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: Understanding Justification.

Understanding Justification

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 4, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


In typography, justification refers to the way in which text is changed in relation to the margins in which it is placed. There are several types of justification:

  • Left-justification. All lines in the paragraph butt up against the left text margin. No extra spaces are added to the line.
  • Center-justification. All lines in a paragraph are centered between the left and right text margins. No extra spaces are added to the line.
  • Right-justification. All lines in a paragraph butt up against the right text margin. No extra spaces are added to the line.
  • Fill-justification. All lines in a paragraph are expanded so they butt up against both the left and right text margins. Space is added, between words and characters, as necessary to fill out the line.

In Word, these four justification types are referred to as paragraph alignments. Thus, a paragraph can be left, center, or right aligned. It can also be justified, which is the same as fill-justification.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1305) 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: Understanding Justification.

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

Moving Cell Borders when Sorting

Sort your data and you may be surprised at what Excel does to your formatting. (Some formatting may be moved in the sort ...

Discover More

Checking for Duplicate Rows Based on a Range of Columns

When working with data in Excel, you might want to figure out which rows of data represent duplicates of other rows. If ...

Discover More

Finding Text Not Using a Particular Font

Word makes it easy to find text that uses a particular font or font characteristics. What it doesn't do is make it easy ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Using Dot Leaders in a Paragraph

Adding dot leaders to your text is easy through the application of tab stops. This tip explains the steps you need to ...

Discover More

Retaining Explicit Formatting after Applying Styles

The formatting in a document is often a mix of styles and explicit formatting, applied over time. You may want to apply ...

Discover More

Indent and Justify Command

WordPerfect users are familiar with the F4 command, which indents and justifies a paragraph. Word does not have an ...

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.

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.

What is 3 + 4?

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.

Videos
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.