Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Triple-Spacing Your Document.

Triple-Spacing Your Document

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated April 1, 2017)

If you ever have a need to triple-space your document before printing it, Word provides an easy way to do this. If possible, you should keep your document in the format in which you view it on the screen, and only format it for triple spacing before you actually print. To print a triple-spaced version of your document, do the following:

  1. Save your document.
  2. Press Ctrl+A to select the entire document.
  3. Display the Home tab of the ribbon.
  4. Click the small icon at the bottom-right of the Paragraph group. Word displays the Paragraph dialog box. It is possible that some of the fields in the dialog box are not filled in. This is because you have selected the entire document, and the "empty" setting is different for different paragraphs. (See Figure 1.)

    5. Figure 1. The Paragraph dialog box.

  5. In the Spacing area, choose Multiple in the Line Spacing drop-down list.
  6. Change the At setting (to the right of the Line Spacing drop-down list) to 3.
  7. Click on OK.
  8. Print your document.
  9. Close your document without saving.

This last step is important. If you save your document before exiting, then the triple spacing will be permanently saved with the document, as well.

You can also use the Line Spacing tool in the Paragraph group of the Home tab to apply triple spacing. Follow these steps:

  1. Save your document.
  2. Press Ctrl+A.
  3. Click the Line Spacing tool. A number of spacing options appear.
  4. Choose 3. Your entire document is triple spaced.
  5. Print your document.
  6. Close your document without saving.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6705) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Triple-Spacing Your Document.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He  is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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