Tab stop
Term used to describe the location the cursor stops after the tab key has been pressed. Tab stops are commonly used in word processors to enable users to align text easily by pressing the tab key. Below is a picture of the ruler bar in Microsoft Office with each of the left tab stops marked as bold L's. If these were right tabs the L would be backwards.
Types of tab stops
There are five different types of tab stops, each explained below.
- Left - Text is extended to the right of the tab.
- Center - Text is centered in the middle of the tab.
- Right - Text is extended to the left of the tab.
- Decimal - Text before the decimal point extends to the left and text after the decimal point extends to the right.
- Bar - A vertical bar is shown on tab.
How to create a tab stop
The easiest method to create a tab stop is to double-click on the ruler in the Word Processor. This will display the tabs window, similar to the below example picture. From the tabs window you can specify the type of tab you wish to create as well as its position.
