The ruler tool in Microsoft Word provides a simple way of making sure different parts of your document are aligned. It also lets you quickly adjust margins and indents in your work. So, how does it work? Let us explain.
To show the horizontal and vertical rulers in Microsoft Word, simply:
This should then display the rulers on the top and left margins in the Print Layout view. You can then change the unit of measurement to suit your requirements.
On the ruler, the grey areas represent the margins of your document. The white space between these represents the part of the page writing will appear within.
To adjust a margin in a document using the ruler tool:
However, this way of adjusting margins can be inexact. As such, if you need to ensure precision, we suggest using the standard margin options in Word.
You should also be able to see some white shapes on the edge of the ruler. You can use these to quickly adjust indentations in a document. All you need to do is place the cursor in text you want to indent, then drag the relevant shape on the ruler.
The trick, then, is making sure you select the correct tab! On that note:
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If you’re not sure which tab is which, moreover, simply hover the cursor over any of the shapes on the ruler. Its name will then pop up, helping you to pick the right one.
As with margins, though, adjusting indents via the ruler can be imprecise. To ensure consistency, you may want to check the size of indents via the paragraph menus.
If the vertical ruler doesn’t display with the horizontal one, you may need to turn it on via the options menu. To do this in Word for Windows:
In Word for Mac, meanwhile, the process is:
You should now see the vertical ruler running down the left side of your document.
If you want to be sure your documents look perfect, our formatting services could be exactly what you need. All you need to do is add the ‘Formatting’ option when you upload a document for proofreading, then let us know what formatting to apply!
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