How to Set 1-Inch Margins in Word

To set 1-inch margins in Word, go to the Layout tab, select Margins, and choose Normal. Normal sets the top, bottom, left and right margins to 1 inch each. If Normal shows different numbers, select Custom Margins and type 1 in all four boxes.

A margin is the blank space between the edge of the page and your text. Microsoft says in its Change margins guide that every Word page starts with a one-inch margin, so you only need these steps when a document or template has been changed. Many schools and workplaces ask for 1-inch margins, but check the exact requirement you were given before you submit anything.

What You Need First

• Versions covered: Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2024, Word 2021, Word 2019 and Word 2016 on Windows, Word for Mac, and Word for the web. These are the versions covered by Microsoft’s current margin help pages.
• Word 2010 and Word 2013: the Margins button is on the Page Layout tab instead of Layout. The steps are otherwise the same.
• An editable document: if the file opened in a read-only or protected view, turn on editing first, or the Margins button may be unavailable.
• Know your units: if your copy of Word measures in centimeters, 1 inch appears as 2.54 cm. That is the same size.

How to Set 1-Inch Margins With the Normal Preset

This is the shortest route, and it works on Windows and Mac. Changing margins moves your text, so page breaks, tables and pictures can shift. Glance through a long document afterward. If the change pushes a blank page onto the end, you can delete an empty page in Word.

1. Open your document in Word.
2. Select the Layout tab at the top of the window. A row of page tools appears, including Margins, Orientation and Size.
3. Select Margins at the left end of that tab. A menu of ready-made margin sets opens.
4. Choose Normal. Under the name you should see Top, Bottom, Left and Right each listed as 1 inch.

The menu closes and the text reflows to fit the new margins. If the numbers under Normal are not 1 inch, or Normal is not in the list, use the Custom Margins steps in the next section.

Margins also set how wide each row runs when you create a lined document in Word for printing.

How to Type 1-Inch Margins Yourself

Use this method when you want to see and control the exact numbers. The steps come from the Microsoft article Create custom margins.

Word for Windows

1. Go to Layout > Margins > Custom Margins. Custom Margins is at the bottom of the menu, and it opens the Page Setup window.
2. On the Margins tab, type 1 in the Top, Bottom, Left and Right boxes.
3. Leave Gutter at 0 unless the pages will be bound. A gutter is extra space added to a margin so a binding does not cover the text.
4. Set Apply to to Whole document. This box decides whether the change affects the whole document or only the selected sections.
5. Check the Preview picture, then select OK.

Word for Mac

1. Go to the Layout tab, and then select Margins.
2. Select Custom Margins.
3. Enter 1 for the top, bottom, left and right margins.
4. Select OK.

Word for the web

1. If the document opened for reading only, select Edit Document > Edit in Word for the web.
2. Go to Page Layout > Margins. Microsoft uses the name Page Layout for this tab in the web version; if yours says Layout, use that.
3. Select Custom Margins.
4. Set Top, Bottom, Left and Right to 1, and select OK.

Word for the web can only change the top, bottom, left and right margins. The web version keeps a gutter that was set in the desktop app but cannot change it (details are in Set gutter margins).

Make 1-Inch Margins the Default for New Documents

Before you start: this changes the Normal template, which is the file Word uses to build every new blank document. It affects future documents, not ones you have already saved. Only do it if you want every new document to start this way.

1. In Word for Windows, go to Layout > Margins > Custom Margins.
2. Set all four margins to 1.
3. Select Set As Default at the bottom of the Page Setup window.
4. Word should ask you to confirm the change. Select Yes to accept it.

The button makes the current settings the standard for new documents based on the Normal template, as covered in Page margin basics. On a Mac, the steps Microsoft gives are to open the Format menu, select Document, select the Margins tab, make your changes, and then select Default. Those steps are in Change the default settings for new documents.

The same idea works for other defaults. If you also need a required typeface, you can set a default font in Word.

Papers that need 1-inch margins often need double spacing too. Here’s how to double space in Word.

How to Check Your Margins and Undo the Change

• Read the numbers: open Layout > Margins > Custom Margins again. All four boxes should show 1 inch (or 2.54 cm). Select Cancel to close without changing anything.
• Look at the ruler: go to View and select Ruler. Microsoft covers this in Show the ruler. On Windows the vertical ruler only appears in Print Layout view and has its own setting under File > Options > Advanced > Display.
• Preview before printing: go to File > Print and look at the preview. Previewing matters because layout settings can change how many lines fit on a page.
• Undo: press Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on a Mac right after the change, or open the Margins menu again and pick the earlier setting.

Troubleshooting 1-Inch Margins in Word

Word shows centimeters instead of inches

You can type 2.54 cm, or switch Word to inches. On Windows, go to File > Options > Advanced, scroll to Display, set Show measurements in units of to Inches, and select OK. On a Mac, go to Word > Settings (Preferences in older versions), select General and choose the unit there. The switch also changes the ruler and other measurements (Change units used for margin measurement has the details).

Only some pages changed

The document probably has more than one section. A section is a part of a document that can have its own page settings, separated by a section break. When a document has several, a new margin setting is applied only to the current section. Open Custom Margins and set Apply to to Whole document. When one part needs different settings on purpose, such as a sideways page, you can make only one page landscape in Word.

One side still looks wider than 1 inch

Check the Gutter box in Custom Margins. A gutter adds space on top of the margin, so a 1-inch left margin with a 0.5-inch gutter leaves 1.5 inches of blank space. Also look at Multiple pages. If it is set to Mirror margins, the side boxes are renamed for facing pages, the way a book is laid out. Choose Normal there for an ordinary document. Paragraph indents and page borders are separate settings and are not fixed by changing margins. For the border distance, read about page borders in Word.

The Margins button is missing or gray

Make sure you are on the Layout tab (or Page Layout in older versions and Word for the web) and that the document can be edited. In Word for the web, switch to editing with Edit Document first. If the window is narrow, the button may shrink to a small icon, so widen the window.

New documents still open with other margins

Repeat the Set As Default steps, and remember that only documents based on the Normal template pick up the change. A document made from a different template keeps the margins saved in that template.

Frequently Asked Questions

Next Step

With the margins set, confirm the paper size matches too, since a 1-inch margin looks different on Letter and A4 paper. You can change the paper size in Word Online if it doesn’t, and more formatting help is in the Word page and layout guides.