Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Inserting Special Spaces.

Inserting Special Spaces

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 18, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

In other WordTips you learned different ways you can insert em spaces and en spaces in your documents. (These types of spaces are used for typographical purposes to insert wider-than-normal white space in a line of text.) You learned how you can use the numeric keypad, as well as use the Symbol dialog box.

If you use special spaces quite frequently, you may find it bothersome to continually use these two common methods of inserting the characters. Thus, you may have resorted to inserting them once and then using copy and paste to place them in other places. There is an even easier way, however—simply add tools to your toolbar to easily insert em spaces and en spaces with a single click. Follow these steps:

Choose Customize from the Tools menu. Word displays the Customize dialog box.
Make sure the Commands tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Commands tab of the Customize dialog box.

In the Categories list, select Insert.
In the Commands list, select Insert Em Space.
Use the mouse to drag the selected command to the position you want it to occupy on your toolbars.
In the Commands list, select Insert En Space.
Use the mouse to drag the selected command to the position you want it to occupy on your toolbars. (Typically this will be right beside the command you placed in step 5.)
Click on Close to dismiss the Customize dialog box.

Now, just click on the new tools to insert the em or en spaces you need.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (477) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Inserting Special Spaces.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Creating Two-Line Custom Formats

Creating custom formats is a very powerful way to display information exactly as you want it to appear. Most custom ...

Discover More

Clearing Lists in the Insert Hyperlink Dialog Box

Word maintains a series of URLs and file references in the Insert Hyperlink dialog box. How to clear these lists is a ...

Discover More

Printing a Bookmark List

Need to know what bookmarks are defined in a document? Here's a macro that creates a list of all your bookmarks so that ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Dealing with Run-On Sentences

A common task when editing documents is to break up run-on sentences. You can make this task a little easier by using the ...

Discover More

Replacing the Last Comma

When you need to perform certain editing tasks over and over again, you start to look for ways to make your work faster ...

Discover More

Putting Character Codes to Work

If you know the character codes for some characters of interest, you can use those codes to do lots of tasks. This tip ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 0 + 7?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

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.