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How to Set Single Spacing as the Default in Microsoft Word

Set single spacing as the default for new desktop Word documents, or apply it to one document or selected paragraphs. Word for the web does not save a persistent spacing default.
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In desktop Microsoft Word, set single spacing for future documents through Design > Paragraph Spacing > Custom Paragraph Spacing > Set Defaults, then choose Single and New documents based on this template. Word for the web can change spacing in the current document, but does not save that change as the default for new web documents.

Set single spacing as the default in desktop Word

These steps apply to Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2024, Word 2021, Word 2019, and Word 2016 on Windows and Mac, according to Microsoft’s instructions.

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  1. Open the Design tab.
  2. Select Paragraph Spacing, then choose Custom Paragraph Spacing.
  3. In the dialog, select Set Defaults.
  4. Under Line Spacing, choose Single.
  5. Select New documents based on this template, then select OK.

This setting changes the default for new documents based on the selected template. It does not automatically reformat documents you already created.

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Choose the right spacing change for your document

Change spacing throughout one document

To apply the current style set’s no-extra-paragraph-space option to the open document, select Design > Paragraph Spacing > No Paragraph Space. This overrides the document’s current style set; you can switch back to Default or the active style set later. It is a document-level formatting choice, not the same as changing the template default for future documents. See Microsoft’s steps for removing double line spacing.

Change only selected paragraphs

Select the paragraphs, open Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing, then choose 1.0. This formats the selection rather than setting a default for new documents. Microsoft’s line and paragraph spacing guide describes the control.

Word for the web

Word for the web lets you format the current document, but Microsoft says it does not provide a persistent default-spacing setting. A new document created in Word for the web reverts to 1.15 line spacing. See Microsoft’s guidance on single-spacing a document.

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Single line spacing versus paragraph spacing

Line spacing controls the distance between lines within a paragraph. The Before and After settings separately control space around paragraphs. Choosing Single therefore does not necessarily remove the gaps between paragraphs or the space above headings. If the page still looks too spread out, inspect those paragraph spacing values as well; Microsoft’s indents and spacing guide explains the separate controls.

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Microsoft describes Word’s default as 1.15 line spacing, with a blank line after paragraphs and space above headings. That is why selecting Single alone may not make a document look uniformly compact.

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