Hello, my name is Erin.
This tutorial shows how to indent paragraphs in Microsoft Word.
Specifically, we will look at how to indent paragraphs with the Tab key, the ruler, and the Paragraph dialog box.
Today I will be using Word for Microsoft 365.
These steps also apply to the single-purchase versions of the software back to Word 2013.
We will cover this same topic in Word for Mac in our next tutorial, which will be linked below.
The quickest way to indent individual paragraphs is to use the Tab key on your keyboard.
To begin, insert your cursor at the start of the paragraph.
Then, press the Tab key on your keyboard.
By default, the Tab key will indent the paragraph one half inch (.5”).
If you want to change the default tab indent length,
select the Home tab.
And then select the dialog box launcher in the Paragraph group.
When the Paragraph dialog box appears, select the Tab button.
And then enter a new length into the Default tab stop text box.
Finally, select the OK button.
The ruler can be used to indent single paragraphs, multiple paragraphs, or the entire document.
To use the ruler to indent single or multiple paragraphs,
first select the View tab.
Followed by Ruler to display the ruler if it is not already displayed.
Next, select the paragraph or paragraphs that you want to indent.
And then slide the First Line Indent marker,
which is the top ruler marker, to the right to the desired indent length.
Your paragraphs should be indented as you move the ruler marker.
To use the ruler to indent the entire document, first insert your cursor into one of your regular paragraphs.
Then, select the Home tab.
Followed by the Select button.
From there, select Select All Text with Similar Formatting.
This option selects all the paragraphs in the document
without selecting other items that are not normally indented, such as headings.
Next, slide the First Line Indent marker on the ruler to the right to the desired indent length.
The Paragraph dialog box lets you indent all the paragraphs in your document
while also making additional adjustments to alignment and line spacing.
To begin, insert your cursor into one of your regular paragraphs.
Then, select the Home tab.
Followed by the Select button.
And then the Select All Text with Similar Formatting option from the drop-down menu.
All your paragraphs should now be selected.
Next, select the dialog box launcher in the Paragraph group.
When the Paragraph dialog box appears, select First line in the Special menu.
Then, use the increment arrows to adjust the length of the indent in the By text box.
You can also make additional adjustments to alignment or line spacing.
Lastly, select the OK button.
The Paragraph dialog box should close, and your paragraphs should be indented.
All the steps we just performed are listed with images on my website at erinwrightwriting.com,
which is linked in the description box below along with my playlist “How to Use Microsoft Word,”
which offers many related tutorials, including
“How to Change the Unit of Measurement for the Ruler, Margins, and Indents in Microsoft Word.”
Feel free to leave me a comment if there’s a specific topic that you would like me to talk about in the future.
And please subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss upcoming tutorials.
And give this video a thumbs-up if you found it helpful.
Thank you so much for watching!