Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. 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: Quickly Displaying the Tabs Dialog Box.
A handy shortcut to quickly display the Tabs dialog box is to double-click on the ruler just below the markings appearing there. Make sure you double-click at the bottom of the ruler, not at the top. (If you double-click at the top, the Page Setup dialog box appears.) (See Figure 1.)
Figure 1. The Tabs dialog box.
You should note that when you double-click on the ruler, you may also inadvertently set a tab stop. If you want to delete the newly placed tab stop, you can do so at the Tabs dialog box.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13322) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, and 2013. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Quickly Displaying the Tabs Dialog Box.
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2014-11-29 16:59:24
Skip Nicholson
If you double-click at the bottom of the ruler in the margin area (normally the gray area at the far left and right of the ruler) you won't be setting a new tab, just opening the dialogue box.
2014-11-29 09:37:39
Art Osgatharp
Tabs can also be quickly and easily removed, without needing to open the tab dialog, by clicking the tab mark, dragging below the ruler and releasing.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. 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: 
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