To change spacing in Word, select the text, go to Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing, and pick a value such as 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0. For the gap above or below each paragraph, open Line Spacing Options and change the Before and After boxes. These steps are for Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows; Word for Mac and Word for the web work almost the same way, with the differences noted near the end.
It helps to know which kind of spacing you are dealing with. Line spacing is the distance between lines inside one paragraph. Paragraph spacing is the extra space Word adds before or after a whole paragraph. Many “my spacing looks wrong” problems are really paragraph spacing, not line spacing.
| What you want to change | Where to find it |
|---|---|
| Space between lines in a paragraph | Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing |
| Space before or after paragraphs | Line Spacing Options > Before / After |
| Spacing for the whole document at once | Design > Paragraph Spacing |
| Spacing for every new document | Line Spacing Options > Set As Default |
| Space between letters | Font dialog > Advanced tab |
Change line spacing for selected text
- Select the paragraphs you want to change. To select the whole document, press Ctrl+A.
- On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, select Line and Paragraph Spacing (the icon with up and down arrows beside horizontal lines).
- Choose a number from the list. 1.0 is single spacing, 1.15 is Word’s standard setting, and 2.0 is double spacing.
- Check the page. The lines move closer together or farther apart right away.
Keyboard shortcuts are faster for common settings in Word for Windows: Ctrl+1 for single, Ctrl+5 for 1.5 lines, and Ctrl+2 for double spacing. If you need double spacing for a school paper, see our guide on setting up double spacing in Word.
Set an exact line spacing value
- Select the text.
- Select Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing > Line Spacing Options.
- Open the Line spacing drop-down menu and choose Single, 1.5 lines, Double, At least, Exactly, or Multiple.
- Type a value in the At box if the option needs one. For example, Multiple at 1.25 gives spacing between 1.15 and 1.5.
- Select OK.
Be careful with Exactly. It locks every line to one height, so a larger font or an inline picture can be cut off. At least is safer because Word can still make room for taller content. Our line spacing guide covers these options in more depth.
Change the space before and after paragraphs
- Select the paragraphs.
- Select Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing > Line Spacing Options.
- Under Spacing, set Before and After. The values are in points; 0 pt removes the extra gap.
- To keep list items or short lines tight while leaving space around other paragraphs, check Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style.
- Select OK.
For a quick change, the Line and Paragraph Spacing menu also has Add Space Before Paragraph and Remove Space After Paragraph (the wording flips depending on the current setting). For more on the gap below paragraphs, read how to change after-paragraph spacing.
Change spacing for the whole document
If you want one look across every paragraph that uses Word’s built-in styles, use the Design tab instead of selecting text.
- Select the Design tab.
- Select Paragraph Spacing.
- Point to the options to preview them, then choose one, such as No Paragraph Space, Compact, Open, or Double. Custom Paragraph Spacing lets you enter your own values.
If some paragraphs don’t change, they have their own spacing applied directly. Select those paragraphs and set the spacing with the Home tab method above. To undo a Design change later, open Paragraph Spacing again and choose the option under Style Set.
Make your spacing the default for new documents
Changing the default only affects documents built on the Normal template, which is what a new blank document uses. Existing files keep their current spacing.
- Open a document and select Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing > Line Spacing Options.
- Choose your Line spacing and your Before and After values.
- Select Set As Default.
- Choose All documents based on the Normal template, then select OK.
The next blank document you create will use the new spacing. Microsoft explains the same setting in its default line spacing article.
Fix odd or extra spacing
When the spacing looks wrong but the numbers seem fine, one of these causes is usually behind it. Turning on formatting marks with Home > Show/Hide ¶ makes many of them easy to spot; our guide to showing non-printing characters explains what each mark means.
Big gaps between paragraphs
Look for two causes: blank paragraphs (an extra ¶ mark on an empty line) and large Before or After values. Delete the empty paragraphs, then set After to a smaller number in Line Spacing Options.
Text jumps to the next page and leaves a gap
This usually comes from page-break settings, not spacing. Right-click the paragraph, choose Paragraph, and open the Line and Page Breaks tab. Keep with next holds a paragraph on the same page as the one after it, Keep lines together stops a paragraph from splitting, and Page break before always starts it on a new page. Word’s built-in heading styles use Keep with next on purpose, so a heading never sits alone at the bottom of a page. Clear the box only on the paragraph causing the gap.
Wide gaps between words in justified text
Justified alignment stretches the spaces so each line reaches both margins. Gaps get worst on short lines and on a line that ends with a manual line break (Shift+Enter). Replace the line break with a normal Enter, or switch that paragraph to left alignment. Our article on justified text and uneven spacing has more fixes.
Pasted text has different spacing
Text copied from a website or another file often brings its own spacing. Select it and choose Home > Clear All Formatting to return it to the Normal style, or paste with Keep Text Only next time. If only some paragraphs look off, check whether they use a different style than the rest of the document.
Spacing between letters or words
Line and paragraph settings don’t change the space between characters. For that, open the Font dialog (Ctrl+D), select the Advanced tab, and change Spacing to Expanded or Condensed. Our guide on spacing between letters walks through it.
Differences in Word for Mac and Word for the web
Word for Mac: The Line and Paragraph Spacing button is on the Home tab, just as on Windows. For exact values, Before and After, or the Line and Page Breaks options, choose Format > Paragraph from the menu bar. To change the default, update the Normal style: choose Format > Style, select Normal, select Modify, then Format > Paragraph, set your spacing, and check Add to template before you select OK.
Word for the web: Use Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing for preset values, or Line Spacing Options for exact line and paragraph settings. The web version can’t save a new default; according to Microsoft, new documents there go back to 1.15 line spacing. Set the default in the desktop app if you need it for every file.
Matt has been writing about Microsoft Windows and other Microsoft products since the days of Windows XP. He spends much of his time writing for sites like WindowBrain.com