Controlling Automatic Indenting

Summary: Are you tired of pressing Tab at the beginning of a line, only to have your whole paragraph indented? Change Word's behavior so that the Tab key works like you expect it to. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, and Word 2003.)

You've done it before--you are typing along, minding your own business, when you press the Tab key at the beginning of a paragraph and notice that everything in the paragraph is automatically indented. If you are like me, you probably scream a bit, and then delete the paragraph and continue typing.

What you have just experienced is the automatic indenting feature in Word. It simply means that Word assumes you want to indent the paragraph if you start it out by pressing the Tab key. So, it dutifully indents for you. If you don't like this feature and want Word to accept your tabs for exactly what they are (tabs), then you need to turn off the feature by following these steps:

Choose AutoCorrect Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the AutoCorrect dialog box.
Make sure the AutoFormat As You Type tab is selected. (Click here to see a related figure.)
Make sure the Set Left- and First-Indent with Tabs and Backspace option is cleared.
Click on OK.

Now your tabs are nothing but lowly tabs, and you are back in control of your backspaces.

Tip #1483 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

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Controlling Automatic Indenting