Line Spacing in Word 2007

In a previous post, we outlined a method for achieving single line spacing in Word 2007, but here’s another method.

One of the changes made to Word in Microsoft Office 2007 was to the default line spacing (single-spacing, double-spacing, etc.). In simple terms, there is now automatically more space between lines and paragraphs in Word documents. In my experience at the CADL Computer Center, this isn’t what our patrons want to use. Many people I have worked with ask for assistance in changing the line and paragraph spacing to single spacing. You may begin by either following these steps before entering any text into your document, or you many highlight all of the text in your document (also known as “select all”) if you are formatting line spacing after writing your document.

• Select the “line spacing” icon in the “paragraphs” area of the Home tab in Word 2007.

 (a closeup of the line spacing icon)

• Left-click on the line spacing icon. Select “line spacing options” from the menu that appears.

• A new window appears on your screen. Click the downward-facing arrow under “Line Spacing:”.  Select “Single” from the options provided. Then, click the downward-facing arrow next to “After:” until the number in the box reads “0 pt.” In the image below, the “After:” box reads 10 pt, which is the Word 2007 default setting.

• Your window should look like this if you made the correct changes.

 

• Now your document is formatted with single line and paragraph spacing.

For further information on Word 2007 line spacing, see the Microsoft Support artice on this subject: “Default line spacing and default paragraph spacing in Word 2007 differ from the default spacing in earlier versions of Word“