How to Do a Double-Space in Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word offers several formatting options to users to make the document look more polished. Double-space, a formatting feature, is one such example.

When you do a double-space, it adds an empty line between two text lines. This enhances the clarity and makes it easy to read. Microsoft Word, by default, has single space enabled, and to do a double-space, you will have to make certain adjustments.

Before we proceed to the process of doing a double space, we must understand the drawbacks of it. If you plan to enable double-spacing, the text will take up more space and you are likely to incur a higher printing cost. Moreover, double spacing is not suitable for all kinds of documents. Therefore, consider all the factors before doing a double-space in Microsoft Word.

Doing a Double-Space in Microsoft Word

When you double-space text in a document, you have two options, either to double-space a part of it or the whole document.

Double Space the Whole Document

This is the initial format that will help you understand how double-spacing affects the document.

To do a double-space, head to the design tab by clicking on ‘Design’ in the menu bar.

Now, select ‘Paragraph Spacing’ which is located near the top-right corner.

You now have the various spacing options to chose from. Select ‘Double’ from the drop-down menu to do a double-space.

Once double-spacing in effect, the lines appear farther apart.

Double-Space Highlighted Text

There are two ways to double-space a highlighted text in Microsoft Word. We will discuss both in the article.

Through Paragraph Dialog Box

Highlight the text you want to format to double-space, right-click on it, and then select ‘Paragraph’ from the menu.

In the Paragraph dialog box, click on the box underneath ‘Line spacing’.

Now, select ‘Double’ from the drop-down menu, and click on ‘OK’ at the bottom.

You can see the format change to double-space after you click on OK.

Through Home Tab

This method is relatively simpler and doesn’t require the opening of an additional dialog box to do a double-space.

Highlight the text and then click on the ‘Line and Paragraph Spacing’ icon in the toolbar.

Move the cursor to the various spacing options to see a preview of each. To do a double-space, select ‘2.0’ from the list.

The paragraph formatting is changed and additional white space is added between lines in both methods.

You now know how to do double-space in Microsoft Word, and can easily make your document look refined and polished.