- Word 2007 and Word 2010 have a default line spacing factor of
1.15. To change current line spacing, select the text in question (hit Ctrl+A to select the entire document). - For single-spaced lines, press Ctrl+1 (standard lines for Word 2003 and earlier).
- Hit Ctrl+5 for
1.5line spacing (pretty common for business documents - lets text "breathe"). - Ctrl+2 applies double-spaced lines (typically required for college papers).
- For these and other options, click the "Line and Paragraph Spacing" button in the Home tab:
Tip: mouse over a line height value to preview that setting (no more "click-to-try-and-undo" !)
- Select "Line Spacing Options" from the menu to customize advanced settings: Pick a value from the "Line spacing" dropdown:
• "Single", "1.5 lines", and "Double" are the same as the numbers above: it just sets spacing to "x" times the line height (based on current font family and text size, in points).
• "At least" lets you set a minimum line spacing in points: this is useful when you have "inline images" inserted throughout your document. In the case of software documentation, including standard 16x16 pixels icons without setting a minimum line spacing would make some lines "higher" than others.
• "Exactly" gives you full control over exact line height, also measured in points.
• With "Multiple", you decide how many times the line's height should be used as vertical space.
Note: the options on the left control "paragraph spacing" - how much space is shown before and/or after each paragraph (by default, in Word 2010, 0 point before and 10 points after).
- To change your default line settings, click on the "Set As Default" button at the bottom.
- Click "OK" to apply the change and return to your document.
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