Setting double spacing in Microsoft Word on a macOS device is a fundamental skill for students, researchers, and legal professionals. Whether you are preparing an essay for APA or MLA formatting or simply want to improve the readability of a long report, Microsoft Word for Mac provides several ways to adjust line spacing.

The fastest way to double space in Word on a Mac is to select your text and press Command + 2.

While the shortcut is the quickest method, achieving a perfectly formatted document often requires more than just a single keystroke. This article explores every method available in the latest versions of Microsoft 365, Word 2021, and Word 2019 for Mac, ensuring your documents meet professional and academic standards.

Quick Keyboard Shortcuts for Line Spacing on Mac

Keyboard shortcuts are the most efficient way to manage document formatting without taking your hands off the keyboard. In Microsoft Word for Mac, these shortcuts are intuitive and easy to remember.

Double Spacing (2.0)

To apply double spacing, first, highlight the text you wish to change. If you want to select the entire document, press Command + A. Once the text is selected, press Command + 2. You will immediately see the vertical gap between lines expand to twice the height of the characters.

Single Spacing (1.0)

If you need to revert to standard spacing, select the text and press Command + 1. This is useful for block quotes or dense data sections where double spacing might consume too much page real estate.

One and a Half Spacing (1.5)

For a balance between density and readability, many corporate reports use 1.5 spacing. You can apply this by selecting your text and pressing Command + 5.

Using the Home Tab Ribbon for Visual Formatting

If you prefer using the mouse or trackpad, the Home tab on the Word ribbon contains a dedicated tool for line and paragraph spacing. This method is helpful because it allows you to see the current spacing value and choose from a preset list of options.

Locating the Line Spacing Icon

  1. Ensure you are on the Home tab at the top of the Word interface.
  2. Look at the Paragraph group, which is usually situated in the middle of the ribbon.
  3. Find the icon that looks like horizontal lines with two blue arrows pointing up and down. This is the Line and Paragraph Spacing button.

Applying the 2.0 Setting

Click the icon to reveal a dropdown menu. You will see a list of numbers representing line increments: 1.0, 1.15, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0. Select 2.0 to instantly apply double spacing to your selected text.

Precise Control via the Paragraph Dialog Box

Sometimes, simply selecting "2.0" doesn't give you the result you expect. This is often due to hidden paragraph settings that add extra points of space before or after each paragraph. To gain absolute control over your document's layout, you must use the Paragraph Dialog Box.

Accessing Paragraph Settings

There are three ways to open this menu on a Mac:

  • Right-click Method: Highlight your text, right-click (or Control-click), and select Paragraph... from the context menu.
  • Top Menu Bar: Go to the Format menu at the very top of your Mac screen and select Paragraph.
  • Ribbon Shortcut: Click the small arrow or the "Line Spacing Options" choice at the bottom of the Line and Paragraph Spacing dropdown menu on the Home tab.

Configuring Line Spacing Options

Once the Paragraph window is open, navigate to the Indents and Spacing tab. Look for the Spacing section at the bottom.

In the Line spacing dropdown menu, you have several professional options:

  • Double: The standard 2.0 setting.
  • At least: Sets the minimum spacing Word will use. This is helpful if you have large images or icons within a line of text that require extra clearance.
  • Exactly: Sets a fixed point value (e.g., 24pt for a 12pt font). This prevents Word from adjusting spacing if you change font sizes later, though it can cause text to overlap if the font is too large for the setting.
  • Multiple: Allows you to set custom spacing like 2.25 or 3.5.

Eliminating Extra Gaps Between Paragraphs

A common frustration for Mac users is seeing large gaps between paragraphs even when double spacing is active. This is caused by the Before and After spacing settings.

To achieve a true academic double space where every line—including the space between paragraphs—is uniform:

  1. Open the Paragraph Dialog Box.
  2. Under the Spacing section, look at Before and After.
  3. Set both values to 0 pt.
  4. Check the box that says Don't add space between paragraphs of the same style if you want a seamless vertical flow.

Applying Double Spacing to the Entire Document via the Design Tab

If you are starting a new project and know that the entire document must be double-spaced, using the Design tab is more efficient than selecting text manually. This method changes the "Document Formatting" theme, which affects every paragraph you type.

Steps to Global Double Spacing

  1. Click the Design tab in the ribbon.
  2. Locate the Paragraph Spacing button on the right side of the ribbon.
  3. A menu will appear with various built-in styles such as Compact, Tight, Open, Relaxed, and Double.
  4. Select Double.

This will update the entire document's spacing, including headings. However, be aware that this might override specific formatting you've applied to titles or headers. It is best used at the beginning of the writing process.

How to Set Double Spacing as the Default for Every New Document

Tired of changing the spacing every time you open Microsoft Word? You can modify the "Normal" template (Normal.dotm) so that every new document you create starts with double spacing and 0 pt paragraph gaps.

Modifying the Normal Template

  1. Open a new, blank Word document.
  2. Go to the Format menu and select Paragraph.
  3. Set the Line spacing to Double and the Before/After spacing to 0 pt.
  4. Click the Default... button in the bottom-left corner of the dialog box.
  5. A prompt will appear asking if you want to apply this change to "This document only" or "All documents based on the Normal template."
  6. Select All documents based on the Normal template and click OK.

From now on, every time you launch Word and start a new file, it will be pre-configured with double spacing.

Troubleshooting Inconsistent Spacing on macOS

One of the most frequent complaints from Word for Mac users is that line spacing appears uneven, even when the settings say "Double." This often happens when copying and pasting text from web browsers, PDFs, or other Word documents.

Issue 1: Hidden Formatting Marks

If your lines look irregular, it might be due to manual line breaks (Shift + Enter) instead of standard paragraph breaks (Enter).

  • Go to the Home tab and click the Show/Hide ¶ icon (the pilcrow symbol).
  • Look for a small hooked arrow symbol at the end of lines. This indicates a manual line break, which can confuse Word's spacing engine. Replace these with standard paragraph breaks.

Issue 2: Different Font Sizes

Line spacing in Word is relative. "Double spacing" for a 12pt font is roughly 24 points, while for a 14pt font, it is 28 points. If a single line contains a different font size—even an invisible space or a tiny character—the entire line's spacing will shift.

  • Solution: Select the affected paragraph and use the "Clear All Formatting" button (an 'A' with an eraser icon on the Home tab) to reset the text to the base style.

Issue 3: Inconsistent Before/After Spacing

If the space between lines within a paragraph looks correct, but the space between paragraphs looks too wide, check the "After" spacing. Word for Mac often defaults to 8pt or 10pt "After" spacing. To fix this, set "After" to 0pt in the Paragraph Dialog Box.

Academic Formatting Standards for Double Spacing

Most academic styles require double spacing for the body of the paper, but they have specific rules for other sections.

APA Style (7th Edition)

APA requires double spacing throughout the entire paper. This includes:

  • The title page.
  • The abstract.
  • The body text.
  • Reference list entries (with a hanging indent).
  • Block quotations (which are indented but still double-spaced).
  • Table and figure notes.

MLA Style (9th Edition)

MLA style is very strict about the "0 pt" rule. You must ensure that there is no extra space added after paragraphs. Every part of an MLA paper should be double-spaced, including the heading (your name, instructor's name, etc.) and the Works Cited page.

Chicago Style

Chicago style usually requires double spacing for the main text. However, footnotes and endnotes are often single-spaced with an extra space between each note. If you are using Chicago style, you may need to apply double spacing to the body text while manually setting the footnote style to single spacing.

Managing Line Spacing through the Styles Pane

For long documents like theses or manuscripts, the most professional way to manage spacing is through Styles. Instead of highlighting text and clicking buttons, you define a "Style" (like "Body Text") and apply it to your paragraphs.

  1. Open the Styles Pane by clicking the button on the far right of the Home tab.
  2. Find the Normal style in the list.
  3. Click the small 'i' or the dropdown arrow next to "Normal" and select Modify Style....
  4. In the window that opens, click the Format dropdown in the bottom-left corner and choose Paragraph.
  5. Set your spacing to Double and 0 pt Before/After.
  6. Click OK.

By modifying the style, any text tagged as "Normal" will update automatically. If you ever need to change the entire document back to single spacing, you only need to modify the style once, rather than re-selecting hundreds of pages.

Summary

Mastering line spacing in Microsoft Word for Mac is essential for professional document creation. While the Command + 2 shortcut provides an instant solution for double spacing, the Paragraph Dialog Box offers the precision needed for complex academic formatting. By adjusting the "Before" and "After" paragraph settings to 0 pt and utilizing the Styles Pane for consistency, Mac users can ensure their documents look polished and meet all institutional requirements.

FAQ

Why is double spacing not working on my Mac?

Ensure you have selected the text first. If the spacing still looks wrong, check the "Before" and "After" settings in the Paragraph Dialog Box and set them to 0 pt. Also, check for "Exactly" settings that might be locking the line height.

How do I double space only a specific section?

Highlight only the text you want to change. If you use the Design tab, it will affect the whole document. For specific sections, use the Home tab icon or the Command + 2 shortcut.

Does double spacing affect headers and footers?

Usually, no. Headers and footers have their own separate styles. To double space them, you must click inside the header or footer area, select the text, and apply the spacing settings there.

How do I double space on Word Online using a Mac?

In the web version of Word (accessed via Safari or Chrome), select your text, go to the Layout tab, click Line Spacing, and choose 2. Note that some advanced Paragraph Dialog features may be limited in the browser version compared to the desktop app.

What is the difference between 2.0 and "Double"?

In Microsoft Word, they are the same thing. The "2.0" option in the ribbon dropdown corresponds exactly to the "Double" setting in the Paragraph Dialog Box. Both set the line spacing to twice the height of the current font's single-space value.