WD: Word Ruler Supports Only Mouse Commands

ID: Q110376

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
• Microsoft Word for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, version 6.0, 6.0.1
• Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition

SUMMARY

Microsoft Word version 6.0 and later do not have a keyboard activated ruler like Word 2.0 for Windows does. (In Word 2.0, you can press CTRL+SHIFT+F10 to make the ruler active.) The ruler in Word 6.0 and later is accessible only by using a mouse.

As the result of customer feedback, Microsoft increased the functionality of the ruler starting with Word 6.0. To prevent too much complexity, the additional mouse functionality required a loss of keyboard functionality. As a result, there is no longer a ruler mode you can activate to allow setting tabs and indents directly from the keyboard.

MORE INFORMATION

New functions and changes to the ruler in Word 6.0 and later include:

• The indent and margin modes were combined.
• You automatically switch to table mode when in a table.
• Page layout view now has a vertical ruler.
• You can set all indents using the mouse without keyboard intervention. (Previously you had to hold down the SHIFT key to drag the body indent triangle.)
• You can choose the type of tab from the ruler.
• The visual style has been improved to make it easier to use.

Additional query words:

Keywords          : kbui kbdta winword macword word6 word7 word95 
Version           : MACINTOSH:6.0,6.0.1,6.0.1a,98;WINDOWS:6.0a,6.0c,7.0,7.0a
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: December 11, 1998