Align text in Microsoft Word using tabs

Launch Word and start a new document. If the ruler is not displayed across the top of the document window, click on the View menu and choose Ruler (in Word 2007 click the View Ruler button at the top of the vertical scroll bar). Word has default tab settings set at half-inch intervals (1.27cm) from the left margin, displayed as small grey marks underneath the ruler. Pressing the Tab key on the keyboard moves the text-entry cursor to the next tabbed position in the document. As we will see, it is possible to set custom tabs, specifying their position, alignment and leaders (dotted or dashed lines between the text at each tab stop).

There are five types of tab stop in Word. The Tab Alignment button to the left of the horizontal ruler is used to quickly set custom tab stops. Each time the Tab Alignment button is left-clicked, the tab style will change. A left tab aligns text to the left against the tab stop. A centred tab centres all of the text to the middle of the tab stop. A right tab aligns text to the right against the tab stop. A decimal tab aligns all decimal points with the tab stop. Finally, the bar tab doesn’t position text; it inserts a vertical line at the tap stop.

The other two options of the Tab Alignment button are for indents, rather than tabs. The First Line Indent indents the first line of a paragraph and the Hanging Indent indents the whole paragraph except the first line. Click to select a Left Tab, then click at the bottom of the ruler at the position where the tab is to be set. To follow the example used in this Workshop, set this left tab stop at 0.5cms. Press the Tab key on the keyboard and the cursor will move to that position. Note that when a custom tab is set, Word removes any default tabs to the left of it. Type some text – to follow this example, type Course.

Now select a centre tab using the Tab Alignment button to the left of the ruler. Click at the bottom of the ruler to set the centred tab at approximately 5.5cms. Press the Tab key on the keyboard once to move the cursor to the next tab position. Type in Days. Select a right tab using the Tab Alignment button and set it at approximately 11.5cms. Press Tab then type Level. Finally, set a decimal tab at approximately 13.5cms and type Time. Press the Enter key on the keyboard. Notice the four different tab markers displayed on the ruler.

Press Tab on the keyboard, then type Word Processing. Press Tab, type Monday, Friday. Press Tab, type Beginners, then press tab again and type 10.00am. Press Enter to move to a new line. Continue filling in information, remembering to press Tab to jump to the next tab stop. If you find there is not enough room to fit all the text across the page, try making the font size smaller or reduce the page margins (select Page Setup from the File menu) to increase the amount of text that will fit across the page.

If you decide that tabs have been set at the wrong position, it is possible to move a tab to a different point on the ruler. To move a tab stop, highlight the text (hold down Ctrl and press A to select everything), then drag the tab marker left or right along the ruler to a different position (a vertical dotted line will be displayed showing you its position as it is moved). When you have finished filling in the information, press Enter a few times to move down the page. The tab stops will remain set; the markers are still displayed on the ruler.

To delete these tab stops, click and drag each tab marker (up or down) off the ruler. Alternatively, to quickly remove all tab stops, open the Tabs dialogue box by clicking on the Format menu, then select Tabs (or double-click any tab marker on the ruler). The tabs are listed in the Tab stop position: box in the top left-hand corner. Select Clear All and click OK. (To access the Tabs dialogue box in Word 2007, click on the Paragraph Dialogue Box Launcher in the bottom right-hand corner of the Page Layout tab, then in the Paragraph dialogue box, click Tabs.)

The Tabs dialogue box can also be used to set or amend tabs. It allows precise tab positions and tab leaders (eg dotted, dashed or solid) to be set. Click on Format and choose Tabs. To follow this example type 3 cm in the Tab stop position box, select the Left (alignment) radio button, then None in the leader section. Click on Set. To set another tab type 11 cm in the Tab stop position box but this time choose a decimal tab and a dotted leader. Click on Set again, then click OK.

Press the Tab key, type Beginners Classes, press the Tab key again (a dotted leader should appear), then type £30.00. Press the Enter key to move down a line, then type prices for the Intermediate and Advanced courses, using the Tab key to insert a leader and jump to the decimal tab each time. The Tabs dialogue box can also be used to amend the spacing between the default tab stops. Default tabs are set every 1.27cm. To change this, click on Format, then choose Tabs. In the Default tabs stops: box type in the amount of spacing required between the default tab stops, then click on OK.

Left-aligned tabs can also be quickly inserted using click and type. Select Options from the Tools menu, then choose the Edit tab. Ensure the ‘Enable click and type’ box is ticked in the Click and type section. Click OK. Double-click in any blank area of a document to insert a left-aligned tab. (A tab marker will automatically appear on the ruler.) If no text is entered and the cursor is moved to a different point, then the tab stop will be deleted.