About line spacing
Line spacing is the space between each line in a paragraph. Word allows you to customize the line spacing to be single spaced (one line high), double spaced (two lines high), or any other amount you want. The default spacing in Word is 1.08 lines, which is slightly larger than single spaced.
In the images below, you can compare different types of line spacing. From left to right, these images show default line spacing, single spacing, and double spacing.
Line spacing is also known as leading (pronounced to rhyme with wedding).
To format line spacing
Select the text you want to format.
On the Home tab, click the Line and Paragraph Spacing command, then select the desired line spacing.
The line spacing will change in the document.
Fine tuning line spacing
Your line spacing options aren't limited to the ones in the Line and Paragraph Spacing menu. To adjust spacing with more precision, select Line Spacing Options from the menu to access the Paragraph dialog box. You'll then have a few additional options you can use to customize spacing.
- Exactly: When you choose this option, the line spacing is measured in points, just like font size. For example, if you're using 12-point text, you could use 15-point spacing.
- At least: Like the the Exactly option, this lets you choose how many points of spacing you want. However, if you have different sizes of text on the same line, the spacing will expand to fit the larger text.
- Multiple: This option lets you type the number of lines of spacing you want. For example, choosing Multiple and changing the spacing to 1.2 will make the text slightly more spread out than single-spaced text. If you want the lines to be closer together, you can choose a smaller value, like 0.9.
