How to insert tabs and indents in Microsoft Word for Mac

Hi my name is Heidi and today I am explaining how to make custom indents and tabs using
the horizontal ruler in Microsoft Word on a Mac.
Knowing how to make custom indentations is crucial for writing papers, creating works
cited pages, and making other custom documents. To indent the first line of every paragraph
in a paper you are writing, highlight the paragraph, and then simply go to the horizontal
ruler on top of the page. Find the “First Line Indent” Marker. As you can see, if
you hover your mouse over the marker, it says “First Line Indent.” Drag it to the .5
position.
Your paragraph is now indented on the first line. Now, if you press the Return key, it
will automatically be indented at the beginning of every paragraph.
All of this can also be done before you start typing. Just go through the same process of
marking the tab on the ruler at the .5 position. Your paragraph will be indented on the first
line now.
If you want to remove it, just highlight the paragraph, or begin a new paragraph, and drag
the First line Indent tab back to the 0 position.
Hanging indentation, which is used most commonly for works cited pages, is done in a similar
manner. Many times, students will type their works cited and manually press the space bar
or tab button to make a hanging indentation. However, notice that this takes a lot of time
and if I wanted to edit the text in the citation, it can get messed up.
For an easier and more effective way of make a hanging indentation, use the horizontal
ruler on top of the page. However, instead of using the “First Line Indent Marker”
like we did before, use the “Hanging Indent” Marker. Highlight your citations, and then
slide the “Hanging Indent” marker over to the .5 position. Now, if you want to edit
a citation, the hanging indent stays in place. Now we’ll go on to setting tab stops.
On Microsoft Word, setting tab stops can be useful for making menus, lists of phone numbers,
creating matching lists, etc. To do this, first decide which type of tabs
you want to create. For example, if I decide I would want to make a matching list, I would
want one list on the left side and then I would want their matching words on the right.
Since I want the second list to be neatly lined up on the right of the screen, I’m
going to make sure it will be left aligned by clicking on the Tab drop down menu on the
left top side of the screen. Notice how there’s different options. Left, Center, Right, Decimal,
Bar. I’m going to click “Left” to make it left aligned. Now, click on a spot on the
horizontal ruler close to the right…for example, at the 4.5” position.
Notice that there is a little “Left aligned” arrow there now. This means there is a tab
stop at the 4.5 position. I can now start typing my matching list. Now when I press
tab, my typing starts at the 4.5 position. If I want a third list, I just have to highlight
what I’ve written, click on a spot in the middle of two lists on the horizontal bar,
and create a new tab. Notice, when I press tab again after the first row, I can make
a new list. Three lists can also be made before you type
anything. Just set the tab stops where you want them on the horizontal ruler in the same
way I showed you before and start typing!
A list can also have tab leaders. First, place a tab stop wherever you want it to be on the
horizontal ruler. I’ll place mine at the 4 position. To add Leaders, go to the tab
drop down menu on the far left of the horizontal ruler. Click “Tabs…” and then go down
to “Leader.” Also notice that in this menu you can choose your alignment, you can
choose your leader, and you can choose where you want it to be. However, on the horizontal
ruler, it’s much quicker and easier. Now, back to the leader. If I wanted to choose
“Dots” I would click“Dots.” Now, click Okay. If I were making a table of contents
or a program for a show, “Dots” would be the best choice. Now, when I press Tab
key, a line of dots will lead to the song that Penelope Smith will be performing.
Also, if I decide that I don’t want the tabs spanning across the entire document,
I can move them closer by first highlighting my list and then finding the tabs on the horizontal
ruler at the top of the page and then dragging them to a new spot.
That concludes my screencast on how to make custom indents and tabs! Thank you for watching!