Confused about how to set 1-Inch margins in Word?, hmm, relax because we are bringing you the help you need at your fingertips. It is a process you will be able to carry out on your own at the end of this article. So if you are ready, we are too. Let’s get started on it right away.
Even though the margin is seen as consisting of empty space, it is a critical element that shapes the way people perceive your document. Now, excessive large margins have a way of wasting valuable space and increasing the number of lines in your pages. Narrow margins on the other hand could cause printers to truncate the document’s text and make lines longer.
So to better manage space and make your document appear the way it ought to be, let’s show you to set a 1-inch margin in Word.
How to Check Your Margins
To check your margins:
- Open a Word document
- Tap on “View”
- Click on “Print Layout”.
- Word will display the document the way it would appear in a printout.
- In this view, a border will appear around the document and you can see its top, right, bottom, and left margins clearly.
Now that you have checked your margin, let’s go over and show you how to change it.
How to Change Your Margins
If you want to change your margin layout do this:
- Click on “Page Layout”
- Tick on “Margins”
- You will come across a Margin Gallery, which is a menu that displays several margin settings styles.
- Each settings lists the sizes of the document’s four margins.
- Tap on the “Normal” setting as this is the one where all margin sizes are 1 inch.
- Word changes your margins to that size immediately and the text reflows to accommodate the new margin settings.
Now we can start with the custom margin creation process.
How to Create Custom Margins
It is now time to show you how to create custom margins:
- After clicking on “Margins”
- Click on “Custom Margins” rather than clicking on “Normal”.
- As you click on “Custom Margins”, the Page Setup window will open and display three buttons.
- Tap on “Margins” and you can type margin sizes manually in the Top, Left, Bottom and Right text boxes.
- Now the unit of measurement in those boxes is an inch. Thus, if you type 1 in a box, Word sets that margin to 1 inch. The Margins button in the Page Setup window also has a “Set as Default” button.
- You can click on this if you want your margin settings to apply to all documents. If not, your changes will only affect the one you are working on.
How to Drag to Change Your Margins
You can use another option to adjust margins, instead of adjusting margins from the Page Layout menu.
- You can simply use your mouse to view changes in real time.
- Just click on “View”.
- Put a check mark in the “Ruler” check box if there’s none there, to view the horizontal and vertical rulers.
- Look for the shaded area on the horizontal ruler’s left side. This area represents the left margin.
- Click and drag the shaded area’s border to change your horizontal margin to your preferred setting.
- Repeat these steps with the aid of the vertical ruler to change your vertical margin.
Set Your Gutters
In Word, you are allowed to adjust gutters, which is the space it reserves for binding pages. If your margin is 1 inch and you add a 1 inch gutter to the document’s left wing, the total empty space on that side will be the sum of the margin and gutter space, or 2 inches. To set your document gutter size:
- Click on “Page Layout”
- Tap on “Margins”
- Tap also on “Custom Margins”
- Enter a size for your gutter in the “Gutter” text box
- Choose “Top” or “Left” from the “Gutter Position” text box depending on the desired gutter location.