How to Make a Word Document Double Spaced

Double spacing is one of the most commonly requested formatting adjustments in Microsoft Word — whether you're submitting an academic paper, formatting a business report, or simply making a document easier to read and annotate. The good news: it takes only a few clicks. The nuance is knowing which approach fits your situation, because Word gives you several ways to apply it, and each works a little differently.

What Double Spacing Actually Does

When you apply double spacing in Word, you're increasing the vertical distance between lines of text to twice the height of a single line. This creates visible white space between each line, making text easier to follow and leaving room for handwritten notes or tracked changes.

Double spacing is controlled through line spacing settings, not font size or paragraph margins — a distinction that matters when troubleshooting formatting that doesn't look quite right.

How to Double Space an Entire Document in Microsoft Word

This is the most common need: you've written something (or received a document) and want the whole thing double spaced.

Method 1: Using the Home Tab (Quickest Route)

1. Press Ctrl + A (Windows) or Command + A (Mac) to select all text
2. Go to the Home tab in the ribbon
3. In the Paragraph group, click the Line and Paragraph Spacing button (it looks like lines with arrows on the left side)
4. Select 2.0 from the dropdown

That's it. Every paragraph in the document will now be double spaced.

Method 2: Through Paragraph Settings (More Control)

1. Select all text with Ctrl + A / Command + A
2. Right-click and choose Paragraph, or go to Home → Paragraph → the small arrow in the bottom-right corner of the group
3. Under Spacing, find the Line spacing dropdown
4. Choose Double
5. Click OK

This method also lets you adjust spacing before and after paragraphs — useful if you want double spacing between lines but not extra space added between each paragraph block.

Method 3: Setting Double Spacing Before You Start Typing

If you want every new document to default to double spacing:

1. Open a blank document
2. Apply double spacing using either method above
3. Go to Home → Styles → Normal → right-click → Modify
4. Make your changes and select New documents based on this template
5. Click OK

This modifies your Normal.dotm template, which is the default starting point for new Word documents. ⚠️ Only do this if you want double spacing every time — it affects all future documents you create.

Double Spacing in Specific Sections Only

Sometimes you need double spacing in part of a document — maybe just the body text, not the footnotes or headers.

1. Highlight only the text you want to change
2. Apply 2.0 line spacing using either method above

Word applies line spacing at the paragraph level, so you can mix single, 1.5, and double spacing within the same document without issue.

Common Formatting Quirks to Watch For 🔍

Extra space between paragraphs that won't go away This is usually "Spacing After" in the Paragraph settings, not line spacing itself. Double spacing and paragraph spacing are separate controls. If your double-spaced document has giant gaps between paragraphs, check that "Spacing Before" and "Spacing After" are both set to 0 pt.

Spacing looks different when printed vs. on screen Word's display zoom and print preview can occasionally make spacing look inconsistent. Always check Print Preview before finalizing.

Pasted text that ignores your spacing When you paste text from another source, it often brings its own formatting. Use Paste Special → Keep Text Only (or right-click and choose the plain text paste icon) to strip incoming formatting, then apply your spacing settings.

Double Spacing on Word for Mac vs. Windows

The steps are functionally identical between platforms, but the keyboard shortcuts and interface labels differ slightly:

Ctrl + 2 (Windows) and Command + 2 (Mac) are arguably the fastest shortcuts — select your text, hit that combo, and it's done instantly.

Double Spacing in Word Online (Browser Version)

Microsoft's browser-based Word has slightly fewer formatting options than the desktop app, but double spacing works the same way:

1. Select your text
2. Go to Home → Line Spacing in the toolbar
3. Choose 2.0

If you don't see the full ribbon, check that you're in Editing mode rather than Reading view.

What Affects How Double Spacing Looks in Practice

Even with the same setting applied, double spacing can look meaningfully different depending on:

• Font choice — larger or taller fonts (like Georgia or Times New Roman at 12pt vs. a condensed sans-serif) produce visually different line gaps
• Font size — double spacing at 10pt looks tighter than at 14pt
• Document margins — narrower margins paired with double spacing can affect how readable the document feels on the page
• The platform and Word version — Word 2016, 2019, Microsoft 365, and Word Online all render spacing consistently, but older versions (pre-2013) handled some spacing defaults differently

Academic style guides like APA, MLA, and Chicago each have specific double-spacing requirements that go beyond just line spacing — including rules about spacing after headings, between references, and in footnotes. If you're formatting for submission, checking the specific guide's requirements is worth the extra few minutes.

How double spacing behaves in your document ultimately depends on the combination of your Word version, your font choices, any inherited formatting from pasted content, and what the document is actually for — a printed essay, a shared collaborative file, or a template others will use.