WD98: How to Convert Multiple White Space Characters to Tabs (188875)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition
This article was previously published under Q188875

SUMMARY

This article describes how to change multiple spaces or tabs in a Word document to a single instance of a tab or other white space character.

You may want to perform this type of replacement in order to take advantage of some of the formatting commands in Word.

MORE INFORMATION

Some text or word processor files use multiple spaces or tabs to create tables. In Word, this type of formatting makes alignment and other types of formatting impossible.

To convert multiple instances of white space characters such as spaces or tab characters to a single instance of a character, use the following advanced criteria in the Find What box in the Find And Replace dialog box

x{y,}

where x is the character you are searching for, such as a space, and y is the minimum number of instances that the character must appear in order to be replaced.

The following procedure will replace all occurrences of two or more spaces with a single tab character.

For example, if the text appears as

Filet Mignon<space><space><space><space><space>$21.95

it is converted to:

Filet Mignon<tab>$21.95

by doing the following steps:

  1. On the Edit menu, click Replace.
  2. In the Find What box, type

    <space>{2,}

    where <space> is the character you get when you press the SPACEBAR once.

    NOTE: There is no space between the comma (,) and the right brace (}).
  3. In the Replace With box, type ^t.

    NOTE: ^ is the caret symbol and is inserted by pressing SHIFT+6.
  4. Click More, and then click to select the Use Wildcards check box.
  5. Click Replace All.

REFERENCES

For more information about how to clear or move tab stops, click the Office Assistant, type Tabs, click Search, and then click to view the "Use Tab Stops" topic.

NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the Standard toolbar. If Word Help is not installed on your computer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

179216 OFF98: How to Use the Microsoft Office Installer Program

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/4/2002
Keywords:kbhowto kblayout KB188875
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.