Determine where a word can break (Microsoft Word 2000/2002/v. X/2003)

When composing in Microsoft Word, there are multiple places that words can break. For example, you can break the word Microsoft at any of these hyphens: Mi-cro-soft. If your company’s style guide (or your personal preference) specifies hyphenation rules, you’ll want to choose where a particular word should be hyphenated. You can do this by inserting an optional hyphen.

To do this, type the first part of the word, and then press [Ctrl][-] ([command][-] in v. X), then finish typing the rest of the word. Although you probably won’t see the hyphen onscreen, the word breaks at the appropriate place if it appears at the end of a line and a break is necessary.