There are a handful of different default margin settings that you can use for your documents.
Many schools and organizations will require you to use the normal 1-inch margins, but you might need to know where to find the narrow margins Word setting if you have to fit more content on the page, or if you want to reduce the amount of white space.
Our tutorial below will show you where to find and apply this setting to your current MS Word document.
How to Apply the Narrow Margins Word Settings
- Open the document.
- Click the Layout tab.
- Choose the Margins button.
- Select the Narrow option.
Our guide continues below with additional information on how to make a narrow margins Word document, including pictures of these steps.
If you don’t like the font that is being used when you start a new document, then our set default font in Office 365 guide can help you change it.
New documents that you create in Microsoft Word are going to use the default settings for the Normal template.
If you’ve never changed any of these settings, then it’s likely that the margins for your new documents are one inch at the top, bottom, left, and right.
However, when you print the document, it might seem like there is too much white space on the page.
This can make the document look less substantial, while also needlessly increasing the page count.
Fortunately, you can quickly change the margins to a smaller size so that you fit more content on the page.
Find out how to save a document as a Word template if you would like to be able to create new documents based on the settings in that document.
How to Switch to Smaller Margins in Microsoft Word for Office 365 (Guide with Pictures)
The steps in this article were performed in Microsoft Word for office 365, but these same steps will work in most other versions of Word as well.
As mentioned above, by switching to narrow margins you may be decreasing the number of pages in the document.
Step 1: Open your document in Word.
Step 2: Click the Layout tab at the top of the window.
Step 3: Select the Margins button.
Step 4: Click the Narrow option.
The margins will switch over immediately, so you can see how the document will look.
Depending on the current view that you are using, you may want to select the View tab at the top of the window and then select the Print Layout option.
If you also need to format your title page, then our guide on how to center text in the middle of the page in Word can show you how.
Now that you know how to apply the narrow margins Word setting you will be able to use this option any time that you need a little more space for your content on the page.
Do you need to print your document on legal or A4 paper? Find out how to switch paper size in Word and use something other than whichever page size is currently set for your document.
More Information on Switching to Narrow Margins in Word for Office 365
When you switch from normal to narrow margins you may wind up with fewer pages in your document. If you have a minimum page count requirement then it’s something to keep in mind.
Narrow margins also reduce the amount of space around the perimeter of the document, which could be problematic if someone like a colleague or a teacher needs space to write notes in that location. Many schools and workplaces will have specific margin requirements, so you may want to consult your style guide before making this change.
You might also need to adjust the spacing in the document, which you can learn how to do with our how to double space in Word Office 365 tutorial.
Double spacing will often have the opposite effect of narrowing the margins, as more spacing between lines will result in a longer document.
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