What Are Tab Stops? And How to Add and Remove Them

While working in an MS Word document, you can press the Tab key on your keyboard to see how it works. It causes the cursor to advance to a position marked by what is called a ‘tab stop’. Word processors use tab stops to allow the user to align text the way they prefer.

In MS Word, the horizontal ruler which usually shows above your document will indicate where these tab stops are. On the ruler, a bold L marks the left tab stops that you may have defined. If you have defined right tab stops, the L would be in the backward direction.

A button on the extreme left side of the horizontal ruler in MS Word is called the Tab Selector. By clicking on this button repeatedly, the user can choose the type of tab stop they want to use.

With each click, you will cycle through the five options.

When aligning or positioning text, it is never a good practice to use the spacebar. This will cause formatting problems. Rather, you must use one of the alignment settings to position text. Alternatively, you can also use tab stops and the tab key.

Types of Tab Stops

MS Word positions a default tab stop at every 0.5 inches. Apart from this, it offers five options for introducing custom tab stops. These are:

Left — Aligns the left-side of the text with the tab stop;
Center — Aligns the text to center it under the tab stop;
Right — Aligns the right-side of the text with the tab stop;
Decimal — Aligns text and numbers by decimal points;
Bar — Inserts a vertical line character at the tab stop.

Creating a Tab Stop

You can create a custom tab stop in one of two methods:

Using the Tab Selector key and the Horizontal Ruler;
Using the Paragraphs menu.

Note that you must first select the text on which you want to apply the tab stops.

Below we will explain step-by-step how to apply these two methods, and will also share two methods you can use to remove tab stops.

Let us begin.

Method #1: Using the Tab Selector Key and the Horizontal Ruler

Step #1: Choose the tab stop type

Repeatedly click on the tab selector key until it shows the tab stop you want to introduce.

Step #2: Position the tab stops

Click in the space slightly below the horizontal ruler. Where you click, a tab stop will be added.

The final result may look like this.

(In our example, we have added left tab stops at 1”, 2.5”, and 5”.)

Method #2: Using the Paragraph Menu

Step #1: Change the ribbon

Click on the Home tab in the top menu bar to change the ribbon.

Step #2: Open the Paragraph menu

In the section Paragraph, click on the down arrow which is on the bottom right corner.

Step #3: Open the Tabs dialog box

This will open the Paragraph dialog box.

Click on the Tabs… button at the bottom of the dialog box.

This will open the Tabs dialog box.

Step #4: Set up the tab stops

In the Tabs dialog box, set up the tab stops you want.

Under Tab stop position: enter the number 1.
Under Alignment, choose the type of tab stop you want.
In our example, we selected Left.
If you do not want a Leader, select 1 None under Leaders.
Click on the Set button to set this custom first tab stop.

Repeat these 5 steps for as many tab stops you want to introduce.

Click on the OK button once you are done to close the dialog box.

The final result may look like this.

Removing a Tab Stop

It is very easy to remove a tab stop you do not want.

You may want to use one of two methods:

Using the Horizontal Ruler
Using the Paragraph menu

Method #1: Using the Horizontal Ruler

Step #1: Choose the tab stop

Click on and hold the mouse button on the tab stop you want to remove.

Step #2: Remove the tab stop

Drag the tab stop away from the ruler and release the mouse button.

The tab stop no longer appears on the ruler.