# How to quickly format a large chunk of text

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-quickly-format-a-large-chunk-of-text/625131>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 14, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-quickly-format-a-large-chunk-of-text/625131 "2012-06-14T13:33:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-quickly-format-a-large-chunk-of-text/625131/1 "2012-06-14T13:33:29Z")

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I have a large chunk of text (let’s say it’s part of a novel) that was written in emails with pretty much zero formatting. There are paragraphs, but the indentations consist of hitting the spacebar four times. Is there any way to easily give this a “normal” format (tabbed indentations, etc.), using MS Word or Open Office?

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**Author:** ![PJMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PJMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PJMom)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-quickly-format-a-large-chunk-of-text/625131/2 "2012-06-14T13:40:41Z")

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> **[How to Format Documents in Word](https://itstillworks.com/format-documents-word-6776820.html)**
>
> Whether you are working with an existing Word document or completed one, you can format parts of the document or the entire file. Using bullets and numbering is a quick way to emphasize lists and paragraphs within your document. A wide page margin...

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**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-quickly-format-a-large-chunk-of-text/625131/3 "2012-06-14T13:46:03Z")

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> [@iiandyiiii](#):
>
> I have a large chunk of text (let’s say it’s part of a novel) that was written in emails with pretty much zero formatting. There are paragraphs, but the indentations consist of hitting the spacebar four times. Is there any way to easily give this a “normal” format (tabbed indentations, etc.), using MS Word or Open Office?

There are more elegant ways, but find and replace should work well for spaced indentations. Replace all instances of " " (space space) with “^t”. Then replace “^t^t” with “^t”, enough times until you get zero results.

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**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-quickly-format-a-large-chunk-of-text/625131/4 "2012-06-14T14:07:34Z")

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Thanks. Both suggestions are very helpful.

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**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-quickly-format-a-large-chunk-of-text/625131/5 "2012-06-14T14:14:16Z")

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> [@tdn](#):
>
> There are more elegant ways, but find and replace should work well for spaced indentations. Replace all instances of " " (space space) with “^t”. Then replace “^t^t” with “^t”, enough times until you get zero results.

For people who put 2 spaces after a period, that’s not a very good idea. If her indentions are space-space-space-space, then she should do a find and replace of " " (four spaces) with ^t.