[Libs-Or] Tech-Talk: WORD - Set Custom Tabs in Word

Thu Mar 19 14:08:23 PDT 2026

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Webinars for You

NOTE: Webinars begin at 3 pm ET / 2 pm CT / 1 pm MT / 12 Noon PT and are one hour long.

March 25: [WORD] Using Word's Page Breaks, Tabs & Sections for Polished Documents. Why Attend? You’d like your materials to have a powerful infrastructure so they are easily edited and look great.

April 8: [GRAPHICS] Unlocking Canva Features Without the Overwhelm. Why Attend? ‘You’d like to gain a better understanding of how to use Canva.

April 22: [WORD] The Secret Productivity Tool in Creating a Table of Contents. Why Attend? You’re eager to show off your long documents as super professional.

May 6: [SECURITY] Scrub Your Name from the Web: How to Reduce Your Digital Footprint. Why Attend? You’d like to remove your data from broker sites and secure your online presence.

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WORD - Set Custom Tabs

Intermediate

[A woman wearing glasses sits at a desk, looking at a laptop screen and biting a pencil. A cup of colored pencils is in the foreground, and she appears stressed or frustrated.]

I was proofing a document for a colleague and noticed that the formatting was wonky. She had used the space bar to manually indent and move text to the right instead of setting tabs. This made the spacing inconsistent and unprofessional looking.

What do you do when you want to shift text over in a Word (or Google) document, but the tabs aren't set to where you want? Do you use the Tab key… over and over again… to indent the text?

Well, there's an easy way to format your document "cleanly" so that everything will be in alignment and it won't be such a hassle if you want to make edits to it later!

Here's the secret: you can set your own custom tabs in a few keystrokes!

1.  In the first line, we used the Tab key three times to shift the text over.
2.  In the second line, the space bar was
3.  In the third line, a tab was set. Can you see the difference?

[Three lines show text aligned using tabs, spaces, and a custom tab. The first line has text after three tabs, the second line is spaced over, and the third line uses a custom tab stop for alignment.]

You may be thinking that it doesn't matter what the "back end" of your document looks like, as long as it presents well when viewed and /or printed. However, when you (or someone else) goes to make changes to the text later, it will be difficult. You will spend more time fiddling with the document, then it would have taken you if you had set up a custom Tab. What a waste!

And, if you share documents with others, like your boss or a colleague, and they try to edit it, you may not make the impression you want with a "messy" document.

How to Set Custom Tabs in Word

Tabs are set at ½" intervals by default, but that doesn't always work in your document. You can create your own custom Tabs.

NOTE: Before you begin to work with Tabs, be sure you are in the normal Print Layout view and have the "Ruler" line showing. These options are in the View Tab.

[Screenshot of Microsoft Word toolbar showing the View tab selected. "Print Layout" and "Ruler" options are highlighted, with a red arrow labeled "Tab Choices" pointing to tab selector in the document margin.]

When you look at the ruler, you'll see these symbols at the far left.(There may be more, but items below are the most frequently used.)

[A chart explaining tab stops: Left Tab aligns text left; Center Tab centers text; Right Tab aligns text right; Decimal Tab aligns numbers at the decimal. Each type is shown with an icon.]

Before you set your Tab, you may need to switch to the type you want by clicking on the Tab symbol that is currently showing (in the upper left of the ruler). Keep clicking until the type of Tab you're looking for is displayed.

To set your Tab:

1.  Put your cursor in the ruler line – exactly where you want the Tab to be.
2.  Click once with the left mouse.
3.  You will see the Tab symbol appear in your toolbar.

Now when you hit the Tab button, your text will be indented to this custom Tab, instead of the default.

If you want to make changes or move a Tab:

1.  Hold the left mouse down on the Tab in the ruler line until you see the dotted vertical line.
2.  Drag the Tab to its new location.

If you don't want to use a custom Tab, to remove it:

1.  Hold the left mouse on the Tab.
2.  Drag it off the ruler line into the white area below.

Tab set examples:

[Four screenshots showing examples of tab settings in a word processor: indented line at 1.5", right-align tab, center tab, and decimal-aligned tab with numbers aligned by decimal point.]

[A dropdown menu in Google Docs with "Add left tab-stop" highlighted in red, showing options to add left, center, or right tab-stops, and an option to show the ruler.]
Setting Tabs is Google Docs

1. To set your own tab stop in Google Docs, click on the ruler where you want it to be and a menu will open.

2. Choose the alignment - left, right, or center.

3. You can move a tab stop by dragging the tab marker on the ruler to the right or left.

4. To remove it drag the tab stop down from (off) the ruler.

Upcoming webinar...

See how it's done and learn more tips and techniques.

March 25th!

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Communications: Misuse of "good"?

We all say it, right? We use the word "good" quite a bit. Take a look at a few statements you may have made.

Do you recognize any?

"You did good!"

"He did good on that test."

"I can see pretty good."

Have you heard, or said, sentences like this? Have you misused the word "good"?

Each of these examples is something that is commonly heard in conversations. And all of these examples are incorrect grammar.

We often use the word "good" instead of the correct term "well" ... incorrectly.

When to Use Good vs. Well

First, let's understand that ...

"Good" is an adjective. It is always used with a noun. Good should never be used as an adverb.

"Well" is an adverb. It is used to modify a verb, adverb or another adjective and answers the question "how?

Thus, the above examples would be correct if they were phrased as such:

·     "You did a good job." or "You did well."
·     "He did well on that test." or "He did a good job on that test."
·     "I can see pretty well." or "My eyesight is good."

Yes, there are more nuances for knowing when to use each (good vs well), but keeping this simple distinction in mind will go a long way to improving your speech.

What can you do? Look for opportunities to catch yourself misusing the word good when well is a better choice!

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Cheers,
Darci Hanning, MLIS (she/her/hers)
Public Library Consultant / CE Coordinator
Continuing Education Resources: https://slo.oregon.gov/conted/
State Library of Oregon | Library Support and Development Services
971-375-3491 | darci.hanning at slo.oregon.gov<mailto:darci.hanning at slo.oregon.gov> | www.oregon.gov/library<http://www.oregon.gov/library>

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