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: Paragraph Formatting Shortcuts.

Paragraph Formatting Shortcuts

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 18, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Many people find it easier to use keyboard commands than to constantly stop and use the mouse. Word accommodates these people by providing several shortcuts you can use to format paragraphs. The following table lists several keyboard shortcuts you can use for your paragraph formatting:

Shortcut		Meaning
Ctrl+1		Single-spaced paragraph
Ctrl+5		1 1/2-line paragraph spacing
Ctrl+2		Double-spaced paragraph
Ctrl+L		Left-aligned paragraph
Ctrl+E		Centered paragraph
Ctrl+R		Right-aligned paragraph
Ctrl+J		Justified paragraph
Ctrl+0		Add or remove one line of space before the paragraph
Ctrl+M		Increase indent one tab stop
Shift+Ctrl+M		Decrease indent one tab stop
Ctrl+T		Increase hanging indent by one tab stop
Shift+Ctrl+T		Decrease hanging indent by one tab stop

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1043) 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: Paragraph Formatting Shortcuts.

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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What is four minus 0?

2017-01-11 20:36:15

Donna Manning

I am a court transcriber and need desperately to eliminate the two shortcuts CNTRL+1 and CNTRL+2. HELP!!!

2015-11-11 09:02:27

Mashiro Ito

Thank you :)

2014-06-17 05:34:14

justine

formatting a paragraph keyboard

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