Cornell Information
Technologies
119D CCC Building,
Garden Ave.
Ithaca, NY 14853-6601
Hours:9:00am-4:30pm weekdays (excluding University Holidays).
Support outside our traditional hours may be available, so please contact us with your specific needs.

607-254-3535
contact us

Tips for getting the most out of MS Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

Find out more >>

Set tab stops and insert tabs that have leader characters in MS Word

Tab stops enable you to line up text to the left, right, center, or to a decimal character or bar character. You can also automatically insert specific characters, such as periods or dashes, before the tabs.

1. Select the paragraph in which you want to set a tab stop.

2. Do one of the following:

To set a Tabs:
  1. Click Left Tab at the far left of the horizontal ruler until it changes to the type of tab you want: Left Tab , Right Tab , Center Tab , Decimal Tab , Bar Tab


  2. Click the horizontal ruler where you want to set a tab stop.


Tip:
To set precise measurements, click Tabs on the Format menu, enter the measurements you want under Tab stop position, and then click Set.

To set tabs with leader characters:
  1. On the Format menu, click Tabs.


  2. Under Tab stop position, type the position for a new tab, or select an existing tab stop to which you want to add leader characters.


  3. Under Alignment, select the alignment for text typed at the tab stop.


  4. Under Leader, click the leader option you want, and then click Set.