Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 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: Strip Trailing Spaces.
Maybe I'm one of those compulsive-obsessive types, but I always go through my documents to make sure there are no trailing spaces at the end of a paragraph. This makes the document neater and smaller. If you format ASCII files or documents you receive from other people, you will need to search for trailing spaces and remove them as you format the file for Word. The following macro, StripSpaces, takes out all spaces before paragraph marks and manual line breaks throughout your document.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 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: 
Sub StripSpaces()
Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = " ^p"
.Replacement.Text = "^p"
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute
While Selection.Find.Found
Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.Execute
Wend
Selection.Find.Text = " ^l"
Selection.Find.Replacement.Text = "^l"
Selection.Find.Execute
While Selection.Find.Found
Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.Execute
Wend
End Sub
Note:
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13376) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Strip Trailing Spaces.
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2019-02-14 17:43:28
rob
If the document does not have a mix of justification, this is an easier way to achieve the same thing:
1. Select all text.
2. Press the Centre Justification.
3. Then reset to left justification (assuming text was originally left justified).
4. All trailing spaces at the end of paragraphs are removed.
2019-02-14 07:18:20
Greg Ashley
RE: Strip Trailing Spaces
This is a great macro, however, it will hang if there are tables in the Word DOCX. Is there a way to stop the macro on error?
2017-07-26 12:34:58
Andres Reyes
I am using Word 2013 (15.0.4701.1001) MSO (15.0.4701.1000) 32-bit. When I use the macro, there is a lot of fast blinking of the first page, then a pause for a second or so and then blinking again. This sequence repeats a many times. Then the blinking stops, but the 'busy' circle shaped mouse pointer stays on. I let it wait for over an hour and then clicked on the window. The window became 'dim'. Task manager reported Word as not responding. When I click on the 'x' in the window I get the not responding popup to wait of restart.
The document is 86 pages long and contains many tables.
I copied and pasted the macro, so I know that it is what you published.
Any ideas?
2015-03-04 16:32:22
Steve
Use '^w^p' to clear all "white space" prior to a paragraph. This will get 1 or 2 or more spaces, as well as any tabs that may be there. Use '^w^l" to clear out the white space prior to a manual line break. A macro is unnecessary and I find that trying to figure out where to store the is more trouble than it is worth in many cases.
2015-03-03 10:18:57
Damear
Lisa, you are right, except the idea is to strip trailing spaces, as this is what the article is about. I just thought that a paragraph can end with more than one space, so I added the suggestion to repeat the command several times.
2015-03-02 08:33:17
Lisa Herider
Damear, I believe your replace dialogue will only get the multiple spaces before a paragraph return. Using the same approach just search for a double spaceband (space space) and replace it with a single. Again, you will need to do this multiple times until 'Replacements made:' shows 0. Using this method finds all instances of multiple spaces regardless of what's before or after them.
2015-03-01 08:20:43
Damear
Or just press Ctrl-H for Find and Replace dialog, then enter ' ^p' (space, caret, p) in the Find What field and '^p' (same as above, but without space) in the Replace field. Then press Replace All button. Sometimes this step has to be repeated several times if there are multiple trailing spaces in some paragraphs. Watch the dialog window that pops up stating 'Replacements made:' until it shows 0.
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