Change text alignment options in Word 2010
The four text alignment settings are deceptively simple, and there are quite a few hidden tricks and tips for this feature, as you'll learn in this tutorial. When should you use Left, Center, Right, or Justify? Another frequent question is how to change the default alignment for new documents in Word 2010? Changing it will save you quite some time if you need to create documents other than left aligned (the default). Note that this tutorial focuses on your horizontal alignment settings; vertical alignment options will be covered when we talk about tables, whose cells can have no less than 9 alignment combinations!
Basic Word alignment settings
You will find the four text alignment buttons under the "Home" tab in the Word 2010 ribbon. Here's a screenshot of the default setting, where "Left" is selected; note that which button is current highlighted automatically changes based on the current position of the insertion point (blinking cursor).
- Click on the first button to force Word to align Left the current section of the document - a paragraph, a table cell, bullet point, etc. Or press Ctrl+L on your keyboard. In doubt, always use left justified alignment, it is the normal for most written communication.
- To Center the current element, click on the second button, or hit Ctrl+E. Keep reading until the next section to know when best to use which text alignment setting.
- To Right align, click on the third button or press Ctrl+R.
- To Justify align the current text block, click on the fourth button or press Ctrl+J.
Tip: default alignment for new Word documents is "left" (see below how to change the default alignment). If the current alignment button is something other than the default, clicking again on that button will restore the default alignment.
Visual Communication 101: when should you use each alignment option?
This tutorial is about Word 2010, so we won't hijack it into a layout presentation primer, but here are a few, basic pointers. Since most non-designers make the mistakes we'll help you avoid, this may help your documents stand out from the crowd, quite useful for application papers or resumes. No design rule is ever absolute, so take what you can from these and adapt them as needed!
- A mix of different text alignments in the same document create visual chaos; stick to one alignment, perhaps two. A cover sheet can gracefully contain three different alignments on the same page, but this is an exception (bottom left alignment in one corner, top right alignment for another corner, a center center for a title and sub header - for example). Aligning related text on the same side, possibly at the same distance from the side of the page, creates unity and visual cohesion; an invisible line (border) runs along the alignment side.
- As implied by the previous sentence, you really have two ways of aligning your text: left (which includes justified), and right. Using center alignment prevents that invisible line from creating cohesion in your document - each line of a centered block of text starts and ends in a different horizontal position. Yet most non-designers use (and overuse) centered text. The human eye naturally rests along the border that has more weight (typically the left side, with all new paragraphs and lines of text pushing against the left margin!) Also notice that centered text is not as easy to read - our eyes scan text to recognize words, so variable alignment (like center), hinders that ability. Click on this bullet point to compare justified vs. center!
- Justify vs. Left: in many cases, you'll have to use the text alignment that is accepted as convention for your industry or the nature of your document. If you can choose between the two though, here are a few tips: "justify justified" text looks neater, but on long lines ("long line" is a perception correlated to font size, and paper dimension), justify justified can look more dense and uninviting to the eye. When writing for the screen (like this website, as opposed to paper), the reader's screen resolution comes into play.
Just experiment for yourself:
• Change screen resolution in Windows 7
• Change screen resolution in Windows Vista
• Change screen resolution in Windows XP
Align differently a single line of text
The text alignment commands in Microsoft Word (2010 and earlier versions) work at the "block level": this means that the "object's" alignment applies to the entire container. This is why you don't need to select the current paragraph to change its alignment; as long as the insertion point (blinking cursor) is inside the paragraph, clicking another alignment button will affect that entire paragraph, not just the current line.
But what if you want to change the text alignment of a single line of text? All you need to do is create a paragraph, and minimize its upper and lower margins - this gives you the effect desired: right-click on the single line in question, choose "Paragraph", and reduce the "Spacing / After" to "0" (zero). If needed, also reduce the previous paragraph's "Spacing / After" to zero.
Another way to force a separate alignment on a single line of text consists in adding a table to your document, since each row (and each cell) can have its own alignment.
Change default alignment for new Word documents
Whenever you customize the text alignment setting of a paragraph (or other text object), it only affects that particular block. To customize your default alignment settings for Microsoft Word, click on the arrow button under "Paragraph" in the "Home" tab, as shown on the screenshot below:
Word 2010 will open a "Paragraph" dialog, which lets you customize the text alignment options (among others) for the current paragraph. Once you have changed alignment, click on the "Set As Default" button at the bottom of the dialog before clicking "OK", and Word will "remember" these settings as the default in the future - you can of course change your default alignment back to anything else in the future.