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how do I set my tab key to 5-7 spaces?

Anonymous
2012-03-14T15:10:20+00:00

I have a project and I need to set my tab key to only indent 5-7 spaces but I don't know how to do that?

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-03-14T15:40:32+00:00

    The short answer is that you can't. Tabs in Word documents are not measured in 'spaces' but distance. This is attributable to the almost universal use of proportional fonts. Also you need to take into consideration the font size and type. Seven 'spaces 'at 12 points will be somewhat less than seven 'spaces' at 16 points. Different fonts also have different widths at the same point size. So the question you need to ask yourself is how wide is a 'space'.

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-07-26T17:05:25+00:00

    Or instead of a non-answer:

    The short answer is that you absolutely can.

    In Microsoft word, go into the "Page Layout" tab, and further into the paragraph tab and click the "Show the paragraph dialog box"

    At the bottom there is a "tabs" button

    Within the tabs button you can literally select any number of "Spaces" under the "Tab stop position"

    I use exactly 5 'spaces'

    The question you need to ask yourself is why you'd answer a question with another question instead of just answering the question you chose to 'answer'.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-07-14T18:05:02+00:00

    Don't listen to Graham Mayor.  Do what Jay Rock said.  I have MS Word 2010 and somehow my tab got set to 6" (not spaces).  I went in to *Page Layout->*the section entitled Paragraph-> down at the bottom tabs. It worked perfectly.

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  3. Stefan Blom 339.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-10-30T23:35:02+00:00

    Are these directions using word 2012? I have word 2007 and I followed your directions and found the "tab stop position" option, but it doesn't let me use anything other than inches. There's nothing to select that says "5 spaces" and it won't let me insert anything other than numbers measured in inches. 

    Word doesn't offer "spaces" as an option in the Tabs dialog box. As Graham wrote, the width of a space depends on the font, and therefore it would be useless as a unit of measurement.

    Note that Word 2007 and later support alignment tabs, which let you specify that a tab stop should be at the right margin and remain there, even if you later change the margins. Look into so-called alignment tabs; you can add Insert Alignment Tab to the Quick Access Toolbar.

    On the other hand, if you are creating a numbered list (as suggested by your reference to "Add tab stop at"), see http://shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/numbering20072010.html which describes the indentation options for each numbering level.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-10-30T22:51:03+00:00

    Are these directions using word 2012? I have word 2007 and I followed your directions and found the "tab stop position" option, but it doesn't let me use anything other than inches. There's nothing to select that says "5 spaces" and it won't let me insert anything other than numbers measured in inches.

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