Tab stops can be used to easily format a word document, but keep in mind that in Microsoft Office 2007, you can use the document layout options, which can do most of the work for you.

You can set tab stops easily, by clicking on the ruler where you want your tab stops to be.

If you do not see the ruler, Click the View Tab, then tick Ruler.

 

 

 

On the left of the ruler you will see the tab selector .

Clicking on it, will change the type of tab stop you want to create.

The following is a summary of the types of tabs available:

Please note that the tab selector will also switch through the First Line and Hanging Indents as well, but these will be covered in another tutorial.

A Left Tab stop sets the start position of text that will then run to the right as you type.

A Center Tab stop sets the position of the middle of the text. The text centers on this position as you type.

A Right Tab stop sets the right end of the text. As you type, the text moves to the left.

A Decimal Tab stop aligns numbers around a decimal point. Independent of the number of digits, the decimal point will be in the same position.

(You can align numbers around a decimal character only; you cannot use the decimal tab to align numbers around a different character, such as a hyphen or an ampersand symbol.)

A Bar Tab stop doesn't position text. It inserts a vertical bar at the tab position.


If you want your tab stops at precise positions that you can't get by clicking the ruler, just double click any tab stop on the ruler.

By default, a new document will not contain any tab stops, so in this case you may get to the Tabs dialog box by going to the Page Layout and click the Paragraph Dialog Box Launcher button in the Paragraph Group.

From here you can create, edit and delete your tabs using precise measurments.