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How do I make different indentations match in WORD doc?

Anonymous
2019-07-02T04:01:02+00:00

Hi, I've got a Word doc with indentations for each new paragraph, but the indentations don't line up or match.  Some are 4 spaces, some 5, some 6.  Is there any way to select the whole document and tell it how much the indentation should be and correct this all at once?  I've tried going into the paragraph dialog box but it just increases the already existing indentations further. 

Thanks for any help.

Joann

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 322.9K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2019-07-02T04:21:06+00:00

    If you click on the Show\Hide (¶) button in Paragraph section of the Home tab of the ribbon, do the indents appear as a number of dots and only on the first line of each paragraph?

    If so, if you use CTRL+a to select the whole document and then click on the Center Alignment button and then back on the Left alignment button in the Paragraph section of the Home tab of the ribbon, it will remove such indents.

    If that plays too much havoc with the layout of the document, another way to remove them is by pressing CTRL+H to display the Find and Replace dialog and in that dialog click on the More >> button and then check the "Use wildcards" box and then in the Find what control, insert 

    ^13[ ]{1,}

    Note, there is a single space between the [ ], and in the Replace with control, insert

    ^p

    and then click on Replace all.  That will remove the spaces from all, except for the first paragraph in the document.

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  2. Suzanne S Barnhill 277.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2019-07-02T13:34:37+00:00

    After you've done what Doug suggests to remove the indents created with spaces, apply a first-line indent to the paragraphs, either by selecting the paragraphs and dragging the First Line Indent marker on the horizontal ruler or, preferably, by modifying the style used for those paragraphs. Don't modify the Normal style; if Normal has been used for all the text in the document, instead apply Body Text First Indent to the paragraphs you want indented, and then modify that style to have the spacing and indent you want.

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-07-03T04:26:11+00:00

    Thanks Suzanne, combined with the info from Doug, this all helped a lot!  Much appreciated!

    Joann

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-07-03T04:25:23+00:00

    Thanks, Doug, this did help!  I really appreciate it!

    Joann

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  5. Anonymous
    2019-07-02T04:10:07+00:00

    Hi. jmcds1st

    My name is Akiva and I am an Independent Advisor.

    I would like to help you.

    I suggest you follow the steps of the following link to solve your problem

    https://support.office.com/en-us/article/adjust...

    Let me know if it was helpful

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