How to Enable and Disable Hyphenation in Microsoft Word

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How to Turn on Hyphenation in Microsoft Word

There are two types of hyphenation – automatic and manual. Here’s how to enable either:

Turn on Automatic Hyphenation in Microsoft Word

Automatic hyphenation allows Microsoft Word to place hyphens in your text as you type, saving you time. However, this means that the user cannot control the text that gets hyphenated. Here’s how to turn on automatic hyphenation in Word:

Step 1:LaunchMicrosoft Word.

Step 2:Open your desireddocument.

Step 3:On the Microsoft Word ribbon, click theLayout tab.

Step 4:Within the Page Setup group, click on theHyphenationbutton.

Step 5:Lastly, selectAutomaticfrom the drop-down.

Turn on Manual Hyphenation in Microsoft Word

With manual hyphenation, you can use Microsoft Word to suggest text to hyphenate. The benefit of manual hyphenation is that the choice and control of words to hyphenate are left to the user. Here’s how to turn on manual hyphenation in Word:

Step 1:LaunchMicrosoft Word.

Step 2:Open the desireddocument.

Step 3:On the Microsoft Word Ribbon, click theLayouttab.

Step 4:Within thePage Setupgroup, click theHyphenationbutton.

Step 5:Lastly, selectManualfrom the drop-down.

If you do not want consecutive hyphens in your Word document, limit their occurrence. To do so, limit the number of consecutive hyphens you include in the document by choosingHyphenation Optionsrather than Manual or Automatic. Then, proceed with the steps below.

Step 1:In the Hyphenation dialog box, click the text box besideLimit consecutive hyphens to.

Step 2:The text box should have no limit by default. Using the backspace key, clearno limit, enter afigurefor the maximum number of hyphens you want, and clickOK.

How to Turn off Hyphenation in Microsoft Word

If you do not want hyphens in your Word document, here’s how to turn it off.

Step 1:LaunchMicrosoft Word.

Step 2:Open the desireddocument.

Step 3:On the Microsoft Word ribbon, click theLayouttab.

Step 4:Within the Page Setup group, click theHyphenationbutton.

Step 5:Lastly, selectNonefrom the drop-down.

How to Prevent Text From Being Hyphenated

Rather than turning off hyphenation totally, you may prevent certain text from being hyphenated. Here’s how to prevent it:

Step 1:LaunchMicrosoft Word.

Step 2:Open a desireddocument.

Step 3:Select thetextthat should not have hyphens.

Step 4:Click the dialog box launcher besideParagraphon the Microsoft Word RibbonHometab.

Step 5:Click theLine and Page Breakstab in the Paragraph dialog box.

Step 6:Under theFormatting exceptionssection, check the box forDon’t hyphenate.

Step 7: Lastly, clickOKto save your changes and close the dialog box.

Pro Tip:Try the following fixes ifMicrosoft Word doesn’t open.

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Last updated on 30 July, 2024

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