Change paragraph direction

Microsoft Office Word 2003

Place the insertion point in the paragraph that you want to change, or select several paragraphs.

Do one of the following:

To have text begin from the left, click Left-to-Right on the Formatting toolbar.

To have text begin from the right, click Right-to-Left on the Formatting toolbar.

When you change the paragraph direction, Microsoft Word leaves justified and centered text as it is. In the case of left-aligned or right-aligned text, Word flips the alignment to its opposite. For example, if you have a left-to-right paragraph that is right aligned, such as the date at the top of a letter, clicking Right-to-Left Button image results in a right-to-left paragraph that is left aligned.

Show About tabs in right-to-left documents

The tab direction follows the paragraph direction— for example, when you change a left-to-right paragraph to a right-to-left paragraph, the left tabs become right tabs— that is, they are repositioned relative to the direction of a paragraph. Center and decimal tab types are not affected by changes in paragraph language or direction.

Tab leaders extend to the left in right-to-left paragraphs. When you select Show/Hide Paragraph mark Button image , right-to-left tabs are represented by the symbol Left-pointing horizontal arrow .

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