How Word 2010 changes the spacing before or after a paragraph

The easiest way to change the paragraph spacing for an entire document is to apply a quick Style set that uses the spacing you want. If you want to change the paragraph spacing for a portion of a document, you can select the paragraphs and change their spacing before and after the paragraph setting.

Use a style set to change paragraph spacing throughout a document

1, on the Start tab, in the Styles group, click Change Style ...

2, point to the style set, and then point to a variety of different style sets. When using live preview, notice how line spacing changes from one style set to the next.

For example, the Word 2003 style set does not insert extra spacing between paragraphs, but it inserts a small amount of space above the title. The Word 2007 style set uses double spacing between paragraphs, and a large spacing is added above the title.

3, after you see the desired spacing, click the name of the appropriate style set.

Change the spacing before and after the selected paragraphs

By default, the paragraph is followed by a blank line with extra spacing above the title.

1. Select the paragraphs for which you want to change the spacing before or after.

2, on the Page Layout tab, in the paragraph group, under Spacing, click the arrow next to paragraph or after paragraph, and then enter the spacing you want.