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6 views

alignment_in_ms_word

Uploaded by

yaduvanshibaibhav77
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Alignment in Microsoft Word

South Puget Sound Community College


Student Computing Center
Written by: Chris Dorn

Alignment refers to where and how the text lines up. Default settings in Microsoft Word will left-
align your text, but there are many other ways to format a document’s alignment. This tutorial
outlines two ways to modify alignment: using keyboard commands and using the Ruler bar.

(Note: for instructions on how to change alignment using the Paragraph dialog box, please see
the “Paragraph Dialog Box” tutorial, which also explains how to set tabs.)

Adjusting Alignment: Keyboard Commands


Probably the quickest method to adjust alignment is to use keyboard shortcuts:

Ctrl + L = Left alignment


Ctrl + E = Center alignment
Ctrl + R = Right alignment
Ctrl + J = Justified alignment

You can apply these alignment options to a specific section by first highlighting the text and then
entering the desired keyboard command.

SPSCC Student Computing Center__Alignment __1


Adjusting Alignment: Using the Ruler
A second way to adjust text alignment is by clicking and dragging on the alignment tabs, which
are found on the Ruler bar.

The Ruler bar may or may not automatically display in Word. To display the Ruler bar, go to the
View tab and select the Ruler checkbox.

Checking the Ruler checkbox


makes a ruler appear on the
top and left side of the
document.

SPSCC Student Computing Center__Alignment __2


If you look closely at the horizontal Ruler bar, there are four tabs, which are labeled below:
Right Indent Tab
First Line Indent Tab

Hanging Indent Tab

Left Indent Tab

From here, to modify the alignment:

1. Highlight the section of text that you want to manipulate.


2. Click on the desired alignment tab.
3. Drag that tab to change that text’s alignment.

The advantage of this method is that you can see the text move as you move the tab.

Let’s say you want a 1-inch hanging indent in your first paragraph. You would 1) highlight the
first paragraph, 2) click on the hanging indent tab, and 3) drag it one inch to the right on the
Ruler bar.

SPSCC Student Computing Center__Alignment __3


Then, if you want the first line to begin farther in towards the right, you can click on the First
Line Indent tab and drag it to the desired position.

Also note that if you select the Left Indent tab – which is the small rectangle beneath the Hanging
Indent tab – both the Hanging Indent and the First Line Indent tabs will move in unison. This is
useful for when you want to move a block of text together, as in the example below:

SPSCC Student Computing Center__Alignment __4

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