Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. 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: Aligning Paragraphs in a Macro.

Aligning Paragraphs in a Macro

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 28, 2018)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

Long-time Word users know that if you are formatting the paragraphs in your document, the Home tab of the ribbon includes some great tools you can use, or (better still) you can use styles to do the formatting. What if you have a need to align a paragraph within a macro you are writing, though? What do you do then?

Actually, aligning paragraphs within a macro is quite easy, requiring only a single line. Here's an example of how you would, for instance, center-align a paragraph:

Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter

Notice that the Alignment property is set to a preset Word value, in this case wdAlignParagraphCenter. There are a number of different values you can use in your alignment:

wdAlignParagraphLeft to align the paragraph to the left margin.
wdAlignParagraphCenter to align the paragraph to the center of the print area.
wdAlignParagraphRight to align the paragraph to the right margin.
wdAlignParagraphJustify to align full lines within the paragraph with both left and right margins.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12039) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Aligning Paragraphs in a Macro.

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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Accepting Only Formatting Changes

When you use Track Changes in a document, Word marks everything that changes. (Makes sense, huh?) If an editor makes a ...

Discover More

Returning a Weight and a Date

If you have two columns containing dates and weights from those dates, you may want to pick a date associated with a ...

Discover More

Using Data Validation

Want to control what users put into a cell? It's easy to do using a feature called data validation, as described in this tip.

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Comparing Strings

When writing a macro, a common task is the need to compare two strings. You can do this by "normalizing" the strings, as ...

Discover More

Reducing the Size of Spaces in a Selection

If you want to decrease the size of spaces in some selected text, the best approach is to use a macro. This tip includes ...

Discover More

Determining the Day of the Month

When writing macros, you may need to know which day of the month a particular date represents. Here's how to use the Day ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is three less than 3?

2021-04-13 15:30:42

Kashmira

Thanks. Will surely try.

2021-04-13 09:28:32

Andrew

Kashmira, it's hard to tell what you're asking because the system is making all your texts look the same.

I would suggest you experiment with using tabs to get the alignment you desire--tabs let you also align to them with left, right, and center alignment.

Andy.

2021-04-12 18:56:20

Kashmira

hi
I have a paragraphs like these
1 55050UP 4009 USN 4599 CAS 1 13 I 182 100 3500 09APR21 0 0 B F
COMMENTS: TORONTO CA MIX SC123456
1 55050UP 4009 USN 4599 CAS 1 13 I 182 100 3500 09APR21 0 0 B F
COMMENTS: TORONTO CA MIX SC123456

I want 1st line aligned to 2nd line, I tried Justify , left position. But it is not working.
I want aligned like below. Any suggestion. I get this only when I do manually aligning paragraph to Justify.
Also I want automatically adding space between 2 paragraph 6 point , but keeping 2 line together. 6 point.

1 55050UP 4009 USN 4599 CAS 1 13 I 182 100 3500 09APR21 0 0 B F
COMMENTS: TORONTO CA MIX SC123456

1 55050UP 4009 USN 4599 CAS 1 13 I 182 100 3500 09APR21 0 0 B F
COMMENTS: TORONTO CA MIX SC123456

Thanks

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.