Adjust sentence, word, paragraph spacing while pasting in Word

Although Microsoft Word adjusts the sentence and word spacing automatically when you paste something, it doesn’t adjust the same for the entire paragraphs. It may create problems when you need to edit an existing document by pasting something. If so, you can follow this guide to allow Word to adjust sentence, word, and paragraph spacing automatically while pasting from another program or Word.

How to adjust sentence, word, and paragraph spacing automatically while pasting in Word

To adjust sentence, word, and paragraph spacing automatically while pasting in Microsoft Word, follow these steps:

1. Open Microsoft Word on your computer.
2. Click on the Options.
3. Go to the Advanced tab.
4. Find the Use smart cut and paste option.
5. Click the Settings button.
6. Tick Adjust sentence and word spacing automatically checkbox.
7. Tick the Adjust paragraph spacing on paste checkbox.
8. Click the OK button twice.

To learn more about these steps, keep reading.

First, open Microsoft Word on your computer and click on the Options. Then, go to the Advanced tab and head to the Cut, copy and paste section.

Here you can find a setting called Use smart cut and paste. You need to tick this checkbox and click the Settings button.

Then, tick these two checkboxes:

• Adjust sentence and word spacing automatically
• Adjust paragraph spacing on paste

Finally, click the OK button twice to save the changes.

How to adjust sentence, word, and paragraph spacing automatically while pasting in Word using Group Policy

To adjust sentence, word, and paragraph spacing automatically while pasting in Word using Group Policy, follow these steps:

1. Search for gpedit in the taskbar search box.
2. Click on the search result.
3. Navigate to Smart cut and paste in User Configuration.
4. Double-click on the Adjust paragraph spacing on paste setting.
5. Choose the Enabled option.
6. Double-click on the Adjust sentence and word spacing automatically setting.
7. Choose the Enabled option.
8. Click the OK button.

Let’s check out these steps in detail to learn more.

You need to open the Local Group Policy Editor first. For that, search for gpedit in the Taskbar search box and click on the search result.

Once it is opened, navigate to this path:

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Word 2016 > Word Options > Advanced > Smart cut and paste

Here you can find two settings:

• Adjust sentence and word spacing automatically
• Adjust paragraph spacing on paste

You need to double-click on each setting and choose the Enabled option.

Finally, click the OK button to save the change. Next, you need to restart the Microsoft Word app.

Note: If you want to get back to the original setting, you need to open the Local Group Policy Editor first. Then, open each of the aforementioned settings one after one and choose the Not Configured option. Finally, restart the Microsoft Word app to apply the change.

How to adjust sentence, word, and paragraph spacing automatically while pasting in Word using Registry

To adjust sentence, word, and paragraph spacing automatically while pasting in Word using Registry, follow these steps:

1. Search for regedit and click on individual search result.
2. Click the Yes button.
3. Go to office > 16.0 > word in HKCU.
4. Right-click on word > New > Key and set the name as options.
5. Right-click on options > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
6. Name it as smartparapaste.
7. Double-click on it to set the Value data as 1.
8. Create another REG_DWORD value named smartsentencewordspacing.
9. Double-click on it to set the Value data as 1.
10. Restart your PC.

Let’s delve into these steps in detail.

To get started, you need to open the Registry Editor. You can search for regedit, click on the search result, and click the Yes button to get it done.

Next, go to this path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\office\16.0

Right-click on 16.0 > New > Key and name it as word.

Here you need to create two REG_DWORD values. For that, right-click on word > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value and name them as follows:

• smartparapaste
• smartsentencewordspacing

Double-click on each REG_DWORD value and set the Value data as 1.

Click the OK button to save the change. Finally, restart your PC.

Note: If you cannot find the entire path in the Registry Editor, you need to navigate to this path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft. Then, you can create the aforementioned keys under the Microsoft key. On the other hand, if you want to reset these settings, you can open the same path in the Registry Editor and delete those REG_DWORD values.

How do I fix spacing when copying and pasting?

To fix spacing issues when copying and pasting in Word, you can enable the aforementioned settings. There are two options called Adjust sentence and word spacing automatically and Adjust paragraph spacing on paste. After enabling these two settings, you will be able to adjust the spacing automatically.

 How do you automatically set paragraph spacing in Word?

To automatically set paragraph spacing in Word, you can turn on the above-mentioned setting. It is called Adjust paragraph spacing on paste. You can find this setting in the Word Options > Advanced > Use smart cut and paste.

That’s all! Hope this guide helped.

Read: How to show or hide Picture Placeholders in Word.