We recently adjusted the space between words in Microsoft Word for the PC. Today, we’re going to look at how to increase or decrease the space between words in Word for Mac.
A Word of Caution: You can change the space between words by adding multiple spaces. I strongly advise against this practice for long blocks of text because adding unnecessary spaces (rather than making individual spaces bigger, as shown in this tutorial) can have unwanted effects on other formatting in your document.
Do you want to change the space between letters in Word for Mac? Please see my other tutorial “How to Adjust Letter Spacing in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac)”
This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.
Watch more than 250 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel.
The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac. These steps should also work in other recent versions of Word for Mac.
How to Adjust the Space between Words in Word for Mac
- Select the Home tab in the ribbon.
- (Optional) Select the Show/Hide button to reveal your document’s formatting marks.
- Select the part of the text you want to change. (Pro Tip: Press Command + A to select the entire document.)
- Review your current font size in the Font Size menu. The default space between words is based on your current font size.
- Select the Edit menu.
- Select Find in the drop-down menu.
- Select Advanced Find and Replace in the submenu to open the Find and Replace dialog box.
Alternative Route to the Find and Replace Dialog Box
Here is another way to open the Find and Replace dialog box:
- Press Shift + Command + H on your keyboard.
- (Alternative) Select the Edit menu followed by Find in the drop-down menu and then Replace in the submenu.
- Select the Settings button and then select Advanced Find & Replace in the Find and Replace pane.
- Select the Replace tab.
- Place your cursor in the Find what text box and then press your spacebar once to create one space.
- Place your cursor in the Replace with text box and then press your spacebar once to create one space.
- Select the expansion arrow. (Skip this step if your dialog box is already expanded.)
- Select the Format button.
- Select Font in the Format menu.
- Type a larger or smaller font size in the Size menu in the Replace Font dialog box. Alternatively, select a size from the drop-down menu.
- Select the OK button.
- Select the Replace All button.
- A dialog box will report the number of replacements.
-
- Select No if you only want the replacements in the text you selected in step 3.
- Select Yes if you want to expand the replacements to your whole document.
- Select the Close button.
The spacing between words should now be changed in your selected text.
- (Optional) Reselect the Show/Hide button to hide your formatting (see figure 2).
Related Resources
How to Use the Format Painter in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac)
How to Change Page Orientation in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac)
How to Create a Custom Heading Style in Microsoft Word for Mac
Updated March 05, 2023