Legal documents are also typically doubled spaced. This includes when writing an academic piece or essay, sending a novel to an agent or editor, or submitting content to a magazine. It’s a good idea to use double spacing in situations where you expect somebody to edit or comment on your text in a professional capacity. When you should use double spacing in Word It was only in the mid-20th century that publications standardized single spacing - primarily to cut the costs of mass printed material. In fact, double-spaced documents used to be the standard due to the limitations of typewriters. In typography, this space between lines is called “leading”.ĭouble spacing is a practice that typists have used since the advent of typewriters in the 19th century. In other words, there’s a full blank line between each row of text that an editor can write in. What does double spaced mean?Ī “Double spaced” document is a text with approximately twice the amount of vertical space between lines when compared to a standard document. We’ll be walking you through double spacing in Word and Word Online today, as well as explaining what it is and when you should use it.

As well as making some documents easier to read, double spacing lets editors easily add comments and editing marks above your text. 4 Extra: How to Remove or Clear Formatting in WordĮarning how to double space in Word is a vital skill if you’re planning to send your writing to an editor, publication, or academic journal.3 Extra: How to Add Page Numbers in Word.1 How to Double Space in Microsoft Word.

How to remove line spaces in word