When I open a new document there is about a three inche gap when I hit Return and whatever I do I can't fix it.


I have to copy an existing doc and clear it if I want a normal gap between lines.

If you are using 2007, you can change the line spacing under the Home tab. In the Home tab, there is a Paragraph options box (it has the text alignmnet, bullet options, etc.) there is a box that has an arrow going up, one going down (both on the right) and then horizontal lines (on the left). When you hold your mouse over it, it says "Line Spacing". Click on that box. First it will come up with spacing for the document, which it sounds like you want a spacing of 1.0. Then if things are still not working it may be because it is adding extra spacing when you hit return to start a new line. To fix that, go to Line Spacing Options (same menu) and there you can delete space before/after paragraph and several other things. If you are using 2003, I beleive it is under Format->Paragraph. Hope that works for you!

I'm using Microsoft Word 97-2002

Oh, well I think it should still be located under the Edit tab -> Paragraph.

I apologise for appearing thick but that is possibly because I am. Could you please tell me where I may find the, "Home tab"?

There is no Home tab in your version. The Home tab was introduced in version 2007.

Click Format > paragraph and look for spacing Before, or spacing After paragraphs, or line spacing. If one of these is set high, change it.

http://www.msoffice-tutorial-trainin...ormatting.html

This is what I found:
Format>Paragraph>Indents and Spacing tab.

Alignment shows, “Left."
Outline level shows, “Body text."
Indentation Left and Right: Both show, “0cm”
Special shows, “None.”
BY box: Shows nothing.
Spacing before and after: Both show, “o pt.”
Line spacing: Shows, “Single.”
At box: Shows nothing.

Nothing changes.

The problem has been solved by someone on a forum called "Computer Active" who advised me as follows.

With Word closed, I would rename the Normal.dot template to get a comparison with new documents.

If you press the Windows + R keys together, in the Open: field, type, or copy/paste the following blue text: %userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates > OK or press the Enter key.

Look for the Template named Normal > Right click > Rename to > Normal.old

Restart Word, and a new Normal Template will be created for you to try a few sentences and paragraphs created by the Enter key.

I am having the same problem except I am using Office 2010. I ahv etried all the options listed above under the Line and Paragraph spacing tab and the problem is still there. Can anyone assist? Thanks!