Formatting Issues

How to Justify Text and Add Hyphenation in Microsoft Word

Tauseeq Magsi Sep 29, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user wants to format paragraphs so that both the left and right margins are perfectly aligned, and properly break long words at the end of lines using hyphenation.

Product: Microsoft Word
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Formatting a document layout to look clean, uniform, and professional with straight edges on both sides of the text.
Observed behavior: Text aligns evenly on both the left and right margins, and hyphenation correctly splits long words across lines to prevent awkward spacing.

Before you start

Make sure you have selected the specific paragraphs you want to adjust, as alignment and hyphenation settings can be applied to either highlighted sections or the entire document.

Solution 1Recommended

Apply Justified Alignment and Automatic Hyphenation

Use Word's built-in formatting tabs to instantly align both margins and let the software handle word breaks automatically.

Justifying text stretches your lines so they have even margins on both sides. To prevent large, awkward spaces between words caused by this stretching, it is highly recommended to enable automatic hyphenation alongside justification.

Select the target text

Highlight the paragraph or entire document you want to format.

Justify the text

Navigate to the Home tab on the top ribbon. In the Paragraph group, click the 'Justify' icon (or press the Ctrl + J keyboard shortcut).

Enable automatic hyphenation

Go to the Layout tab on the ribbon. In the Page Setup group, click on 'Hyphenation' and select 'Automatic' from the drop-down menu.

Apply Justified Alignment and Automatic Hyphenation

Last Line Alignment: When using justified alignment, the final line of your paragraph will normally remain left-aligned unless it completely fills the width of the page.

Solution 2

Insert Manual Soft Hyphens for Specific Words

Use soft hyphens when you want precise control over where a specific long word breaks across a line, rather than relying on automatic settings.

Seamless Document Formatting

Justify Text and Apply Hyphenation Easily with WPS Writer

WPS Writer provides powerful, intuitive paragraph formatting tools that function exactly like Microsoft Word. You can perfectly align your text and manage hyphenation to create professional-looking documents in seconds.

1. Open your document: Launch WPS Writer and open the document you wish to format.
2. Select and justify text: Highlight your text, go to the Home tab, and click the Justify icon (or press Ctrl+J).
3. Apply hyphenation: Navigate to the Page Layout tab, click Hyphenation, and select Automatic to instantly fix wide text gaps.

Free, lightweight, and fast document processingFully compatible with Microsoft Word .docx filesOne-click justified alignment and advanced typography controlsFamiliar ribbon interface requiring no learning curve

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are there large gaps between words when I justify text in Word?

This happens when Word stretches text to fill the line, but the next word is too long to fit. Enabling 'Automatic' Hyphenation under the Layout tab allows Word to split the long word, significantly reducing those awkward gaps.

How do I turn off hyphenation in my document?

To remove hyphenation, go to the Layout tab, click on Hyphenation in the Page Setup group, and select 'None' from the drop-down menu.

What is the shortcut key to justify text on both sides?

You can quickly justify any selected paragraph by pressing Ctrl + J on your keyboard (or Cmd + J on a Mac).

Why does the last line of my justified paragraph not stretch to the right edge?

By default, Word leaves the last line of a justified paragraph left-aligned because stretching a few words across an entire line would make it unreadable. If you press Shift + Enter at the end of the line, it forces justification, but often results in massive spaces.

Document & File Issues