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 Leaders with Tab Stops.
You probably already know how to insert tab stops in a paragraph. Word allows you to control what characters are inserted in the otherwise blank area created by the tab. These characters are called leaders, and are controlled with the Tabs command from the Format menu. Leaders are often used with right-aligned tabs or decimal tabs, particularly when the text column is quite wide and the tab will cover a wide area. To use leaders with tab stops, 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 (1034) 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 Leaders with Tab Stops.
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When you need to be very specific about where a tab stop is located, you'll want to become familiar with the Tabs dialog ...
Discover MoreIf you don't explicitly set tab stops in a paragraph, Word relies upon a default tab stop distance. You can adjust that ...
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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: 
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