How to Use Tabs in Word

Paragraph Indent
1. Click with the mouse at the beginning of the first word you wish to indent. Alternately, proceed with a new paragraph before typing any words.
2. Press the "Tab" key. The first line will indent by the default half-inch used in Microsoft Word. If desired, continue typing the paragraph.
3. Click once on the ruler at the top of the document where you want the tab stop, if different than the half-inch default. A tab marking will appear on the ruler and the degree of the paragraph indentation will change to line up with this setting.
Right Alignment
4. Click at the beginning of the phrase you wish to align on the right side of the document. The composition date of a letter is a common example.
5. Click on the tab selection button located in the upper-left corner of the Word document window. It is a small square button that by default shows the left tab setting, which resembles an "L." Each click of this button cycles to a different kind of tab stop. Clicking twice will select the right tab, which resembles a backwards "L."
6. Click once on the ruler at the top of the document window where you wish the text to be right-aligned. A right-aligned tab stop will appear.
7. Press the "Tab" key. The text will jump to the right edge of the page and line up with the right-align tab marker on the ruler.
Numerical Lists
8. Click on the tab selection button in the upper-left corner of the program window. Three clicks of this button will select the decimal tab, which appears with a small dot cornered by two perpendicular lines.
9. Click on the ruler at the top of the document window where you would like the decimal point for all the numbers in your list to appear. This tab makes it easy to create a numerical list in accounting format, where the decimals are all aligned and the tens, hundreds, thousands, etc., line up together in a true mathematical format.
10. Press the "Tab" key and type the first number in your list. The decimal will line up with the tab marker. If there is no decimal in your number, the entire number displays to the left of the decimal as if ".0" were included in the number.
11. Press the "Enter" key, then the "Tab" key. Type another number. Repeat for all the numbers in your list.