How your text aligns against the margins dramatically changes the look and feel of a document. A standard essay looks best aligned to the left, a formal wedding invitation looks best centered, and a newspaper column requires the text to be perfectly straight on both sides.
Microsoft Word provides four distinct alignment options, all of which are easily accessible from the main ribbon.
The Four Types of Alignment
Before you begin clicking buttons, you must select the text you want to change. You can highlight a single paragraph, or press Ctrl + A (Command + A on Mac) to select the entire document.
Once your text is highlighted, look at the Home tab on the ribbon. In the Paragraph group, you will see four buttons side-by-side with horizontal lines on them. These control your alignment.
- Align Left (Ctrl + L): This is the default setting for almost all Word documents. The text is perfectly flush against the left margin, leaving a “ragged” or uneven edge on the right side. This is the easiest layout for the human eye to read for long periods.
- Center (Ctrl + E): This aligns the text perfectly to the middle of the page, leaving ragged edges on both the left and right sides. This is traditionally used for document titles, chapter headings, quotes, or formal invitations.
- Align Right (Ctrl + R): This makes the text perfectly flush against the right margin, leaving a ragged edge on the left. This is rarely used for body paragraphs, but it is frequently used to align dates or addresses at the top of a formal business letter.
- Justify (Ctrl + J): This stretches the text so it is perfectly flush against both the left and right margins, creating a solid block of text. Word does this by automatically adding microscopic extra spaces between words. This is the standard formatting for newspapers, magazines, and many published books.
How to Quickly Fix Alignment Mistakes
A very common mistake for beginners is trying to center a title by pressing the Spacebar 30 times to push the text to the middle of the page. This is a terrible idea, as the text will break and become misaligned the moment you change the font size or print the document on a different paper size.
If you receive a document where someone has done this, simply delete all the extra spaces they typed, highlight the word, and click the Center button on the ribbon. Word will mathematically calculate the exact center of the page and lock the text there permanently, regardless of any future formatting changes.