# Is there any way I can get Microsoft Word to insert two spaces after each period? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 9, 2006, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-i-can-get-microsoft-word-to-insert-two-spaces-after-each-period/356011 "2006-05-09T03:16:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-i-can-get-microsoft-word-to-insert-two-spaces-after-each-period/356011/21 "2006-05-09T16:34:31Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Gah. I learned to touchtype in the seventh grade, and we were taught to put two spaces after a period. Even in this post, knowing that the two-space rule is outmoded, I’m having to work at using only one space; it just comes naturally to me to use two, and my thumb does this double-tap without my giving it permission. I hate that rule. > > Daniel Don’t worry about it. Web browsers will handle that for you, as they don’t preserve the whitespace in HTML. So extra spaces are collapsed into a single one on the web. A lot of people still type two spaces after a period, though, as I’ve noticed when using quote boxes. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-i-can-get-microsoft-word-to-insert-two-spaces-after-each-period/356011/22 "2006-05-09T17:12:02Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Yet another professional writer saying that you don’t put two spaces after a period. Even in the typewriter days, typesetters only used one space. The _Chicago Manual of Style_ states clearly that there is only one space at the end of a sentence. I think my aspring career as a writer ha been cut short. There’s no way that I can unlearn the two spaces rule now. Aaaagh. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-i-can-get-microsoft-word-to-insert-two-spaces-after-each-period/356011/23 "2006-05-09T17:18:04Z")
Speaking as a former book editor, I can tell you that editors do not want two spaces after each sentence. One of the first things I would do when formatting a manuscript would be to _remove_ double spaces after sentences. ---
**Author:** ![Cockatiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cockatiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cockatiel)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-i-can-get-microsoft-word-to-insert-two-spaces-after-each-period/356011/24 "2006-05-09T18:47:53Z")
Thanks for all the advice, guys. And thanks to all the professionals who chipped in, too. I’m going to keep the spacing the way it is for now, but on the off chance I need to change it, I’ve got a few methods. ---
**Author:** ![ChordedZither](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9c0ed/32.png) [@ChordedZither](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChordedZither)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-i-can-get-microsoft-word-to-insert-two-spaces-after-each-period/356011/25 "2006-05-09T19:18:21Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Even in the typewriter days, typesetters only used one space. More precisely, typesetters used variable spacing and good ones would use one space after a full stop but that space would be wider than the typical interword space. Also, it’s worth pointing out that the more advanced and more expensive typewriters could do [do proportional spacing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Selectric_typewriter) as well, so it’s more appropriate to regard the two-space-after-a-stop rule as a sop to those with cheaper typewriters than to typewriting in general. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-i-can-get-microsoft-word-to-insert-two-spaces-after-each-period/356011.md?page=1)