How to Indent the First Line of Every Paragraph in Microsoft Word

Are you sick of pressing the Tab key for each new paragraph in your document? Word allows you to automatically indent your new paragraphs with just a few simple menu changes. Follow this guide to learn how for Word 2007, 2010, and 2013.

Method 1
Method 1 of 2:

Word 2010/2013

  1. Image titled Indent the First Line of Every Paragraph in Microsoft Word Step 1
    1
    Open the Paragraph dialog box. On the lower right corner inside “Paragraph” group, click the small arrow. You can open this through the “Paragraph” group in the “Home” tab or the “Page Layout” tab.
    • You may do this process before you start typing your document or, if you have already typed a document, just highlight the paragraphs you want indented.
  2. Image titled Indent the First Line of Every Paragraph in Microsoft Word Step 2
    2
    Find the “Indentations” section. This can be found in the “Indents and Spacing” tab.
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  3. Image titled Indent the First Line of Every Paragraph in Microsoft Word Step 3
    3
    Click the drop down menu under “Special”. Select “First Line” to automatically indent the first line of each new paragraph.
  4. Image titled Indent the First Line of Every Paragraph in Microsoft Word Step 4
    4
    Enter the indent size. This is the amount that each line will be indented. The most commonly used size is 0.5” or 1/2 of an inch. You can see a preview of the changes in the Preview section at the bottom of the dialog box.
  5. Image titled Indent the First Line of Every Paragraph in Microsoft Word Step 5
    5
    Click OK to save your changes and apply them to the document. Click the “Set as default” button if you want to set the changes to automatically take effect for new documents.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 2:

Word 2007

  1. Image titled Indent the First Line of Every Paragraph in Microsoft Word Step 6
    1
    Click on the "Page Layout" tab, at the top of the Ribbon in Microsoft Word. In the image on the right, it is encircled in red.
  2. Image titled Indent the First Line of Every Paragraph in Microsoft Word Step 7
    2
    Go to the section that is headed "Indents" and "Spacing". Click on the little arrow in the bottom right-hand corner. In the image on the right it is encircled in red. This arrow opens up the Paragraph Dialog Box.
  3. Image titled Indent the First Line of Every Paragraph in Microsoft Word Step 8
    3
    Look for the heading "Indentations" in the Paragraph Dialog Box. In this section, there is a drop-down box with the heading "Special:". Click on the drop-down box and select the "First line" option.
  4. Image titled Indent the First Line of Every Paragraph in Microsoft Word Step 9
    4
    Choose the amount you want the lines indented by. You can change this in the "By:" box. Half an inch (0.5”) is the standard indent size.
  5. Image titled Indent the First Line of Every Paragraph in Microsoft Word Step 10
    5
    Click on "OK", and continue typing. Now, Word will automatically indent the first line every time you press Enter.
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Co-authors: 9
Updated: January 9, 2016
Views: 345,983
Categories: Microsoft Word
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