Right Tab Stop to the right of the Right Indent - Not Working

Anonymous
2013-11-20T18:08:50+00:00

You used to be able to place a right tab stop outside of the right indent, so that the tab actually appeared on the ruler to the right of the right indent. This was how a table of contents would be formatted so that if the heading title was longer than one line, the text would only go as far right as the right indent as it wrapped onto multiple lines, and then the page number would align farther right of the heading text at the tab stop. It now appears that Word 2013 (when it is not in Compatibility Mode) cannot recognize a tab stop if it is to the right of the right indent, so I cannot figure out how to get this alignment if the heading title is longer than one line.

The only way I can find that you can is to use manual returns at the end of each line of text with a dot leader tab on the last line, like this example:

   Really long heading title that is tremendously long so it goes longer than one line of text (RETURN)

   and in fact just keeps going on and on so that it spans multiple lines in the document (RETURN)

   instead of all fitting on one line of the document……………………………………………………………..............……….…3

How do I create an alignment like this within the paragraph settings without manually adding returns?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Stefan Blom 353K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2017-06-22T11:17:31+00:00

Well, I have the same problem with WORD2016 now and even though I am glad I found your posts about the problems with the 2013 version, I am still frustrated that this problem is not addressed and solved in the new version.

I now followed an old reply found here and saved my document in the .doc format - and voila... it now does what I want. But can this be the solution?? To go back to save it in an ancient format???

If you are running Word for Mac, you should start a new thread.

In Word 2016 (or in Word 2013 with the most recent updates) for Windows, you can set a tab stop to the right of a right indent, but NOT to the right of the right margin. This is by design. See screen shot below.

Also, you must use the Tab dialog box; you can't add such a tab stop by double-clicking the horizontal ruler.

Older file formats still support the older behavior, which is to be expected.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-07-25T07:30:57+00:00

    I use the tab to the right of the margin for setting exam papers. I place the mark value of the question in the right margin beside the question. Your suggestion was such a good one (other than Microsoft fixing the bug) that I felt it warranted a congratulatory reply.

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  2. Suzanne S Barnhill 279.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2015-07-25T12:51:54+00:00

    I agree this is unsatisfactory. It is curious that Word recognizes the bar tab (which is called a tab even though its function is entirely different from the other tab stops) and not the right tab stop. If you remove the bar tab, is the right tab stop recognized? Also, is the right tab stop right at the right margin? If so, try setting it just a hair inside the margin. For example, in an automatic TOC on a 6.5" line, the right-aligned tab stop (generated by Word) will be set at 6.49".

    If you can get the right tab stop to work without the bar tab, you could substitute a graphic line (perhaps anchored to the header) for the bar tab.

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  3. Charles Kenyon 171K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2015-10-12T19:56:40+00:00

    Reading this discussion, I guess I'm going to want to eventually change my TOC styles. In Word 2013 the page numbers and edge of text are both at the right indent. It isn't a big problem for me but might be for others.

    Here is a default generated TOC showing the page number inside the heading text:

    Here is one with the Right Indent moved to the left, inside the tab. Note, it is not easy to grab the right indent and not the right tab. As noted earlier by Stefan, you cannot move the tab outside the indent using the ruler. However if you move the indent inside the tab, it works. (This is with the update.)

    Once the formatting is changed on the ruler it is possible to update the style to match. This can also be set through the modify style dialog as was previously noted.

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  4. Charles Kenyon 171K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2015-10-15T13:58:43+00:00

    Further exploration of indents margins and tab settings can be found here:

    Margins Tabs and Indents in Word 2013 and later demo document

    Here are screen shots.

    These are in Word 2013 native mode. A right tab can be to the right of the right margin, but only within the right indent. If a right tab is needed outside the right indent, both must be inside the right margin.

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