Space Bar Oddity

I am using Word 2007. I have downloaded certain articles from various online
newspapers and copied them into Word as "paste special" (unformatted text).
When I place my cursor at the very start of some lines (the left margin) and
press the space bar I can create a space before the word, but on lines it
seems that the space bar is not working because I cannot create a space.
What could be causing this problem?

To see better what's happening, click the ¶ button on the Home tab of the
ribbon -- now you'll see a dot in the middle of each space, the ¶ symbol
(paragraph mark) at the end of each paragraph, or a line break that looks
like a left-pointing arrow (more at
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Format...rintChars.htm).

If you insert a space at the beginning of a line that immediately follows a
paragraph mark or a line break, the space will stay there and push the rest
of the line to the right.

But if you insert a space at the beginning of a line that doesn't follow a
paragraph mark or a line break (an automatic line wrap), the space will be
moved to the end of the preceding line. Word doesn't care how many spaces
there are at the end of a line. That's why it seems that nothing happens
there.

It's possible to set a "compatibility option" to keep the spaces at the left
regardless of what kind of line it is, but that's really not good practice.
For that matter, using spaces to indent a line isn't good practice; instead,
use the Left Indent setting in the Paragraph Format dialog, or a style that
includes the indent.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

Jan wrote:
I am using Word 2007. I have downloaded certain articles from various
online newspapers and copied them into Word as "paste special"
(unformatted text). When I place my cursor at the very start of some
lines (the left margin) and press the space bar I can create a space
before the word, but on lines it seems that the space bar is not
working because I cannot create a space. What could be causing this
problem?

Thanks. I'll see what happens.

"Jay Freedman" wrote in message
...
To see better what's happening, click the ¶ button on the Home tab of the
ribbon -- now you'll see a dot in the middle of each space, the ¶ symbol
(paragraph mark) at the end of each paragraph, or a line break that looks
like a left-pointing arrow (more at
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Format...rintChars.htm).

If you insert a space at the beginning of a line that immediately follows
a paragraph mark or a line break, the space will stay there and push the
rest of the line to the right.

But if you insert a space at the beginning of a line that doesn't follow a
paragraph mark or a line break (an automatic line wrap), the space will be
moved to the end of the preceding line. Word doesn't care how many spaces
there are at the end of a line. That's why it seems that nothing happens
there.

It's possible to set a "compatibility option" to keep the spaces at the
left regardless of what kind of line it is, but that's really not good
practice. For that matter, using spaces to indent a line isn't good
practice; instead, use the Left Indent setting in the Paragraph Format
dialog, or a style that includes the indent.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so all may benefit.

Jan wrote:
I am using Word 2007. I have downloaded certain articles from various
online newspapers and copied them into Word as "paste special"
(unformatted text). When I place my cursor at the very start of some
lines (the left margin) and press the space bar I can create a space
before the word, but on lines it seems that the space bar is not
working because I cannot create a space. What could be causing this
problem?

Hello again Jay .... You said:

It's possible to set a "compatibility option" to keep the spaces at the
left
regardless of what kind of line it is, but that's really not good
practice.

How would I do that if I wanted to?




"Jay Freedman" wrote in message
...
To see better what's happening, click the ¶ button on the Home tab of the
ribbon -- now you'll see a dot in the middle of each space, the ¶ symbol
(paragraph mark) at the end of each paragraph, or a line break that looks
like a left-pointing arrow (more at
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Format...rintChars.htm).

If you insert a space at the beginning of a line that immediately follows
a paragraph mark or a line break, the space will stay there and push the
rest of the line to the right.

But if you insert a space at the beginning of a line that doesn't follow a
paragraph mark or a line break (an automatic line wrap), the space will be
moved to the end of the preceding line. Word doesn't care how many spaces
there are at the end of a line. That's why it seems that nothing happens
there.

It's possible to set a "compatibility option" to keep the spaces at the
left regardless of what kind of line it is, but that's really not good
practice. For that matter, using spaces to indent a line isn't good
practice; instead, use the Left Indent setting in the Paragraph Format
dialog, or a style that includes the indent.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so all may benefit.

Jan wrote:
I am using Word 2007. I have downloaded certain articles from various
online newspapers and copied them into Word as "paste special"
(unformatted text). When I place my cursor at the very start of some
lines (the left margin) and press the space bar I can create a space
before the word, but on lines it seems that the space bar is not
working because I cannot create a space. What could be causing this
problem?

Go to Office button Word Options Advanced. Scroll all the way to the
bottom and click the plus sign on "Layout Options" to expand the list. Check
the box for the last option, "Wrap training spaces to next line".

Note that this option, like all the ones in the Layout Options list, applies
only to the current document.

Jan Groshan wrote:
Hello again Jay .... You said:

It's possible to set a "compatibility option" to keep the spaces at
the left
regardless of what kind of line it is, but that's really not good
practice.

How would I do that if I wanted to?




"Jay Freedman" wrote in message
...
To see better what's happening, click the ¶ button on the Home tab
of the ribbon -- now you'll see a dot in the middle of each space,
the ¶ symbol (paragraph mark) at the end of each paragraph, or a
line break that looks like a left-pointing arrow (more at
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Format...rintChars.htm).

If you insert a space at the beginning of a line that immediately
follows a paragraph mark or a line break, the space will stay there
and push the rest of the line to the right.

But if you insert a space at the beginning of a line that doesn't
follow a paragraph mark or a line break (an automatic line wrap),
the space will be moved to the end of the preceding line. Word
doesn't care how many spaces there are at the end of a line. That's
why it seems that nothing happens there.

It's possible to set a "compatibility option" to keep the spaces at
the left regardless of what kind of line it is, but that's really
not good practice. For that matter, using spaces to indent a line
isn't good practice; instead, use the Left Indent setting in the
Paragraph Format dialog, or a style that includes the indent.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

Jan wrote:
I am using Word 2007. I have downloaded certain articles from
various online newspapers and copied them into Word as "paste
special" (unformatted text). When I place my cursor at the very
start of some lines (the left margin) and press the space bar I can
create a space before the word, but on lines it seems that the
space bar is not working because I cannot create a space. What
could be causing this problem?

Thanks again. I'm always amazed at how much information is available
through news groups by knowledgeable users who are willing to take their
time to share their wisdom.



"Jay Freedman" wrote in message
...
Go to Office button Word Options Advanced. Scroll all the way to the
bottom and click the plus sign on "Layout Options" to expand the list.
Check the box for the last option, "Wrap training spaces to next line".

Note that this option, like all the ones in the Layout Options list,
applies only to the current document.

Jan Groshan wrote:
Hello again Jay .... You said:

It's possible to set a "compatibility option" to keep the spaces at
the left
regardless of what kind of line it is, but that's really not good
practice.

How would I do that if I wanted to?




"Jay Freedman" wrote in message
...
To see better what's happening, click the ¶ button on the Home tab
of the ribbon -- now you'll see a dot in the middle of each space,
the ¶ symbol (paragraph mark) at the end of each paragraph, or a
line break that looks like a left-pointing arrow (more at
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Format...rintChars.htm).

If you insert a space at the beginning of a line that immediately
follows a paragraph mark or a line break, the space will stay there
and push the rest of the line to the right.

But if you insert a space at the beginning of a line that doesn't
follow a paragraph mark or a line break (an automatic line wrap),
the space will be moved to the end of the preceding line. Word
doesn't care how many spaces there are at the end of a line. That's
why it seems that nothing happens there.

It's possible to set a "compatibility option" to keep the spaces at
the left regardless of what kind of line it is, but that's really
not good practice. For that matter, using spaces to indent a line
isn't good practice; instead, use the Left Indent setting in the
Paragraph Format dialog, or a style that includes the indent.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

Jan wrote:
I am using Word 2007. I have downloaded certain articles from
various online newspapers and copied them into Word as "paste
special" (unformatted text). When I place my cursor at the very
start of some lines (the left margin) and press the space bar I can
create a space before the word, but on lines it seems that the
space bar is not working because I cannot create a space. What
could be causing this problem?

This worked fine......but then I discovered if I simply go to the end of the
previous line and hit "enter" (thereby inserting a paragraph symbol), I can
then move the beginning of the next line. That seems like a faster way to
accomplish what I'm trying to do.



"Jay Freedman" wrote in message
...
Go to Office button Word Options Advanced. Scroll all the way to the
bottom and click the plus sign on "Layout Options" to expand the list.
Check the box for the last option, "Wrap training spaces to next line".

Note that this option, like all the ones in the Layout Options list,
applies only to the current document.

Jan Groshan wrote:
Hello again Jay .... You said:

It's possible to set a "compatibility option" to keep the spaces at
the left
regardless of what kind of line it is, but that's really not good
practice.

How would I do that if I wanted to?




"Jay Freedman" wrote in message
...
To see better what's happening, click the ¶ button on the Home tab
of the ribbon -- now you'll see a dot in the middle of each space,
the ¶ symbol (paragraph mark) at the end of each paragraph, or a
line break that looks like a left-pointing arrow (more at
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Format...rintChars.htm).

If you insert a space at the beginning of a line that immediately
follows a paragraph mark or a line break, the space will stay there
and push the rest of the line to the right.

But if you insert a space at the beginning of a line that doesn't
follow a paragraph mark or a line break (an automatic line wrap),
the space will be moved to the end of the preceding line. Word
doesn't care how many spaces there are at the end of a line. That's
why it seems that nothing happens there.

It's possible to set a "compatibility option" to keep the spaces at
the left regardless of what kind of line it is, but that's really
not good practice. For that matter, using spaces to indent a line
isn't good practice; instead, use the Left Indent setting in the
Paragraph Format dialog, or a style that includes the indent.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

Jan wrote:
I am using Word 2007. I have downloaded certain articles from
various online newspapers and copied them into Word as "paste
special" (unformatted text). When I place my cursor at the very
start of some lines (the left margin) and press the space bar I can
create a space before the word, but on lines it seems that the
space bar is not working because I cannot create a space. What
could be causing this problem?

A better solution, if you want the next line to be part of the same
paragraph, is to insert a line break (Shift+Enter). But, depending on what
you want to do, you may need a tab (preceded by a line break) or a hanging
indent, which is completely automatic. A hanging indent should be used when
you want every line after the first to be indented. And of course if what
you want is a first-line indent, then you should use that.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"Jan Groshan" wrote in message
...
This worked fine......but then I discovered if I simply go to the end of
the previous line and hit "enter" (thereby inserting a paragraph symbol),
I can then move the beginning of the next line. That seems like a faster
way to accomplish what I'm trying to do.



"Jay Freedman" wrote in message
...
Go to Office button Word Options Advanced. Scroll all the way to the
bottom and click the plus sign on "Layout Options" to expand the list.
Check the box for the last option, "Wrap training spaces to next line".

Note that this option, like all the ones in the Layout Options list,
applies only to the current document.

Jan Groshan wrote:
Hello again Jay .... You said:

It's possible to set a "compatibility option" to keep the spaces at
the left
regardless of what kind of line it is, but that's really not good
practice.

How would I do that if I wanted to?




"Jay Freedman" wrote in message
...
To see better what's happening, click the ¶ button on the Home tab
of the ribbon -- now you'll see a dot in the middle of each space,
the ¶ symbol (paragraph mark) at the end of each paragraph, or a
line break that looks like a left-pointing arrow (more at
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Format...rintChars.htm).

If you insert a space at the beginning of a line that immediately
follows a paragraph mark or a line break, the space will stay there
and push the rest of the line to the right.

But if you insert a space at the beginning of a line that doesn't
follow a paragraph mark or a line break (an automatic line wrap),
the space will be moved to the end of the preceding line. Word
doesn't care how many spaces there are at the end of a line. That's
why it seems that nothing happens there.

It's possible to set a "compatibility option" to keep the spaces at
the left regardless of what kind of line it is, but that's really
not good practice. For that matter, using spaces to indent a line
isn't good practice; instead, use the Left Indent setting in the
Paragraph Format dialog, or a style that includes the indent.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

Jan wrote:
I am using Word 2007. I have downloaded certain articles from
various online newspapers and copied them into Word as "paste
special" (unformatted text). When I place my cursor at the very
start of some lines (the left margin) and press the space bar I can
create a space before the word, but on lines it seems that the
space bar is not working because I cannot create a space. What
could be causing this problem?