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How to Show Ruler in Microsoft Word

The ruler tool in Word is sometimes overlooked by many when trying to align and position text and other objects. It is used to control the left and right indentation of your Word document. It also controls first-line indentation and tabs. The advantage of using the ruler is that you can use the mouse to manipulate the controls and get instant visual results.

In this guide today, you’ll learn how to show the ruler in MS Word when hidden. And how to use the ruler to indent your content in your Word document.

How to show ruler on Word

The ruler may not appear in your document window. Therefore, you’ll need to take some steps to display it.

Obey the instructions below to get the ruler on your Word document:

  • Click on the View tab.
  • In the Show group, click to check the Ruler item.
  • As soon as you place the checkmark by the Ruler checkbox, the ruler will appear in your document’s window.
  • To hide the ruler, uncheck the Ruler item.
how to show ruler in word

This is how you may show and hide the ruler in Microsoft Word.

Using the ruler for indentation

Using the mouse, you can create indents with the horizontal ruler. It makes it easy for creating the first line and hanging indents. A hanging indent indents all lines in a paragraph except the first line. A first-line indent, on the other hand, indents only the first line of a paragraph.

To make indents with the ruler:

  • Display the ruler. Go to the View tab and click Ruler in the Show group to get the ruler control.
  • Select the paragraph you wish to indent.
  • Using the mouse, drag the indent symbols on the ruler to create the indentation.
  • Drag the hanging indent symbol to the right to create a hanging indent so that indentation will apply to all but the first line of the paragraph. Drug to the left to reduce or remove indentation.
  • For a first-line indentation, drag the first line indent symbol to the right to create the indentation. Drag to the left to reduce or remove the indentation.
  • Repeat the above steps to apply a different indentation setting to other paragraphs you wish to indent.