Hello,
For some reason, sometimes Tab does work as it should, and other times it moves a line down, as enter does. I already browsed the manual “tab/return tab” section and others to no avail. Can’t seem to fix this. How can I make tab to work consistently as it should, and not push down lines sometimes? This is driving me crazy. Thanks in advance.
Hi.
Your document might be in Scriptwriting mode.
Format > Scriptwriting > Script mode
This is how the Mac text engine, and a few others (including the Windows toolkit we use), work when you press Tab on a line that no longer has any tab stops after the current position of the cursor. A line with no tab stops would immediately invoke this behaviour for instance.
In my opinion, instead of using tab stops, it is better to use a default tab interval. That is, unless you really need a irregular tab interval to space things out on a line a very certain way, then try this:
Format ▸ Paragraph ▸ Remove All Tab StopsFormat ▸ Paragraph ▸ Tabs and Indents....In the middle, note the Default tab spacing control. Set that to preference, and it will be as though you had manually added dozens of tab stops spaced apart by this amount.
Back in the editor, give it a test by pounding on the tab key on an empty line. You shouldn’t find it wraps until it gets to the end of the line, naturally. Once you’ve got that working the way you want, use the Format ▸ Make Formatting Default menu command. You may want to clean up all existing text as well.
Of note, on the Mac this setting is per paragraph, and thus can be used in styles. It is quite nice for example in a Code Block style. On Windows it is a per document setting, and the first encountered use of it in the file will set the overall tab interval. Just a little thing to be aware of if you work cross-platform.