Setting Tab Stops Using Menus

Tab stops allow you to quickly and accurately align information on a line in your document. If you are familiar with typewriters, then you are already familiar with the concept of tab stops. Word goes far beyond the rudimentary tab stops in typewriters, however. It allows you to set four different types of tab stop:

Word provides two major ways to set tab stops. One involves using the ruler, which is best deferred to a different tip. The other involves using the Tabs option from the Format menu. To set tab stops using this method, use the following steps:

1. Make sure the insertion point is in the paragraph in which you want to set tabs stops.
2. Choose the Tabs option from the Format menu. Word displays the Tabs dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
3. In the Tab Stop Position box, enter the measurement for where you want the tab stop located.
4. Click on the Alignment type desired.
5. Click on the type of Leader desired, if any.
6. Click on Set.
7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 for each tab stop desired.
8. Click on OK.

You may have noticed from examining the Tabs dialog box that there is also a tab alignment type known as Bar. This is not really a tab stop at all, but a way to place a vertical bar at a particular location in your paragraph. In fact, referring to Bar as an alignment type is a misnomer because no text is aligned at all.