of space between each line of a piece of writing.
How do you do 1.5 spacing on Mac Word?
How do you do 1.5 spacing on Mac word?
- Select the paragraphs you want to change.
- Go to Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing.
- Choose the number of line spaces you want or select Line Spacing Options, and then select the options you want under Spacing.
What is single line spacing in Word 2010?
Word sets line spacing at 1.15 as its standard, or default. Supposedly, that extra . 15 lines of text makes text more readable than using single spacing, or 1.0. In double spacing, or the line spacing value 2.0, one line of text appears with one blank line below it.
What does single spaced paper look like?
When a paper is single-spaced, there is very little white space between the typed lines, which means there is no room for marks or comments. … The white space between the lines leaves room for editing marks and comments.
How do you single space in Word on a Mac?
Current Document Line Spacing
- Open the document in Word for Mac, and select all text you would like to format to single space.
- Click the “Home” tab in the top navigation ribbon, and then click “Line Spacing” in the Paragraph section.
- Click the “Single Space” icon to change the selected text to single space.
Is 1.5 spacing double spacing?
A 2.0 value will mean double spacing. Remember that the double spacing will take place from whatever part in the text your cursor is positioned. Place your cursor on the very top of the page if you want the entire document to be double spaced.
What is one double spaced page?
In text formatting, a double space means sentences contain a full blank line (the equivalent of the full height of a line of text) between the rows of words. … For example, when a teacher wants an essay double spaced, you’ll need to adjust your spacing settings, so the text in the essay is double spaced.
How do I do single spacing in Word 2013?
How to Single Space in Word 2013
- Step 1: Click anywhere inside the document, then press Ctrl + A to select the entire document.
- Step 2: Click the Home tab at the top of the window.
- Step 3: Click the Line and Paragraph Spacing button in the Paragraph section of the ribbon, then click the 1.0 option.
What is computer line spacing?
Line spacing determines the amount of vertical space between lines of text in a paragraph. By default, lines are single-spaced, meaning that the spacing accommodates the largest font in that line, plus a small amount of extra space.
What is 1.5 spaced?
1.5 in Word line spacing means that the space between two lines equals 1.5 times the height of the letters.
What do you call the space between the text and the edge of your document?
In typography, a margin is the area between the main content of a page and the page edges. The margin helps to define where a line of text begins and ends. When a page is justified the text is spread out to be flush with the left and right margins.
Is 2.0 or 2.5 double spaced?
Is 2.0 or 2.5 double spaced? 1.5 line spacing increases the baseline-to-baseline distance by 50%. 2.0 line spacing instead doubles it. … And double spacing is the same thing as 2.0 line spacing.
How many words is 6 pages single spaced?
6 pages is 3,000 words single spaced, 1,500 words double spaced.
How many pages single spaced is double spaced?
The answer is around 4 pages single spaced, and 8 pages double spaced. Your word processing software and settings may result in slightly different pages counts, but with conventional page margins and a 12 point Arial or Times New Roman font you can expect similar output.
Is 2000 words a lot?
2,000 words is around 4 pages of A4 with single spacing, or 8 pages of A4 with double spacing. If you’re wondering how many pages 2,000 words is, you may have been asked to write a college essay, long-form blog post, or an opinion piece for a magazine or newspaper.
Is APA format single or double spaced?
General APA Guidelines
Your essay should be typed and double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5″ x 11″), with 1″ margins on all sides. You should use a clear font that is highly readable. APA recommends using 12 pt.
Why are the spaces so big on word?
This happens when the text alignment is «justified» in word. Just go to the end of the line and press enter once. This normally happens when after the sentence is over, we do not hit enter, but just keep typing «space» and the sentence starts on the next line. This gap is due to section break.
When I am trying to Justify text paragraph in MS Word, random space is generating between words. How can I set equal gap between words and how can I change the setting of Justify
karel
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asked Jul 20, 2010 at 10:43
You are probably justifying the text in Center mode, which means that the text must reach both ends of the page, left and right.
If the text-line is not exactly of the width of the printed page, the only way for Word to make both ends meet is by adding space in-between the words. Word in effect distributes the missing width pixels among the white-space in the line.
Word has a nice algorithm for this, and it’s not at all random.
answered Jul 20, 2010 at 10:51
harrymcharrymc
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Justify is meant to spread the text out over the width of the current container and shouldn’t be used if you want equal widths between your words. To change the width of the space between the words you should change the font settings of the text: You can do this by selecting the text, do a right click and click Font, then go to the advanced tab where you can change the character spacing settings.
answered Jul 20, 2010 at 10:51
Tamara WijsmanTamara Wijsman
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1
Character Spacing in the Font dialog adjusts spacing between letters of the selected text. It barely adjusts the spacing between words. Word does not have a nice algorithm for spacing in my opinion. It is a lame attempt to emulate a publishing layout tool, which it is not. If you want to justify text and control the spacing to the 1/1000th of a em, use a professional layout application like Adobe InDesign. I never justify paragraph text in Word. It creates unsightly rivers (uneven white space between words that flows down the page).
To increase the spacing between words, say in a title that is ALL CAPS, use two spaces. And if that creates too large a gap, reduce the font size of the spaces only. If you’re thinking you could just increase the font size of a single space, then you’ll discover this also affects the vertical line spacing (unless you’ve specified an exact line height).
answered Jun 10, 2014 at 17:15
Found no way to get rid of that ugly spaces. All I could do is to select the gapped text with some more lines below it, then cut and paste using the option text only. that worked for me.
answered Nov 30, 2020 at 9:26
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