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: Deleting Tab Stops.

Deleting Tab Stops

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 6, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

There may be times when you don't want to clear all the tab stops in your document—you only want to clear a few of them. To clear individual tab stops for a paragraph, follow these steps:

Make sure the insertion point is in the paragraph whose tabs you wish to clear.
Display the Tabs dialog box. (Display the Home tab of the ribbon, click the small icon at the bottom-right of the Paragraph group, then click Tabs.) (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Tabs dialog box.

In the tab list below the Tab Stop Position box, select the tab stop you want to clear.
Click on Clear.
Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each tab stop you want to clear.
Click on OK.

If you have the ruler displayed on-screen, then you can also delete tabs by following these steps:

Make sure the insertion point is in the paragraph whose tabs you wish to clear.
Use the horizontal scroll bar to scroll left or right until you can see the offending tab on the ruler.
On the ruler, click on the tab indicator and drag it off the ruler. When you release the mouse button, the tab should disappear from the ruler.
Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each tab stop you wish to clear.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12694) 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: Deleting Tab Stops.

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

Editing Comments

Comments can be very helpful in a worksheet. After they are added, you may want to change what they contain. Here's how ...

Discover More

Creating Long Page Footers

Ever wish that you could create nice, long footers that appear at the bottom of each page when you print your worksheet? ...

Discover More

Leading Quote Mark Generates Grammar Error

One of the mostly helpful tools that Word includes is a grammar checker. Sometimes, however, the grammar checker might ...

Discover More

Discover the Power of Microsoft Office This beginner-friendly guide reveals the expert tips and strategies you need to skyrocket your productivity and use Office 365 like a pro. Mastering software like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is essential to be more efficient and advance your career. Simple lessons guide you through every step, providing the knowledge you need to get started. Check out Microsoft Office 365 For Beginners today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Changing Default Tab Stops

If you don't explicitly set tab stops in a paragraph, Word relies upon a default tab stop distance. You can adjust that ...

Discover More

Using Leaders with Tab Stops

Tab stops allow you to modify the horizontal position at which text is positioned on a line. Word allows you to preface ...

Discover More

Automatically Changing Tab Stops in the Footer

If you use a tab stop in your footer to align information at the right margin, you may not get what you expect when you ...

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 six minus 3?

2019-12-23 07:15:03

Richard Curtis

Tabs tops (typo).

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.