WD2000: How to Convert Multiple White Spaces or Tabs

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.

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 the character, use the following advanced criteria in the Find What box in the Find and Replace dialog box. 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 replaces all occurrences of two or more spaces with a single tab character.

For example, if the text appears as it is converted to by following these steps:

1. On the Edit menu, click Replace.
   
2. In the Find What box, type
   <space>{2,}
   
   where <space> is the character produced when you press the SPACEBAR once.
   
   NOTE: There is no space between the comma (,) and the closing brace (}).
3. In the Replace With box, type
   
   ^t
   
   NOTE: The ^ 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.

For more information about how to clear or move tab stops, click Microsoft Word Help on the Help menu, type Tabs in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.