Removing Space Before Paragraphs

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated June 27, 2015)

You know that Word allows you to control exactly how much space appears before and after a paragraph. (Display the Paragraph dialog box and then use the Before and After settings to make your specifications.) If you have quite a bit of formatting to do, and you need to remove space that someone else has set before paragraphs, you may be interested in this tip.

Word includes a handy toolbar button you can use to automatically remove space before paragraphs. In other words, it sets the Before value in the Paragraph dialog box to zero. This tool is available in versions of Word through Word 2003; it is not available in later versions.

You can add this tool to your toolbar by following these steps:

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

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

  3. In the list of Categories, choose All Commands.
  4. In the list of Commands, choose CloseUpPara.
  5. Use the mouse to drag CloseUpPara from the Commands list to its new location on the toolbar. When you release the mouse button, the icon for the command appears on the toolbar.
  6. Click on Close to dismiss the Customize 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 (627) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Using a Single-Column Heading in a Multi-Column Layout

Want different numbers of columns all on the same page? Word makes it easy to use, for instance, a heading that uses a single ...

Discover More

Counting Unique Values

Need to know a count of unique values in a range of cells? There are a couple of ways you can tackle the problem.

Discover More

Endnotes in a Separate Document

When you add endnotes to a document they are normally positioned (as one would expect) at the end of the document. You may ...

Discover More

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!

More WordTips (menu)

Understanding Paragraph Alignment

One of the most basic ways to align paragraphs is to set the alignment used for the text in the paragraph. Word provides five ...

Discover More

Controlling Widows and Orphans

Got singular lines at the bottom or top of a page? These are often referred to as widows and orphans, and Word allows you to ...

Discover More

Getting Rid of Choppiness in Justified Text

Justified text doesn't always produce the best-looking results. Here's how to avoid some of the choppiness that can occur.

Discover More
Subscribe

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

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

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}] in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. 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.

What is seven more than 3?

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.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

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

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2017 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.