Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 9, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
Normally, Word assumes that when you press this Tab key in a paragraph that you want to move the insertion point to the next half inch. This assumes, of course, that you have not set any tabs for the current paragraph. If you want to change the default tab stops for a document, you can do so as follows:
Figure 1. The Tabs dialog box.
Remember that the change you make affects the current document and only those paragraphs that don't have any explicit tab stops set.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (632) 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: Changing Default Tab Stops.
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Need to adjust the position of tab stops in a paragraph? One simple way to do it is to just drag them around on the ruler.
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