Tab-Stops

By using tab-stops in your document, you can create uniformly spaced text. And, unlike if you were to just enter a bunch of spaces to separate text, tabs ensure your text remains properly aligned. Each time you press the Tab key, the cursor moves to the next tab-stop. By default, Docs has left tab-stops set at every half-inch, but you can create your own tab-stops in a specific position or change the location of the existing tab stops.

Set a Tab-Stop

1. Select the text you want to align with a tab-stop.
2. Click on the ruler where you want to place the tab-stop.

   The menu gives you three choices – you can add a left, center, or right tab stop, which sets the text alignment accordingly.

3. Select a type of tab-stop.
   

The tab-stop is added, shifting text separated by tabs. An arrow or diamond appears on the ruler as indication.

Types of Tab Stops
3.14	3.14	3.14
Left	Center	Right
Aligns the left side of text with the tab-stop.	Aligns the text so that it’s centered under the tab-stop.	Aligns the right side of text with the tab-stop.

Align Text to a Tab-Stop

1. Place the cursor where you want to separate text with a tab.
   
2. Press the Tab key.

The text moves directly to the location of the tab-stop.

Move or Remove a Tab-Stop

If the position isn't quite right, you can drag the tab-stops to move them.

1. Select the text you want to reposition.
2. Click and drag a tab-stop on the ruler to reposition it.

   As you drag a tab-stop to a new position on the ruler, the text affected by that tab-stop will move with it.

   
3. Click and drag a tab-stop off the ruler to remove it.
   

Removing a tab-stop will shift the text over to the next tab-stop. If another tab-stop isn’t set, the text will instead use the default half-inch tab spacing.