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keep characters together

Anonymous
2012-05-23T19:49:57+00:00

In Microsoft Word, how do I keep a number with a negative sign in front of it from splitting onto two lines when it's at the end of a line? Word thinks of the minus sign as a hyphen and puts that at the end of one line and the number at the beginning of the next line. I don't really want to add extra spaces before the - to force it to the next line, but that's all I've been able to think of to make it work.

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  1. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 322.9K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2012-05-23T20:01:57+00:00

    In Microsoft Word, how do I keep a number with a negative sign in front of it from splitting onto two lines when it's at the end of a line? Word thinks of the minus sign as a hyphen and puts that at the end of one line and the number at the beginning of the next line. I don't really want to add extra spaces before the - to force it to the next line, but that's all I've been able to think of to make it work.

    Use Ctrl+Shift+_

    That is hold down the Ctrl and the Shift keys and then press the _ key to the right of the 0 above P on a US keyboard.

    You can see the special key combinations for things such as this by going to Insert>Symbol>More Symbols and then click on the Special Characters tab.

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  1. Suzanne S Barnhill 277.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2015-10-04T21:06:20+00:00

    If you're referring to negative numbers, either you're using a hyphen for the minus sign (in which case the nonbreaking hyphen Doug recommended will do what you want), or you can use the actual minus sign (U2212), which is inherently nonbreaking.       

    If you're not referring to negative numbers, please explain what it is you're trying to keep together.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-10-04T19:46:35+00:00

    Hi Doug--how can I keep this character string together since no spaces or hyphens are being used in this string?

    ( ¶ ),

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-01-04T09:07:59+00:00

    I found that manually eliminating those dots, which want to wrap to next line, is easier (than tab with a leader). In other words, if I want to put the blanks/dots in the first line, I'll put only those many as are enough to fill that first line.

    And if I want to carry those dots to the 2nd line, I'll end the first line by a shift-enter.

    Still, thank you. You gave me a new yet idea/way. But I was looking for a solution like a Ctrl+Shift+ hyphen type.

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  4. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 322.9K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2014-01-04T08:20:46+00:00

    Use a tab stop with a dot leader.

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