Replacing Multiple Spaces with Tabs

Summary: If you get a document or some text that has multiple consecutive spaces used to align information, you'll undoubtedly be looking for a quick way to replace those spaces with tabs. Here's the absolute fastest way to do the replacing. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, Word 2003, and Word 2007.)

You may receive a document from someone that uses multiple spaces to separate items on a line. This is typically done when a person wants to format tabular material, and separates columns using spaces. You can find this quite a bit in information downloaded from the Web.

If you are starting with a source document in this condition, you may be wondering how you can replace all the consecutive spaces with a single tab character. It is possible to go through multiple search-and-replace operations to achieve the desired goal, but there is a quicker way. You can replace any number of consecutive spaces with a single tab character by following these steps:

Press Ctrl+H. Word displays the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.
Click on the More button if it is available. (Click here to see a related figure.)
In the Find What box, enter a single space followed by the characters {2,}. (Type only the left brace, the number 2, the comma, and the right brace.)
In the Replace With box, type ^t.
Make sure the Use Wildcards check box is selected.
Click on Replace All.

Tip #851 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Add a Professional Finishing Touch! Word includes great tools that allow you to add professional-grade finishing touches to your documents. You can add indexes, tables of contents, and other special tables by using the detailed information available in this volume.

Check out WordTips: Indexes and Special Tables today!

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Replacing Multiple Spaces with Tabs