Prevent unwanted word breaks
By using nonbreaking hyphens, you can prevent certain words from breaking at all—for example, proper names or words which, when broken, become unattractive fragments. By using nonbreaking spaces, you can also keep multiple words from breaking—for example, clusters of initials and a last name (P. T. Barnum). If you apply the no‑break attribute to text longer than a line, InDesign compresses the text so that it fits on one line.
Prevent text from breaking
- Select the text you want to keep on the same line.
- Choose No Break from the Character panel menu or the Control panel menu.
Another way to prevent a word from breaking
is to place a discretionary hyphen at the beginning of the word.
Press Ctrl+Shift+- (Windows) or Command+Shift+- (Mac OS)
to insert a discretionary hyphen.Create a nonbreaking hyphen
- Using the Type tool
, click
where you want to insert the hyphen. - Choose Type > Insert Special Character > Hyphens And Dashes > Nonbreaking Hyphen.
Create a nonbreaking space
-
Using the Type
tool , click
where you want to insert the space.
- Choose Type > Insert White Space> Nonbreaking Space (or any other white space character).
The Nonbreaking Space varies in width depending on point size, the justification setting, and word space settings, whereas the Nonbreaking Space (Fixed Width) character maintains the same width regardless of context.