How to Insert Nonbreaking Spaces in Microsoft Word

This tutorial shows how to insert nonbreaking spaces in Microsoft Word using the Symbol dialog box method and the keyboard shortcut method. Before we start the tutorial, we’ll briefly define nonbreaking spaces and see what they look like compared to regular spaces.

This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

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The images below are from Word for Office 365, which is currently the same as Word 2019. However, the steps are the same for Word 2016 and are similar for Word 2013 and Word 2010.

What Are Nonbreaking Spaces?

Nonbreaking spaces are special characters that keep words or individual characters from separating at line breaks. Nonbreaking spaces are particularly useful between ellipsis points. However, you can use them between any words or characters that you want to stay together.

In Microsoft Word, regular spaces are represented by a small, solid dot and nonbreaking spaces are represented by a slightly larger circle positioned higher than the regular-space dot.

Nonbreaking Spaces versus Regular Spaces | How to Insert Nonbreaking Spaces in Microsoft Word — Figure 1. Regular spaces versus nonbreaking spaces

To see these and other formatting symbols in your Word document, select the Show/Hide button in the Paragraph group of the Home tab. To hide the formatting symbols, reselect the Show/Hide button.

Show/Hide Option in Word 2019 / Word 365 — Figure 2. Show/Hide button

Insert Nonbreaking Spaces in Microsoft Word Using the Symbol Dialog Box

1. Place your cursor where the nonbreaking space should be inserted. Alternately, if a regular space already appears where the nonbreaking space should be inserted, select the regular space, as shown in the image below.

Regular Space Selected | How to Insert Nonbreaking Spaces in Microsoft Word — Figure 3. Regular space selected

2. Select the Insert tab.

Insert Tab in Word 365 / Word 2019 — Figure 4. Insert tab

3. Select Symbols in the Symbols group.

Image of the Symbol Button in the Symbols Group in Word 365 / Word 2019 — Figure 5. Symbol button in the Symbols group

4. Select More Symbols in the drop-down menu.

Image of More Symbols in the Symbols Group in Word 365 / Word 2019 — Figure 6. More Symbols in the Symbols group

5. Select the Special Characters tab in the Symbol dialog box.

Image of the Special Characters Tab in the Symbol Dialog Box in Word 365 / Word 2019 — Figure 7. Special Characters tab in the Symbol dialog box

6. Select Nonbreaking Space from the Character menu.

Image of the Nonbreaking Space in the Special Characters Tab in the Symbols Dialog Box in Word 365 / Word 2019 — Figure 8. Nonbreaking Space in the Special Characters tab of the Symbol dialog box

7. Select the Insert button to insert the nonbreaking space.

Image of the Insert Button in the Symbol Dialog Box in Word 365 / Word 2019 — Figure 9. Insert button in the Symbol dialog box

Pro Tip: You can move your cursor around the document and insert additional nonbreaking spaces or other special characters while the Symbol dialog box is open.

8. Select the Close button to close the Symbol dialog box.