When you use a typewriter, you press the Return, or Enter, key at the end of each line. This signifies you are done with one line and ready to begin the next. In Word, however, you do not have to do this. When you set up your page margins, Word is programmed to know that when you reach the right margin your text should automatically wrap to the next line.
There may be times, however, when you want to end a line before you get to the right margin. In these instances, you can end a line in either of two ways. The first way is to press the Enter key where you want the line to end. This results in a hard return being entered in the document. This action (pressing Enter) indicates that you have reached the end of the paragraph and want to start a new one.
The other way to end a line is to press Shift+Enter; this results in a soft return, sometimes called a line break or a newline character, being entered in the document. Hard returns are used to signify the end of a paragraph, whereas soft returns simply signify the end of a line.
If you have changed your view options so you can see all nonprinting characters, then a hard return appears on your screen as a paragraph mark (a backwards P), and a soft return appears as a down-and-left pointing arrow.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (170) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.
Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!
Even characters that print nothing still take space in your document. Characters such as tabs, spaces, breaks, and the ...
Discover MoreA little trick to get rid of pagination marks when you have background pagination turned off.
Discover MoreNeed a special character (such as a bullet) in the middle of your text? Here are two quick ways to enter the character ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2019-01-31 11:40:13
Behdad
Hello. I have a question. I have Office 2013. in my Word, Shift-Enter regularly works; but it does not work in the footnote only in a specific file, while it works everywhere on any other file both in the text and in the footnote.
Thanks you for your reply.
2018-10-16 14:03:32
Brian Schwartz
Shift-Enter is how you do soft line breaks in MS Word on the Mac.
2018-08-21 00:13:31
Stan Hadley
How about in Word for Mac 2016? Shift+Return nor Shift+Enter create a soft return. I cannot find a way to make one on the Mac, but they do show up when opening a Word for Windows document.
2018-06-06 05:31:50
boolion
another excellent (though somewhat obscure) tip. thank you, sir
i'm working on a document with a required format that Table X and its description go on separate lines, but the 'Table' style inserts a large space between paragraphs.
obviously (now, thanks to your blog), what is required is a 'soft 'enter'.
my workaround: turn on 'formatting marks' and copy paste the 'soft enter' symbol.
to be sure, 'shift enter' is much easier
Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2019 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments