Hello, my name is Erin. I'm a professional copy editor who shares
writing tips for the real world on my blog at ErinWrightWriting.com.
Today's tutorial shows how to find extra spaces in Microsoft Word as you type
by customizing your proofing options.
Then we'll look at how to delete the extra spaces as soon as they are flagged
and how to delete them when you run the Spelling and Grammar check.
Note that you can also use Word's find and replace tool
to delete multiple extra spaces all at once.
I have a separate video on that process called "How to Delete Extra Spaces in Microsoft Word,"
which is linked below.
I'll be using Word in Office 365, which is currently the same as Word 2019.
The steps are the same for Word 2016 and similar for Word 2013 and Word 2010.
However, your interface might look slightly different.
To begin, select the File tab and then select Options in the Backstage view.
Next, select Proofing in the Word Options dialog box.
Ensure that "Mark grammar errors as you type"
and "Check grammar with spelling" are selected in the spelling and grammar section.
Then, select the Settings button.
In the Grammar Settings dialog box, select Spacing in the Grammar section of the options menu.
This option flags extra spaces between words, not between sentences.
Next, scroll to the Punctuation Conventions section
and select One Space in the Space Between Sentences drop-down menu.
Finally, select the OK button to close the Grammar Settings dialog box
followed by the OK button to close the Word Options dialog box.
Once you've customized your proofing options, you can delete extra spaces as you type.
Extra spaces between sentences will be flagged with a red dotted line.
Extra spaces between words will be flagged with blue double lines.
To begin, right-click on the extra space mark,
and then select the correction from the pop-up menu.
Note that you can select See More to open the Editor pane
Or select Options for "Grammar" or Options for "Punctuation Conventions"
to reopen the Grammar Settings dialog box.
Now we'll delete extra spaces during a Spelling and Grammar check.
Begin by selecting the Review tab,
followed by Spelling and Grammar in the Proofing group.
As the Spelling and Grammar check runs,
select each spacing correction in the Suggestions section of the Editor pane.
If Word finds an extra space that you want to keep,
select Ignore Once at the bottom of the Editor pane, instead.
The transcript for this tutorial appears on ErinWrightWriting.com,
which is linked below along with my Microsoft Word playlist.
Feel free to leave me a comment if you have a question
about Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat that you'd like me to address in the future.
And please subscribe and give this video a thumbs-up if you found it helpful.
Thank you so much for watching!