Setting Tab Stops with the Ruler

Click in the paragraph or line where you want to set a tab.

Click the Tab Alignment button to toggle through the type of tab stop you want (Left, Center, Right, Decimal Tab, Bar Tab, First Line Indent, or Hanging Indent).

Move the mouse pointer to the place on the ruler where you want to place the tab stop, and click.

Press the Tab key on your keyboard to align the text with the tab stop.

INTRODUCTION

You can set different types of tab stops: left (default), right, decimal, or center. Setting tabs is useful for indenting paragraphs at one or more tab stops. Word displays the exact tab measurements in the ruler when you press the Alt key while you click to add the tab stop.

TIP

Tab Options

The tab options look like an L for a left tab, an upside-down T for a center tab, a backward L for a right tab, an upside-down T with a dot for a decimal tab, and a bar for a bar tab. Cycle through the tab options using the Tab Alignment button.

TIP

Removing a Tab Stop

If you want to remove a tab stop, select the text for which you set the tab, point to the tab marker, left-click and drag it off the ruler, and then release the mouse button. The tab stop disappears.