Thursday, May 1, 2008

Word 2007: Remove Extra Space between Paragraphs

Word 2007 offers many improvements over previous versions of Word. But, the program still has its annoyances. For example, Word 2007 will add a space between paragraphs by default. If you don’t want Word to add the extra space, you can turn it off.
  1. On the Home ribbon, in the Paragraph group, click the Paragraph dialog box launcher.
  2. Select the check box for Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style.
  3. Click the Default… button to apply to all future documents.
  4. Click OK.
View a video demonstration.
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Posted by Ranelle at 9:10 AM
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24 comments:

  1. KelleenSeptember 3, 2008 at 10:36 AM

    THANK YOU! Finally someone who knows what they're talking about! If you can tell me why my emails in Outlook, newest version,don't go through to people when I send from clicking on the "To" button, but will go through when I go into "contacts", click on their name and click "email", you'll be catapulted to the level of computer goddess, not geek! Thanks again, Kelleen

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  2. LauraSeptember 23, 2008 at 6:33 PM

    Ok, but how do you make it not add spaces between paragraphs of a different style?

    I clicked:
    "Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style"

    and while that helps with the spacing between all lines in the same paragraphs, any new paragraphs still have a space...

    ReplyDelete
  3. EmmaNovember 9, 2008 at 10:00 PM

    This works for me when I apply it to the current document, but for some reason it, making it the default setting is impossible. Any thoughts?

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  4. SandorCleganeDecember 1, 2008 at 11:58 AM

    Thank _god_. That was driving me nuts.

    ReplyDelete
  5. EmilyJanuary 18, 2009 at 8:26 PM

    Emma- To make the default possible, try this, it worked for me because I had the same problem... First in the Paragraph section, click on the line spacing icon, and click "remove space after paragraph." Then follow the other instructions (check the box and hit default). That should work

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  6. thefannycakeJanuary 26, 2009 at 12:34 PM

    Emily - i do those steps, but it still doesnt apply globally! any ideas?

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  7. Monique B.July 29, 2009 at 4:42 PM

    There's a link to a fix it wizard from Microsoft that will fix the paragraph spacing problem for you. Even after selecting "Set as Default" on the "Change Styles" button, I still couldn't get the changes to hold. Here's the link for others who may be experiencing the same problem: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921174

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  8. RanelleJuly 30, 2009 at 5:20 PM

    Thanks for sharing, Monique!

    ReplyDelete
  9. ChrisAugust 2, 2009 at 1:20 PM

    What I did to change it globally was this:
    1) Go to "Open"
    2) On the left, click "Trusted Templates"
    3) Choose "Normal.dotm"
    4) Without a blank page, make the paragraph change, then click "Save"
    (Not "Save As")
    5) Close word, open it back and open a blank document. Should be the way you want it.

    That worked for me. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Daedalus17September 4, 2009 at 12:18 PM

    I finally got this fixed for me in 2007. I had to change the style by doing the following...
    1) go to "Home" tab
    2) In the "Styles" group find the "List Paragraph" button and right click on it (Or type Ctrl-Alt-Shift-S and right click on list paragraph).
    3) select modify from the drop down
    4) Select the radio button "New documents based on this template"
    5) Click the "format" button and select "paragraph".
    6) Check the "Don't add space between paragraphs of the same style" check box.
    7) click ok a few times to save the changes.

    I was just so pleased to see such an easy and intuitive fix for this. I mean I really HATED how word did this to me. I hated it so much I often used word or notepad to get away from the POS called Word. All along I could have changed the setting so easilly.

    ReplyDelete
  11. PattiSeptember 15, 2009 at 9:28 AM

    THANK YOU, CHRIS!! Our University came in and installed Office 2007 on all of our computers with not so much as a scrap of support. I find myself out on the web for the quick fixes. This one was driving me nuts!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. yukikyoOctober 22, 2009 at 3:08 PM

    anyone know how to do this on a mac?

    ReplyDelete
  13. JoeNovember 19, 2009 at 2:18 AM

    Thank you so much that has been bugging me for a while now. You can add that this works for office 2010. (I'm running the beta)

    ReplyDelete
  14. SPU_foolNovember 29, 2009 at 12:09 AM

    Is there any way to make a caption behave like a picture? I.e. Wrap text around the same way. I have a picture and a caption, both set to "tight" and "move with text" is unchecked. Line spacing is 1 with 0px before and after a paragraph. Yet when the text goes on the same line as the caption, it skips a line.

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  15. evaJanuary 19, 2010 at 9:37 AM

    thank you so much!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. BrianLaesch.comFebruary 4, 2010 at 12:37 AM

    You just saved my night. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Andy and NatFebruary 8, 2010 at 9:04 AM

    Thank you so much Scwoom, this is what I was looking for

    ReplyDelete
  18. Jeff PannoneJuly 26, 2010 at 10:22 AM

    I had the same issue, but checking the box and clicking default did not fully solve my problem. When I would open a new word doc, the issue remained.

    I had to change the spacing setting in the "Styles" box (to the right of Paragraph. To do this, choose your spacing setting, then click "Change Styles" and select "Set as Default". Now, everytime I open a new doc, the default template has no spacing!! :-)

    Hope this helps anyone having a similar issue.

    p.s. when right clicking in windows and choosing 'NEW > WORD DOC" the defaults revert back to the original word template; disregarding my default settings. I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to fix this? Anyone have a solution?

    ReplyDelete
  19. LaurieSeptember 20, 2010 at 8:38 AM

    Is this possible on a Mac?

    ReplyDelete
  20. RanelleSeptember 24, 2010 at 9:13 AM

    Although I'm mainly a PC person, the concept is the same. In the formatting panel, click on the arrow on the right of "Normal" (styles section) and then choose modify style. On the lower left corner, choose paragraph, and in spacing, set "after" to be zero. After you close the paragraph dialog box, click "add to template," and then "ok."

    ReplyDelete
  21. beccawilliamsOctober 26, 2010 at 12:48 PM

    Thank you - that was driving me crazy! xx

    ReplyDelete
  22. PaulMarch 3, 2011 at 2:23 PM

    I do this but when I open a new document its back to the previous spacing. Even though I have chosen default it still does not stick. Does anyone know why?

    ReplyDelete
  23. PaulMarch 3, 2011 at 2:25 PM

    I have done this and selected the Default. But when I open a new document the old format is there. Does anyone know why?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Robert ReedApril 5, 2011 at 3:39 PM

    Here is how to update your "Normal" style if that is your default style in Outlook. Open a new email/document, click over on the format text tab. Right click on the style you want to modify (in this case Normal) and click Modify. Box will pop up and click on the Format button in the lower left and select Paragraph from that menu. Check the "don't add space between paragraphs of the same style" checkbox. Click ok a couple times to get back to your message. Once back to the message and stil on the Format Text tab, click the Change Styles button on the upper right and click Set As Default. This is the only way it would keep this formatting on new messages for me.

    ReplyDelete

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