How to Adjust Letter Spacing in Word for Mac

The short answer

In Word for Mac, you change letter spacing in the Font dialog. Select the text, choose Format > Font from the menu bar (or press Command-D), open the Advanced tab, and set Spacing to Expanded or Condensed with a point value in the By box. This changes the space between all selected characters by the same amount. In type design, this kind of uniform adjustment is called tracking.

Kerning is a different setting. Kerning adjusts the space between specific pairs of letters, such as A and V, which often look too far apart at default spacing. In the same Advanced tab, the Kerning for fonts option tells Word to apply the kerning pairs built into the font at and above a point size you choose. Word does not provide manual pair-by-pair kerning the way a vector design application does. To tighten a single pair, select only the first letter of that pair and apply Condensed spacing to it.

These controls are fine for drafting or mocking up a wordmark. Word is not a vector editor, though, so spacing set there stays inside live text. It does not become finished logo artwork. The later sections explain what that means for delivery.

Before you start

Confirm that the font you plan to use is installed on the Mac and that its license allows logo use. Word shows the font, but it does not grant rights to it.
Type the full wordmark text in its final capitalization. Uppercase and lowercase letters need different amounts of spacing.
Set the font size close to the size you will judge the design at. Spacing that looks right at small sizes often looks loose at display sizes.
Check your version. Menu names and dialog layouts can differ between Word versions, and no version-specific documentation was supplied for this guide. If a step below does not match your screen, look for the Font dialog's Advanced or Character Spacing section.

Step by step: adjusting tracking in Word for Mac

1. Select the characters you want to respace. To keep a centered wordmark balanced, leave the final character out of the selection (the reason is explained below).
2. Choose Format > Font, or press Command-D.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. Under Character Spacing, open the Spacing menu and choose Expanded to add space or Condensed to remove it.
5. Enter a value in the By box. Use the arrows to make small changes and compare each result.
6. To use the font's built-in pair kerning, select Kerning for fonts and enter the smallest point size it should apply to.
7. Check the Preview area, then click OK.

Word adds the spacing value after each selected character, including the last one. If you select the whole word, extra space ends up after the final letter. That trailing space can push a centered or right-aligned wordmark off its visual center. Selecting every character except the last one avoids this.

Scale stretches or squeezes the letter shapes horizontally. This distorts the typeface's design and is not a substitute for spacing. Leave it at 100% for logo work unless the distortion is intentional.
Position raises or lowers the selected characters relative to the baseline. The baseline is the line that letters sit on.
OpenType features, if your version shows them, control ligatures, number spacing and stylistic alternates. Ligatures are joined letter combinations such as fi. Turn them on or off on purpose, because they change how letter pairs look and how they are spaced.

How to confirm the result

Zoom in well past normal reading size and look at the gaps between letters. The goal is even-looking space, not mathematically equal space. Round letters such as O often need to sit slightly closer to their neighbors than straight letters such as H.
Reopen Format > Font with the same text selected. The Advanced tab should show the Spacing mode and value you applied. If the field is blank, your selection contains mixed settings.
Compare tight pairs, such as AV, To, LT and rn, to make sure none of them touch or merge.
If the wordmark is centered, check that the space on both sides of it looks equal.
View the text at the smallest size the logo will appear. Tight tracking can blur together at small sizes.

Turning Word-spaced text into usable logo artwork

A vector logo is built from paths: shapes defined by points and curves that can be scaled to any size without losing quality. Text in Word is not stored that way. It is live type that depends on the font being available, so on another computer it may reflow, switch to a substitute font, or lose its spacing.

Saving the document as a PDF (File > Save As, then choosing PDF, or File > Export, depending on your version) usually preserves the appearance and embeds the font. However, the text in that PDF typically remains text rather than outlined paths. The font may also be embedded only as a subset, meaning only the characters that were used. A PDF extension alone does not prove that a file contains only vector shapes, that it can be edited, or that the logo can be reused.

For artwork that can be delivered for print or digital use, rebuild or open the wordmark in a vector design application. Recreate the spacing there, using that application's tracking and pair-kerning controls, then convert the text to outlines. Converting to outlines turns each letter into fixed paths, which locks the spacing and removes the need for the font. Keep an editable copy with live type as well, in case the lettering needs changes later. Export the outlined version in the formats your printer or platform asks for.

Gaps in this guide

No version-specific Microsoft documentation, recommended spacing values or screenshots were available while preparing this guide. The menu paths above reflect the long-standing layout of the Font dialog in Word for Mac, but they should be checked against your installed version. Any spacing value you choose is a design decision you judge by eye. It is not a documented requirement.