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...

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