WD: Tabs and Paragraph Commands Unavailable in Some Views

• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
• Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 6.0, 6.0.1
• Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Word, the Tabs and Paragraph commands are unavailable (dimmed) on the Format menu in document or outline view.

In contrast, the Tabs and Paragraph items are available on the list that appears when you click Format in the Modify Style dialog box. (To open the Modify Style dialog box, click Style on the Format menu and then click Modify.) However, if you select Tabs from the list that appears when you click Format, nothing happens. If you select Paragraph from the same list, the Format Paragraph dialog box appears. If you then click Tabs, however, the Format Tabs dialog box does not open, and the Format Paragraph dialog box closes.

CAUSE

The availability of many Word commands depends on settings such as the view you select on the View menu or the options you set under the View tab in the Options (or Preferences in Word 98) dialog box under the Tools menu. For example, many commands are unavailable if you lock your document by clicking the Lock Document button on the Master Document toolbar. If a command is inappropriate or not applicable to a particular view, it is unavailable when you are in that view.

WORKAROUND

If you want to apply Tabs or direct paragraph formatting, switch to normal or page layout view.

MORE INFORMATION

There are certain direct paragraph formatting commands that you can access such as Borders and Shading when in outline or master document view. When you select the formatting, it is not shown on the screen and is not printed but it is shown on the screen in print preview.