We all know that if we want the first line in a paragraph to be indented you simply use the Tab key.
In addition, many of us are familiar with the alignment shortcuts:
Ctrl + L will left align a paragraph
Ctrl + E will center a paragraph
Ctrl + R will right align a paragraph
Ctrl + J will justify a paragraph
But what about hanging paragraphs where it’s everything after the first line that’s indented?
Any way to use the keyboard to create one of these?

Yep – you bet – with your cursor anywhere in the paragraph simply use Ctrl + T.
Looking to put the paragraph back to the left margin?
No problem. Use Ctrl + Shift + T and it will revert from a hanging paragraph to the usual.
If you’re looking to indent the entire paragraph from the left then use Ctrl + M. As you may suspect Ctrl + Shift + M will reverse the indent.
Here’s the big one – ready?
Use Ctrl + Q to remove all the paragraph formatting.
Now by “all” I do mean ALL…
…indents
…hanging paragraphs
…line spacing
…spacing before / after a paragraph
Even justification will be returned to the left with Ctrl + Q!
Simple key combinations for some pretty powerful formatting – definitely good information to know.
~ April
Tags: hanging paragraph, indented paragraph, Keyboard Shortcuts, MS Word


I love these quick and easy tips…. thank you!
Nice set of tips and actually suggested a number of them to my clients and new letter readers. One thing…well actually five things.