Using the Tab Stops Dialog Box

Compared to using the ruler, the Tab Dialog Box allows you to (i) set tabs with more precision and to (ii) also set tab leaders.

choose Format

Tabs …

enter a tab position under [Tab Stop Position]
click on the type of tab desired under [Alignment]
- the Left, Center, Right, and Decimal tabs are the same as can be set on the ruler
- the Bar tab inserts a vertical line at the tab stop
  - Word 2000: this is same as can be set on the ruler
  - Word 97/98: there is no Bar tab that can be set on the ruler
click on the type of tab leader under [Leaders]
- determines whether the space preceding the designated tab is “filled” with dots, dashes, or a solid line
- the fill character will fill the space in front of the designated tab up to the previous tab or, if there are no previous tabs, all the way to the left margin

The Tab Dialog Box in Word 98 and Word 2001. Other than the arrangement of the buttons at the bottom, the Tab Dialog Box in Word 2000 is the same.

The buttons in the dialog box

after setting or clearing tab(s), exit the dialog box by clicking
to cancel the set tab(s) and exit the dialog box click
to set the tab indicated under [Tab Stop Position] and stay in the dialog box to set another tab(s) click
to clear one tab stop at a time
- select the tab stop to be cleared from the scrolling list under [Tab Stop Position]
- that tab stop will now appear in [Tab Stop Position]
- click
to clear all of the tab stops of a paragraph at once click

You can also access the Tabs dialog box by

pressing thebutton from either the Indents and Spacing tab or the Line and Page Breaks tab in the Paragraph Dialog Box
or double-clicking on a tab stop on the ruler