Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. 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 Word in Microsoft 365

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 Word in Microsoft 365. 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

Indenting a Paragraph to the Next Tab Stop

Need to indent an entire paragraph from the left margin? It's easy to do using the tool described in this tip.

Discover More

Disabling Excel's Help System

The Help system built into Excel can be quite a lifesaver when you need to find that quick tidbit that is slipping your ...

Discover More

Using Document Properties to Ensure Consistent References

If you need to refer to the same information over and over in a document, you may be interested in using custom document ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Finding and Changing Word's Internal Commands

If you know how to create macros, you can easily create entire replacements for Word's internal commands. Here's all you ...

Discover More

Controlling Repagination in Macros

Want to turn off document repagination while your macro does its work? Here are two approaches you can use.

Discover More

Understanding Document Variables

When working with macros, you may want to create a variable that will remain constant from one instance of the macro to ...

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 2 + 5?

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.