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How to Single Space in Microsoft Word

Choose Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing > 1.0 for selected text, or use Design > Paragraph Spacing > No Paragraph Space to change a desktop document throughout.

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To single-space text in Word, select it, then choose Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing > 1.0. For the whole document, use Design > Paragraph Spacing > No Paragraph Space. If there is still a gap between paragraphs, adjust paragraph spacing separately.

Single-space selected paragraphs

  1. Select the paragraphs you want to change.
  2. Go to Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing.
  3. Choose 1.0. If your version shows named options instead, open Line Spacing Options and choose Single.

These steps apply to desktop Word; menu labels can differ by platform or version. Microsoft documents the Windows, Mac, and web procedures in its line and paragraph spacing guide.

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Single-space the whole document

In desktop Word, select Design > Paragraph Spacing > No Paragraph Space. Microsoft describes this as a quick way to apply single spacing throughout the document. The setting overrides the current style set. To restore the previous style spacing, return to Design > Paragraph Spacing and choose Default or the name of the current style set.

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Remove extra space between paragraphs

Line spacing and paragraph spacing control different things. Line spacing affects the distance between lines within a paragraph; the Before and After values add space around paragraphs. If choosing Single makes lines closer but leaves paragraphs separated, select the affected paragraphs, open Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing > Line Spacing Options, and adjust Before and After.

Microsoft’s support article describes 1.15-line spacing and 10 points after paragraphs as defaults for the versions it addresses. A document may differ if its styles or spacing have been customized.

Set single spacing for future desktop documents

  1. Go to Design > Paragraph Spacing > Custom Paragraph Spacing.
  2. Set Line Spacing to Single.
  3. Select New documents based on this template, then confirm.

This saves the setting for new desktop documents based on that template; it does not change documents already created.

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Single-space text in Word for the web

Select the paragraphs—or all text if you want to change the current document—then choose Home > Line Spacing and select the single-spacing option. Word for the web can change spacing in the open document, but the change does not become the default for future documents. Microsoft says a new web document reverts to 1.15 line spacing.

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