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# Hyphenation

Inserts hyphens in words that are too long to fit at the end of a line. LibreOffice searches the document and suggests hyphenation that you can accept or reject. If text is selected, the Hyphenation dialogue box works on the selected text only. If no text is selected, the Hyphenation dialogue box works on the whole document.

To access this command...

Choose Tools - Language - Hyphenation

Hyphenation

To automatically hyphenate the current or selected paragraphs, choose Format - Paragraph, and then click the Text Flow tab. You can also apply automatic hyphenation to a paragraph style. In text where automatic hyphenation is enabled, the Hyphenation dialogue box will not find any word to hyphenate.

When LibreOffice finds a word that requires hyphenation, do one of the following options:

- To accept the hyphenation of the displayed word, click Hyphenate.

- To change the hyphenation of the displayed word, click the left or right arrow below the word, and then click Hyphenate. The left and right buttons are enabled for words with multiple hyphenation points.

- To reject the hyphenation of the displayed word, click Skip. This word will not be hyphenated.

- To automatically hyphenate the remaining part of the selection or the document, click Hyphenate All and answer "Yes" to the following question.

- To end hyphenation, click Close. The hyphenation that is applied already will not be reverted. You can use Edit - Undo to undo all hyphenation that was applied while the Hyphenation dialogue box was open.

To exclude paragraphs from the automatic hyphenation, select the paragraphs, choose Format - Paragraph, click the Text Flow tab, and then unmark the Automatically check box in the Hyphenation area.

To disable the Hyphenation dialogue box and always hyphenate automatically, choose LibreOffice - Preferences Tools - Options - Language Settings - Writing Aids, and select the Hyphenate without inquiry check box.

To manually enter a hyphen directly in the document, click in the word into which you want to add the hyphen, and then press Command Ctrl+Minus sign (-).

To insert a non-breaking (protected) hyphen directly in the document, click in the word that you want to hyphenate, and then press Shift+Command Ctrl+Minus sign(-).

To hide soft hyphens, choose LibreOffice - Preferences Tools - Options - LibreOffice Writer - Formatting Aids, and then clear the Custom hyphens check box.

## Word

Displays the hyphenation suggestion(s) for the selected word.

### Left / Right Arrow

Set the position of the hyphen. This option is only available if more than one hyphenation suggestion is displayed.

## Next

Ignores the hyphenation suggestion and finds the next word to hyphenate.

## Hyphenate

Inserts the hyphen at the indicated position.

## Remove

Removes the current hyphenation point from the displayed word.

Related Topics

Hyphenation