How to Customize Tab Stops in Microsoft Word

A tab stop is the place your cursor moves to when you hit the tab key. The default tab stops in Microsoft Word are every half-inch. When creating a document where you need to create tables of contents, lists or otherwise have custom spacing in your document, it is easier to create your own tab stops than to hit the tab key and space bar over and over until you get to the right spot on the page. Additionally, using the space bar may not allow you to line up your columns perfectly as a tab stop would. Custom tab stops can be used to align text or numbers on the left, right, center, bar or decimal point.

Things You'll Need

• Microsoft Word

Instructions

1. Open your document in Microsoft Word 2007. Select the Home menu. In the Paragraph section, click on the little box to the right of Paragraph. The Paragraph dialogue box will open. For Microsoft Word 1997-2003, Click on the Format menu and then Paragraph. The rest of the instructions are the same.

2. Click the button marked Tabs in the lower left-hand corner of the dialogue box. The Tabs dialogue box will open.

3. Change the default tab position in the upper right-hand corner of the Tabs box. On the left side, you can type in how many inches from the left margin you want your tab stops.

4. Select whether you want this tab stop to align left, right, center, decimal or bar. Select the type of "leader" you want—this will insert the type of line you selected to the left of the tab stop, which is useful in tables of contents.

5. Clear a custom tab stop by selecting it in the window on the left side and clicking on the Clear button at the bottom. You can clear all of the custom tabs by clicking on the Clear All button

6. When you have finished making your changes, click OK.