Setting Hyphenation

You can specify whether words at the end of a line in a paragraph should be hyphenated before continuing to the next line. You can also determine minimum word and character settings to be used for hyphenation.

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How to Set Hyphenation

  1. Open the document or topic.
  2. Click on the paragraph that you want to modify.
  1. Do one of the following, depending on the part of the user interface you are using:

    • Ribbon Select Home > Opens more options. (at the bottom of the Paragraph section).

    • Keyboard Shortcut Press CTRL+ALT+B.

    The Paragraph Properties dialog opens.

  2. Select the Hyphenation tab.
  3. Use the tab to specify the hyphenation settings.
    • Enable Hyphenation Select whether you always or never want words to be hyphenated at the end of lines.
    • Length of shortest word… Enter the minimum number of characters that a word must have in order to be hyphenated.
    • The minimum number of characters remaining… Enter the minimum number of characters that must remain on the initial line when a word is hyphenated. For example, if you enter 4 in this field, a word that normally could be hyphenated after two characters would not be broken at that point. Instead, it would not be broken until at least four letters make an appearance on the first line.
    • The minimum number of characters carried over… Enter the minimum number of characters that must be carried over to the second line when a word is hyphenated. For example, if you enter 3 in this field, a hyphenated word must have at least three characters on the second line after it has been broken.
    • The maximum number of adjacent lines… Enter the maximum number of lines next to each other that are allowed to end with a hyphenated word. For example, if you do not mind seeing three consecutive lines ending in a hyphenated word, but you want to avoid seeing a fourth adjacent line with a hyphenated word, you can enter 3 in this field.
  4. In the Paragraph Properties dialog, click OK.
  5. Click Save the active file. to save your work.

Note This feature is not supported for MadCap Lingo review package (LIREV) files.

Note You can also create custom hyphenation rules for words if you want them to break in specific locations. See Creating Custom Hyphenation Rules and Managing Custom Hyphenation Rules.

What’s Next?

After editing a style, you can apply it to content in a topic or snippet. See Applying Styles to Content.