Word: Double Spacing

Word: Double Spacing

By default, MS Word documents are single-spaced, which is great for most of what we do. But, what about that small percentage of documents where you need things double-spaced?

Now, as I've said before, I'm a teacher. I have a lot of opportunities to see how people (both students and staff) are using their technology. I'm always amazed when I find someone using the enter key to double-space their writing. What a nightmare! Ever try to edit a paragraph when you've hit the enter key at the end of each line? Not a pretty sight. (Not to mention the extremely large headache it gives you.)

So, for those of you who haven't found where to get the double spacing set, let's end your nightmare.

Double spacing is set through the Format menu, Paragraphs option.

In the middle section of the Paragraph window entitled Spacing, you will find the Line spacing options on the right side.

Using the pull-down menu you can select double-spaced or whatever you like, there are several choices.

Once you've made your choice, click on the OK button.

What is that you say?

You aren't very fond of the menus and all the subsequent windows?

Ok, then this is for those of you who prefer to use the keyboard—you can quickly turn on double spacing with Ctrl + 2.

To go back to single spacing use Ctrl + 1 and, as a special added bonus, 1.5 line spacing is Ctrl + 5.

Next logical question: What if I've already typed everything, how do I double space?

Answer: Simply highlight the entire document (Ctrl + A) and then follow the instructions to double-space the text.

Question: But what if I want to double-space only a section of the document?

Answer: You have two choices. You could turn the double spacing on at the point it's needed, type the text and then turn it off when you've completed the section. Or, you could go ahead and type the text single-spaced. Then you would highlight the text to be double-spaced and follow the above process.

That's it—all the space you could ever want and then some!