How to Change Paragraph Options in Microsoft Word
Paragraph formatting changes the entire look of your document. Making the decisions on what kind of spacing to use or which alignment, left or right, best meets your writing needs is a design choice, but knowing how to change these traits is vital for Microsoft Word users who want to take advantage of all the perks that come with this word processing software.
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Instructions
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Select "Paragraph" from the "Format" menu in Microsoft Word. A pop-up window will open that allows you to make changes to your document.
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Choose your alignment from the first tab, "Indents and Spacing." Left paragraph alignment is the norm, but titles and headings look more dramatic if a right or center alignment is used.
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Indent text by selecting the measurement for your indentation using the arrow buttons next to the words "Left" or "Right."
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Change the spacing by choosing from the drop-down menu under the title "Line Spacing." Single spacing is the normal mode unless you are writing for a specific purpose, such as for an academic research paper.
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Add extra space before or after the paragraph by choosing numbers using the arrow keys located under the word, "Spacing." This comes in handy so you don't have to keep hitting the enter key to add extra room between your paragraphs.
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Click the "Line and Page Breaks" tab in the "Paragraph" pop-up window to change the way your paragraph behaves. Usually this will stay in the default choices, but change the check boxes, such as "Keep with next" or "Keep lines together" or "Wind/Orphan control" when your paragraphs jump to the next page and leave a big blank space.
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Adjust the tabs by clicking the "Tabs" button at the bottom of the "Paragraph" pop-up window.
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Tips & Warnings
All changes will only affect the paragraph where your cursor is currently located. To modify more paragraphs, highlight the text before opening the "Paragraph" formatting menu.
