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: Using Dot Leaders in a Paragraph.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 30, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
Dot leaders are dots (which look like periods) that appear to the left of information. Dot leaders are often used in tables of contents or in some tabular material. Word allows you to automatically place dot leaders in tabular material. Simply follow these steps:

Figure 1. The Tabs dialog box.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (618) 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: Using Dot Leaders in a Paragraph.
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