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
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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.
- (Optional) Select the Show/Hide button to reveal your formatting marks (including spaces).
- Select the Edit menu.
- Select Find in the drop-down menu.
- Select Replace in the submenu.
- 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.)
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- 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.)
- Select your preferred replacement option:
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- 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.
- Select the Close button when you are finished.
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.
- Select Preferences in the drop-down menu.
- Select Spelling & Grammar in the Word Preferences dialog box.
- Ensure that Mark grammar as you type is selected.
- Select the 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.)
- Select one space in the Space Between Sentences menu.
- Select the OK button.
- Select the Close button to close the Spelling Grammar dialog box.
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.
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.
Extra spaces will also be flagged in the Punctuation Conventions category when you run the Editor.