Understanding the Hot Zone

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 20, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

When Word hyphenates your document, it checks to see how much of a word could be moved to the previous line if it was hyphenated. To do this, it uses what is referred to as a hot zone or a hyphenation zone. This is an area that is eligible for hyphenation at the right side of each line. You set the hot zone when you choose Hyphenate from the Tools menu.

As an example, if you choose a hot zone of 1/2 inch, then Word will not hyphenate a word if the space on the previous line is less than 1/2 inch. Setting a small hot zone results in more hyphenating, whereas a larger hot zone results in faster operation of the hyphenation tool.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1215) 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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Creating Categories for Your Table of Authorities

A table of authorities is normally divided into separate sections based on categories you define. Here's how to create ...

Discover More

Conditional Printing

If you need to make what Excel prints be based upon conditions in a worksheet, you'll love the information in this tip. ...

Discover More

Saving AutoText Entries with Each Document

AutoText can be a great way to add consistent, common text to a document. Unfortunately, you cannot save AutoText entries ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Hyphenating a Selection

Word provides a hyphenation tool that can help you hyphenate words within a document. If you want to apply hyphenation to ...

Discover More

Turning Off Automatic Hyphenation for Parts of a Document

Word can hyphenate documents automatically, if you want it to. But what about those situations where you want most of a ...

Discover More

Hyphenating Your Document

One of the final touches you can add to a document is to hyphenate it. This allows text to flow more smoothly from line ...

Discover More

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

View most recent newsletter.

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}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. 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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 8 + 5?

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.