Word: Changing Margins

Updated 2010.09.03

Objectives

• Learn how to change the margins in Word

Changing margins for the entire document (or an entire section)

To change the margins:

· Click on the Page Layout tab.

· In the Page Setup group, click on Margins.

You can choose one of the six pre-sets (see above), or you can choose Custom Margins (the bottom choice on the list). The following window will appear:

Then select the Margins tab and enter the desired value for Top, Bottom, Left, and Right. This method should only be used to set the margins for the entire document or, if your document is divided into sections, an entire section! If you want to change the margins for part of the document, I strongly encourage you to use the margin markers on the ruler (see below).

Changing margins for part of your document

To change the margins for part of your document, select the text whose margins you want to change and drag the left margin indicator on the ruler (put the tip of the mouse cursor on the bottom box – see figure on left below) or the right margin indicator on the toolbar (see figure on right below). This will prevent Word from inserting section breaks without being asked to.

Left margin marker