In this video, we'll look at how you can adjust line spacing in Microsoft Word,
or the amount of vertical space between lines of text within a paragraph.
Let's check this out. Here I am in Microsoft Word, and I would like to adjust the line spacing for
this entire document. Later on, we'll look at how you could adjust the line spacing for just
an individual paragraph. Up on the top tabs, let's click on the option "Design." And then over on the
right-hand side, let's click into "Paragraph Spacing." At the very top, we see an option
called "Default," and this is what currently applies to your document. When you hover over it,
you'll also see this overlay that tells you what the current settings are. So here it currently
has zero points before a paragraph. It has eight points spacing after a paragraph, and then within
the paragraph, it’s using line spacing of 1.16. Underneath that, you have different options. So,
with this one, no paragraph spacing. Here you have zero points before and zero after a paragraph,
and you have one line spacing. Now you might be wondering, what is one line spacing? Well, it's
basically 120% of whatever the largest font is on that line of text, and that's considered standard
spacing. Here we go down and you have different options. Like you can make it more compact,
or here we have tight or open and relaxed. Here again, as you go over the different options and
you hover over, you'll see how it impacts your document in back. And here too, if you hover over,
you'll see what the specific settings are. Down at the very bottom, we also have double line spacing.
And here, if I click on that, that now applies it to my entire document. There I have double
line spacing. If for whatever reason you'd like to revert back to what your document originally had,
up on top, click into "Paragraph Spacing," click on "Default," and that'll return you to the
original state. Now, if for whatever reason, you need to specify the specific spacing before and
after a paragraph and even the specific line spacing, within this menu, down at the very
bottom, click on "Custom Paragraph Spacing." This now opens up a dialog where I can customize the
specific spacing used throughout this entire document. Here at the bottom of the dialog,
we have a section called "Paragraph Spacing." Here you could define how much space to leave
at the beginning of a paragraph, currently it sets to zero, and you could also define the amount of
space to use at the end of a paragraph. Now, keep in mind, if let's say I set before to 12
and after to 8, that would mean that between these two paragraphs, it leaves eight points
after and 12 points before, in which case I would have 20 points between these two paragraphs. So,
something to keep in mind. Over on the right-hand side, we have a section called "Line Spacing," and
we have a few different options. At the very top, we could set it to "Single Line Spacing," and this
is 120% of the largest font in a line within the paragraph, and that's considered standard
spacing in documents. You can also set it to 1.5 lines, and this sets the line spacing to one and
a half times of single line spacing. You can also set it to double, and just like the name implies,
this sets the line spacing to twice that of single line spacing. You can also set it to at least.
This option sets the minimum line spacing needed to fit the largest font, or graphic, on a line
of text. You can also set it to an exact value. Here, if I click on "Exact," here you could set
the points. And this is a fixed line spacing. So, for example, with 12 points, that means that the
spacing is exactly 12 points high. And lastly, you can also set it to "Multiple," and this allows you
to set line spacing to a multiple of single line spacing. So, in a sense, here if I choose 1.5,
that's exactly as choosing 1.5 lines. But let's say I want triple line spacing. Right up here,
I can move it up to three, and now I would have triple line spacing. Once you configure these
various settings, down at the very bottom, you can set it to only apply to this document. But
let's say that you're using these settings all the time, in many different documents. Over here,
you can set it to new documents based on this template. And that way, in the future,
when you work in Word, it'll apply these settings. I’ll leave it to only in this document, and then
click on "OK." And there, it's now applied triple line spacing to my document. To return back to
what we originally had, just like we saw earlier, within the design tab over on the right-hand side,
within paragraph spacing, click on this menu, and then select "Default," and here we are back to
where we started. Now, you may also want to just update one specific paragraph versus the entire
document. Up on the top tabs, let's click on "Home," and as a quick tip, you can click on this
icon. This shows and hides hidden formatting. When I click on that, you can see where a paragraph
ends. So here, how it all began, it ends there. And then this is a new paragraph, and then here,
this paragraph ends there. So, you can see the beginning and the end of all the different
paragraphs within your document. Here, I'll click out of this. To adjust one specific paragraph,
simply highlight the paragraph that you would like to change. And then on the "Home" tab,
here in the center, click on this icon. This allows you to adjust the line and paragraph
spacing. And here, we have all sorts of different options. Here, I can set it to one line spacing.
And when I hover over that, you see how it changes the text on the document. Or here,
double line spacing. Here's triple line spacing. You could also add space before or remove space
after a paragraph. And just like we saw earlier, if you want to customize these specific values,
simply click on "Line Spacing Options," and this opens up that exact same prompt again,
and here, you can adjust all the different settings. Right down below, I'll click on
"Cancel." You can also adjust the line spacing for styles if you use those throughout your document.
If you've never heard of styles before, they are so beneficial to keeping a uniform and consistent
look throughout your document. As an example, right up here, I use a heading, "How it all
began." And I'm using the Heading 1 style for this heading. And here, if we scroll down the document
just a little bit more, here, I use that heading again. One of the beautiful things is I can go in
and update this style, and that will then apply to all the different headings throughout my document.
So, let's say, for example, that maybe I change the color, the font size, or maybe the font,
that'll apply to the entire document wherever that style is used. Again, it makes it easy to
keep a consistent and uniform looking document. One of the great things is you can also adjust
the line spacing for specific styles. Right up on top, I see all the different styles
applied to this document. My paragraphs use the normal style. To adjust the line spacing,
I'll right-click on this, and the second option says "Modify." Let's click on that. Here,
I can adjust all the different properties of this style. Right here, I can adjust the line spacing.
But if you want more control and you want to see that same dialogue that we saw earlier,
down at the very bottom, let's click on the button that says "Format." Right up on top, we have the
option that says "Paragraph." And you probably recognize this. We saw this earlier. Here,
we could adjust the spacing before, after, and also the specific line spacing, and then this will
apply to this specific style. So, let's say I want double line spacing. Let's select double. Here,
we see an example or preview of what that'll do to our document. I'll click on "OK." OK, and there,
it's now applied double line spacing to any place where I use this style. And so in this document,
it's all my different paragraphs. As a quick tip, before we wrap up, if you just want to jump
directly to that line spacing dialogue without having to click through, let's say, a menu and
then click on "Options," right up here within the "Paragraph" section, you can click on this icon,
and this opens up all those paragraph spacing options and you can customize it down below.
And remember, in the world of text, just like in life, a little space can make a big difference. To
watch more videos like this one, please consider subscribing, and I hope you stay line and dandy.