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: Inserting Special Spaces.

Inserting Special Spaces

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 5, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

In other WordTips you learned different ways you can insert em spaces and en spaces in your documents. (These types of spaces are used for typographical purposes to insert wider-than-normal white space in a line of text.) You learned how you can use the numeric keypad, as well as use the Symbol dialog box.

If you use special spaces quite frequently, you may find it bothersome to continually use these two common methods of inserting the characters. Thus, you may have resorted to inserting them once and then using copy and paste to place them in other places. There is an even easier way, however—simply add tools to your toolbar to easily insert em spaces and en spaces with a single click. Follow these steps:

Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 or a later version, display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
At the left of the dialog box click Customize (Word 2007) or Quick Access Toolbar (later versions of Word). (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Quick Access Toolbar area of the Word Options dialog box.

In the Choose Commands From drop-down list, choose Commands Not In the Ribbon.
In the Commands list, select Insert Em Space and click Add.
In the Commands list, select Insert En Space and click Add.
Click on Close.

Now, just click on the new tools to insert the em or en spaces you need.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13191) 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: Inserting Special Spaces.

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...

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2021-06-05 22:24:55

LInda Sanning

Is there a way to remove the small circles that appear automatically in Word when you paste in text from an email or other sources?

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