When you start a new document, the default tab stops are set every one-half inch across the page and are left aligned. Every time you press TAB, the insertion point moves over .5.  Some people typically press Tab to indent the first line of paragraphs in double-spaced reports or the first line of paragraphs in a modified block style letter.

You can access many Tab settings from the Tabs dialog box. To view the Tabs dialog box, click the Paragraph Dialog Box Launcher in the Paragraph group on the Home tab, then click Tabs from the Indents and Spacing tab.

An alternative to using the Tabs dialog box is to set tabs directly on the ruler.  Click the Tabs selector on the left side of the ruler until it displays the tab alignment you want. Then click the ruler in the location where you want to set the type of tab you selected. To delete a tab, click the tab marker on the ruler, and then drag it down and off the ruler.

The following table describes the different types of tabs so you can identify them on the ruler.