WD: How to Convert Multiple White Space Characters to Tabs

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

SUMMARY

This article describes how to change multiple spaces or tabs in a Word document to a single instance of a tab or other white space character.

You may want to perform this type of replacement in order to take advantage of some of Word formatting commands.

MORE INFORMATION

Some text or word processor files use multiple spaces or tabs to create tables. In Word, this type of formatting makes alignment and other types of formatting impossible.

To convert multiple instances of white space characters such as spaces or tab characters to a single instance of a character, use the following advanced criteria in the "Find What" box in the "Find and Replace" dialog box

     x{y,}

These procedures will replace all occurrences of two or more spaces with a single tab character.

For example, if the text appears as

   Filet Mignon<space><space><space><space><space>$21.95

   Filet Mignon<tab>$21.95

Word 97 for Windows and Word 98 Macintosh Edition

1. On the Edit menu, click Replace.

2. In the Find What box, type

         <space>{2,}
   

   where <space> is the character you get when you press the SPACEBAR once.

3. In the Replace With box, type "^t" (without the quotation marks).

   NOTE: ^ is the caret symbol and is inserted by pressing SHIFT+6.

4. Click More, and then click to select the Use Wildcards check box.

5. Click Replace All.

Word 6.0 (Windows and Macintosh), 7.0

1. On the Edit menu, click Replace.

2. In the Find What box, type:

         <space>{2,}
   

   where <space> is the character you get when you press the SPACEBAR once.

3. In the Replace With box, type "^t" (without the quotation marks).

   NOTE: ^ is the caret symbol and is inserted by pressing SHIFT+6.

4. Click to select the Pattern Matching check box.

5. Click Replace All.

REFERENCES

In Word 97 for Windows and Word 98 Macintosh Edition

For more information about how to clear or move tab stops, click the Office Assistant, type "Tabs," click Search, and then click to view the "Use Tab Stops" topic.

NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the Standard toolbar. If Word Help is not installed on your computer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q120802
   TITLE     : Office: How to Add/Remove a Single Office
               Program or Component

In Word 7.0

1. On the Help menu, click Answer Wizard.

2. In Step 1, type "How do I adjust tabs?" and click Search.

3. In Step 2, under "How Do I," select "Use tab stops in paragraph formatting," and click Display.

4. Select the "Clear or move tab stops" topic.

In Word 6.0

1. On the Help menu, click "Search For Help On."

2. Type "tab stops" (without the quotation marks) and click Show Topics.

3. Under Select A Topic, select "Clearing or moving tab stops," and click Go To.