How to Delete Extra Spaces in Word for Mac

This tutorial shows how to delete all extra spaces between words and sentences in Word for Mac. We will also look at how to change your grammar settings to flag extra spaces as you type.

Table of Contents

How to Delete Extra Spaces
How to Flag Extra Spaces as You Type

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The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac. These steps are similar in Word 2021 for Mac, Word 2019 for Mac, and Word 2016 for Mac.

Are you on a PC? Please see “How to Delete Extra Spaces in Microsoft Word.”

How to Delete Extra Spaces

Select the Home tab in the ribbon.

Home tab in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 1. Home tab

(Optional) Select the Show/Hide button to reveal your formatting marks (including spaces).

Show Hide button in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 2. Show/Hide button

Select the Edit menu.

Edit menu in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 3. Edit menu

Select Find in the drop-down menu.

Find option in the Edit menu in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 4. Find option

Select Replace in the submenu.

Replace option in the Edit menu in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 5. Replace option

Place your cursor in the Find What text box in the Find and Replace sidebar and press the space bar on your keyboard twice to add two spaces. (The text box will appear empty.)

Find What text box in the Find and Replace sidebar in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 6. Find What text box

1. Place your cursor in the Replace With text box and press the space bar on your keyboard once to add one space. (The text box will appear empty.)

Replace With text box in the Find and Replace sidebar in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 7. Replace With text box

Select your preferred replacement option:

- Replace All replaces all the double spaces with single spaces. If you choose this option, a dialog box will appear telling you how many replacements have been made.
- Replace replaces the first occurrence of a double space with a single space. It will then replace another occurrence each time it is selected.

Replace All and Replace buttons in the Find and Replace sidebar in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 8. Replace All and Replace buttons

Select the Close button when you are finished.

Close button in the Find and Replace Sidebar in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 9. Close button

You can repeat this process to find more than two spaces between words or sentences, as necessary.

How to Flag Extra Spaces as You Type

Select the Word menu.

Word menu in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 10. Word menu

Select Preferences in the drop-down menu.

Preferences option in the Word menu in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 11. Preferences option

Select Spelling & Grammar in the Word Preferences dialog box.

Spelling and Grammar button in the Word Preferences dialog box in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 12. Spelling & Grammar button

Ensure that Mark grammar as you type is selected.

Check grammar as you type option in the Spelling Grammar dialog box in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 13. Check grammar as you type option

Select the Settings button.

Settings button in the Spelling Grammar dialog box in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 14. Settings button

Select Spacing in the Grammar and style options menu in the Grammar Settings dialog box. (This option flags extra spaces between words, not between sentences.)

Spacing option in the Grammar Settings dialog box in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 15. Spacing option

Select one space in the Space Between Sentences menu.

Space between Sentences menu in the Grammar Settings dialog box in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 16. Space between Sentences

Select the OK button.

OK button in the Grammar Settings dialog box in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 17. OK button

Select the Close button to close the Spelling Grammar dialog box.

Close button in the Spelling Grammar dialog box in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 18. Close button

Delete Extra Spaces as You Type

Once you have customized your proofing options, Word will flag extra spaces as you type.

Extra spaces between sentences will be marked with a dotted line. Extra spaces between words will be marked with double lines.

Extra spaces flagged in text in Word for Mac 365 — Figure 19. Extra spaces flagged in text

You can manually delete the flagged space or Control-click on the extra space mark (the dotted line or double lines) and then select the correction from the shortcut menu.