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Using Paragraph Marks to Illustrate the Difference between Line and Paragraph Spacing in Word

The difference between line spacing and paragraph spacing is about the paragraph marks. Every time the Enter key is pushed a paragraph is created; paragraph spacing adds space before or after a paragraph. A paragraph can be made up of multiple lines of text or just a few words.

Line spacing adds space between every line of text, and is referred to as single-spaced or double-spaced.

Try this to see the difference: use an existing file, or use this post and select from The difference… through this sentence.

• Copy and paste it into Word as Unformatted text (Paste, Paste Special, Unformatted Text).
• Turn on Paragraph marks.
• Push Ctrl + A (Select all). Everything should be highlighted.
• Change line spacing to double-space by pushing Ctrl + 2 (or use the Line spacing button). You should see extra space after every line of text. That’s line spacing, it affects every line.
• Now Undo (Ctrl + Z) that, so you’re back to single spaced.

Now to look at paragraph spacing: click on the Line spacing button, then choose Add space after each paragraph. This spacing is only going to occur after each ¶, not after every line.
Remember to turn off the ¶ when you’re done.

Understanding paragraph marks helps to clarify what paragraph spacing is and how it can affect your work. Paragraph spacing can be used before or after a paragraph, and can be customized through the Paragraph box.

For more on this topic see Introduction to Paragraph Marks in Word.

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