How to Reduce Space Between Lines in Word

To reduce space between lines in Word, select the text, choose Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing, and pick a smaller value such as 1.0. If the big gaps are between paragraphs rather than between the lines inside them, choose Remove Space After Paragraph from the same menu, or lower the Before and After values. Word controls these two kinds of space separately, so check which one you’re looking at first.

Line spacing or paragraph spacing?

• Line spacing is the distance between lines inside one paragraph. If a paragraph that wraps onto several lines looks airy, this is the setting to change.
• Paragraph spacing is the extra space Word adds before or after each paragraph. If lines look fine but there’s a big gap every time you press Enter, this is the cause.

New Word documents use both: line spacing slightly above single, plus some space after each paragraph. That combination is why text can look double-spaced when it isn’t.

Reduce line spacing within paragraphs

1. Select the paragraphs you want to change. To change the whole document, press Ctrl+A (Cmd+A on a Mac).
2. On the Home tab, select Line and Paragraph Spacing in the Paragraph group.
3. Choose a smaller value, such as 1.0 for single spacing or 1.15 for slightly open text. Word previews each value as you point at it.
4. For finer control, choose Line Spacing Options at the bottom of the menu and use the Paragraph dialog.
5. Check the result in the document and in File > Print preview.

Microsoft’s line spacing guide covers the same controls for each version. Menu labels can vary slightly.

Use a keyboard shortcut

In Word for Windows, select the text and press:

• Ctrl+1 for single spacing
• Ctrl+5 for 1.5 lines
• Ctrl+2 for double spacing

If a document was set to double spacing, Ctrl+1 is the quickest way back. Our guide to removing double spacing in Word goes further.

Make lines tighter than single spacing

1. Select the text and open Line Spacing Options.
2. In the Line spacing box, choose Multiple.
3. In At, enter a value below 1, such as 0.9 or 0.85.
4. Select OK.

You can also choose Exactly and enter a point size, such as 12 pt for 11 pt text. Exact spacing never grows, so if the value is too small, tall letters, accents, and inline pictures get cut off at the top. Multiple is safer because it scales with the font size.

Reduce gaps between paragraphs

If each paragraph has tight lines but a large blank gap below it, changing line spacing won’t help. Try these instead:

1. Select the affected paragraphs.
2. Open Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing and choose Remove Space After Paragraph (or Remove Space Before Paragraph if that’s the one shown).
3. For exact values, go to the Layout tab and lower Before and After under Spacing, for example to 0 pt.

If the gap appears between items of the same kind, such as list entries or short lines that each end with Enter, open Line Spacing Options and check Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style. Word then drops the extra space between paragraphs that share a style while keeping it around the group. Microsoft’s paragraph spacing instructions explain these controls, and our guide to changing spacing after a paragraph covers why an After value sometimes seems to do nothing.

Tighten spacing across the whole document

1. Open the Design tab.
2. Select Paragraph Spacing.
3. Choose No Paragraph Space for single-spaced text with no gaps, or Compact for a little space between paragraphs. Pick Custom Paragraph Spacing to enter your own values.

This changes the document’s style set, so it applies to paragraphs that use Word’s built-in styles. To make it the default for new documents too, choose Design > Set as Default. If one named style, such as Normal or a heading, controls many paragraphs, right-click it in the Styles gallery, choose Modify, and change its spacing under Format > Paragraph.

Reduce line spacing on a Mac or in Word for the web

Word for Mac: The Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing button works the same way. For the full Paragraph dialog, choose Line Spacing Options or go to Format > Paragraph in the menu bar. The keyboard shortcuts above are for Windows.

Word for the web: Select the text, choose Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing, and pick a value, or open Line Spacing Options to change line spacing and the Before and After values.

When the gap won’t shrink

• Empty paragraphs: Turn on Home > Show/Hide ¶. Extra ¶ marks on blank lines are empty paragraphs; delete them. Avoid deleting section or page breaks until you know what they do.
• A large character or picture: With single or Multiple spacing, one big letter, symbol, or inline image makes its whole line taller. Resize it, or set the line spacing to Exactly for that paragraph.
• Document grid: In Line Spacing Options, clear Snap to grid when document grid is defined. A document grid can force lines farther apart than the spacing value suggests.
• Spacing keeps coming back: The paragraphs use a style with its own spacing. Update the style instead of fixing paragraphs one by one, or copy good formatting with the Format Painter.
• Gaps between words, not lines: That’s a different problem, often caused by justified text. See our guide to removing unwanted space in Word.

If your school, employer, or publisher sets a required spacing, use it. Squeezing lines too tightly just to save a page makes a document harder to read.

Matt Wilmont

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