WD: Word 7.0: What is the "Tab as Indent" Feature?

• Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SUMMARY

The versions of Microsoft Word listed above contain a feature called Tab As Indent. This feature provides a quick way to indent and unindent paragraphs by automatically sensing when a tab character or a paragraph indent is appropriate. To locate this feature, click Options on the Tools menu, click the Edit tab, and then select or clear the "Use Tab and Backspace Keys to set Left Indent" check box. This option is on by default.

MORE INFORMATION

When you type text, the TAB and BACKSPACE keys function as they normally do, that is, the TAB key will insert a tab character, and the BACKSPACE key will delete the previous character. However, when you edit and reformat the document, the TAB and BACKSPACE keys will apply indent paragraph formatting in .5-inch increments.

For example, consider a document containing the following paragraph:

   Scotland: A constituent country of the United Kingdom comprising the
   northern part of the island of Great Britain and the Hebrides, Shetland
   Islands, and Orkney Islands. Inhabited by Picts in prehistoric times,
   the region was invaded but never conquered by the Romans and split into
   a variety of small kingdoms after the fifth century A.D.*

If you have "Use Tab and Backspace Keys to set Left Indent" selected and you press the TAB key before you type the text "Scotland: A constituent...," the TAB key will act as it normally does--a tab character is inserted at beginning of the paragraph.

However, if you first type the paragraph, then place the insertion point before the first character in the paragraph, and press TAB, the TAB key will insert a first-line indent. To remove the first-line indent, press the BACKSPACE key.

To increase the left indent of the paragraph while maintaining the first- line indent, type your paragraph, move the insertion point to the beginning of the paragraph and press TAB two or more times. Each time you press TAB, the paragraph is indented an additional .5 inch. When you press the BACKSPACE key, the first-line indent is removed first. As you press the BACKSPACE key additional times, you decrease the paragraph indentation.

To increase the left indent of the paragraph without increasing the first- line indent, place your insertion point at the beginning of the second or subsequent line on the left margin of the paragraph. To decrease the indent, press the BACKSPACE key.

Remember, if you place the insertion point at the beginning of the first line, you will get a first-line indent when you press the TAB key. If you place the insertion point before the second or subsequent line in the paragraph, you will get a left indent. When the paragraph contains a first line indent, the BACKSPACE key removes the first line indent before it decreases the left indent.