How to Adjust Kerning Between Specific Letters in Word

You may have noticed that certain letter pairs in your Word document look too far apart or too cramped. This uneven spacing, especially in headlines or logos, can make text appear unprofessional. Word includes a manual kerning feature that lets you tighten or loosen the space between any two adjacent characters. This article explains how to adjust kerning between specific letters using the Font dialog, and it covers common pitfalls and limitations.

What Kerning Is and When to Use Manual Spacing

Kerning refers to the adjustment of space between two specific characters to improve visual balance. Most professional fonts include built-in kerning tables that automatically tighten or loosen pairs like “AV” or “To.” Word applies this automatic kerning when you enable the feature for a font size threshold in the Font dialog.

Manual spacing, often confused with kerning, lets you override the automatic behavior for selected characters. You might need this when a logo uses a font that lacks good kerning tables, or when you want a headline to have a custom look. The Font dialog in Word provides two spacing options: Expanded (adds space) and Condensed (removes space). You specify the amount in points.

Unlike tracking, which affects the spacing of a whole block of text uniformly, manual spacing targets only the characters you have selected. This gives you precise control over awkward letter combinations without altering the rest of the document.

Steps to Adjust Kerning Between Specific Letters

1. Select the letters you want to adjust
   Highlight only the two or more characters whose spacing you need to change. For example, select “AV” in the word “AVOID.” Do not include surrounding text.
2. Open the Font dialog
   Press Ctrl+D on your keyboard, or click the small arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Home tab > Font group. The Font dialog opens.
3. Go to the Character Spacing tab
   In the Font dialog, click the Advanced tab (in some Word versions it is labeled “Character Spacing”). You will see the Spacing dropdown menu.
4. Choose Expanded or Condensed
   Click the Spacing dropdown and select Expanded to add space or Condensed to remove space between the selected letters.
5. Set the amount in the By box
   In the By box to the right, type a value in points. For fine adjustments, start with 0.5 pt or 1 pt. You can increase or decrease this value later.
6. Preview and apply
   Look at the Preview pane in the dialog to see the effect. Click OK to apply the spacing to the selected letters. If the result is not right, press Ctrl+Z to undo and repeat with a different value.

You can also use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+> (greater than) to expand spacing by 1 pt each time you press it, and Ctrl+Shift+< (less than) to condense spacing by 1 pt. These shortcuts work only when text is selected and affect the same Spacing setting in the Font dialog.

Common Mistakes and Limitations When Adjusting Kerning

“I applied spacing to a whole paragraph instead of just two letters”

This happens when you do not select specific characters before opening the Font dialog. To fix it, select only the problem pair and repeat the steps. If you accidentally applied spacing to a large block, undo with Ctrl+Z and reselect.

“The spacing looks correct on screen but prints differently”

Different printers and PDF renderers can shift character positions slightly. Always print a test page or export to PDF and check the result before finalizing. Word’s Print Preview (File > Print) shows a more accurate representation than Draft view.

“Manual spacing does not work with ligatures or OpenType features”

If you have enabled ligatures for a font, some character combinations like “fi” or “fl” are replaced with a single glyph. Manual spacing cannot adjust the internal space of a ligature. Disable ligatures in the Font dialog Advanced tab under OpenType features if you need to kern those pairs.

“The spacing reverts when I change the font or size”

Manual spacing is applied to the selected text as direct formatting. If you change the font or font size later, the spacing value remains but may look different because the character widths have changed. Reapply the spacing after changing the font.

Manual Spacing vs Automatic Kerning: Key Differences

Item	Manual Spacing (Font Dialog)	Automatic Kerning
Scope	Only the selected characters	All character pairs in the selected text above a set font size
Control	You set exact points	Font designer’s kerning tables control the amount
Activation	Font dialog > Advanced > Spacing > Expanded/Condensed	Font dialog > Advanced > Kerning for fonts > enable and set minimum size
Use case	Fix one awkward pair in a headline or logo	Improve overall readability in body text at display sizes
Affected by font change	Spacing value stays but may look wrong	Kerning recalculates based on new font’s tables

You can use both features together. Enable automatic kerning for the whole paragraph to handle standard pairs, then manually adjust specific problem pairs using the steps above. This combination gives you professional control without excessive manual work.

Now you can fix uneven letter spacing in your Word documents using the Font dialog’s Expanded or Condensed options. Start by selecting only the problematic characters and adjust in small increments of 0.5 pt. For a more advanced workflow, combine manual spacing with automatic kerning and test the output in Print Preview before sharing.