Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 2: Word 2010/2013
• Method 2 of 2: Word 2007
• Tips

Tired of hitting the Tab key for every new paragraph in your document? Microsoft Word gives you the ability to automatically indent your new paragraphs with just a few simple menu changes. Follow this guide to learn how to do this in Word 2007, 2010 and 2013.

To step

Method 1 of 2: Word 2010/2013

1. Open the Paragraph dialog. In the lower right corner within the "Paragraph" group, click the small arrow. You can access this from the "Paragraph" group in the "Home" or "Page Layout" tab.
   • You can do this before you start typing your document or, if you've already typed a document, just highlight the paragraphs you want to indent.
2. Find the group "Indent". You can find this in the tab "Indents and Distance".
3. Click on the drop-down menu under "Special". Select "First Line" to automatically indent the first line of each new paragraph.
4. Change the indent size. This is the distance that each line will be indented. The most commonly used size is 1.25 cm. You can preview the changes at the bottom of the dialog.
5. Click OK to save your changes and apply them to the document. Click the "Set as Default" button if you want the changes to take effect automatically for new documents.

Method 2 of 2: Word 2007

1. Click the "Page Layout" tab at the top of the Microsoft Word ribbon. In the image on the right, it is circled in red.
2. Go to the group "Indentation" and "Distance". Click on the arrow in the lower right corner. In the image on the right, it is circled in red. This arrow opens the Paragraph window.
3. Look for the heading "Indentation" in the Paragraph window. In this group there is a drop-down box titled "Special:". Click on the drop-down menu and select the "First line" option.
4. Choose the distance that the line should be indented. You can change this in the "With:" box. The default indentation distance is 1.25 cm.
5. Click "OK", and continue typing. Now Word will automatically indent the first line every time you press Enter.

Tips

• If you want to avoid indenting a line when this setting is on, hold down the Shift key while pressing Enter.