Shortcut Key for Non-Breaking Space

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 22, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365

Omid has a document with many "optional hyphen" characters. He wants to replace all of them with a "non-breaking space," so he wonders if there is a keyboard shortcut for entering the non-breaking space in the document.

The quick answer is that yes, there is a keyboard shortcut for non-breaking spaces: it is Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar. This shortcut has actually been covered in a different WordTip.

That being said, it still sounds like Omid may be going through the document and replacing all those optional hyphens manually. (Whether those replacements should be made at all is, I suppose, beside the point.) There is a much faster way to do the replacement using Word's Find and Replace capabilities. Follow these steps:

Press Ctrl+H to display the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.

In the Find What box, enter "^-" (without the quote marks). That is a carat character (Shift+6) followed by a dash.
In the Replace With box, enter "^s" (again, without the quote marks). That is a carat character followed by a lowercase "s."
Click on Replace All.
Close the Find and Replace 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 (13408) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365.

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

Keeping the Flash Drive Occupied

Working on a document stored on a flash drive can have some unintended consequences. Here's some help in understanding ...

Discover More

Changing Compression Print Resolution

The resolution at which Word compresses graphics in a document may be bothersome. If it is, your options are very ...

Discover More

Using SUMIF with Text Parameters

The SUMIF function is supposed to work just fine doing comparisons with text values. This isn't a hard-and-fast rule, ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Restoring a Keyboard Shortcut

Word uses keyboard shortcuts for all sorts of tasks. Sometimes you may create a shortcut that messes up one of the other ...

Discover More

Using Function Keys

Want a great list that shows the purpose of each function key in Word? Here's the detail you need!

Discover More

Protecting Custom Shortcut Keys

If you spend time creating a rich set of custom shortcut keys, it can be rather frustrating if they suddenly disappear. ...

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 9 - 8?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

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.