When you pressed the Tab key-assuming the insertion point was to the left of the measurement you specified in step 5-you should have seen the leader dots appear and the text jumped over to the tab stop position. Now, in those paragraphs, you can see the effect of the tab stop by typing some text, pressing the Tab key, and then typing a bit more text.
![how to add dot leaders in word 2016 how to add dot leaders in word 2016](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jiLY0LuOv78/maxresdefault.jpg)
If you’re applying the same tab leader to the same tab stop on multiple lines, you can select those lines and then add the tab leader to all those lines at once by following the steps above.Dot leaders are dots (which look like periods) that appear to the left of information. The small arrow above the tab leader characters on the following image is the tab character. If you want to see where your tabs are in your document, and not just on the ruler, you can turn on non-printing characters. Now, when you tab to the tab stop with the leader, the leader characters automatically fill the space from one bit of text to the other. Whatever unit of measurement you’ve set for the ruler is also used for your tab stops.Ĭlick “OK” to accept your changes and close the Tabs dialog box. Note the unit of measurement on your tab stops. “None” (1) is the default option and does not apply a tab leader to the selected tab stop. In the Leader section, select the type of tab leader you want: dots (2), dashes (3), or underscores (4). So the first thing youll need to do to re-set your tabs is go to the Format Paragraph dialog box. In the Paragraph section of the Home Ribbon, click the Paragraph Settings dialogue box launcher in the lower right corner (you can also right-click on your mouse and select 'Paragraph' from the menu). Tabs in Microsoft Word are considered part of paragraph formatting, along with indentation, justification, and line spacing. On the Tabs dialog box, you can adjust your tab stop measurement using the Tab stop position box and change the Alignment of the tab. Highlight the text you want to add a dot leader to by using your cursor to click and drag over the text. A tab stop is added to the ruler and then the Tabs dialog box is opened. If you don’t have a tab stop defined yet, simply double-click the ruler where you want to add your tab stop with the leader. To do so, put the cursor on the line on which you want to add a tab leader and double-click the desired tab marker on the ruler. To add a tab leader to a tab stop, we need to open the Tabs dialog box. However, adding a tab leader to a tab stop is easy and we’ll show you how.
![how to add dot leaders in word 2016 how to add dot leaders in word 2016](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Xtm7XHMKCUE/maxresdefault.jpg)
You can place tab stops on a line using the ruler, but you cannot add a tab leader to a tab stop using the ruler. You can create left, right, center, and decimal aligned tab stops, as well as a bar tab that places a vertical bar on the line at the tab stop.
![how to add dot leaders in word 2016 how to add dot leaders in word 2016](https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/493977.image0.jpg)
However, you can place your own custom tabs stops, bypassing the default ones. By default, every half-inch on the ruler is a tab stop. Pressing the Tab key on the keyboard moves the cursor forward to the next tab stop. Tab stops are markers placed on the ruler that define how text or numbers are aligned on a line.
![how to add dot leaders in word 2016 how to add dot leaders in word 2016](https://www.acronis.com/sites/default/files/inline_images/asd-file-word-2016-min.png)
RELATED: The Interface, Fonts, and TemplatesĪ tab leader is defined for a particular tab stop.