How can I give a paragraph a negative top margin in Word 2010?

Question

With some combinations of paragraph font sizes, the spacing between paragraphs is much too large. I want to squeeze them together by giving the second paragraph a negative margin/spacing on top (or the first paragraph a negative margin/spacing on bottom).In CSS, I could achieve the effect with a rule like below. p.squeezeUpward { margin-top: -6pt; }The setting that seems like it *should* work is **Paragraph** --> **Indents and Spacing** --> **Spacing Before**. If I could set this to a negative number, like -6 pt, I think it would achieve what I want. But negative numbers aren't allowed.Note I'm not talking about paragraph styles with extra spacing. I'm talking about consecutive paragraph styles with no extra spacing where the "spacing" or "margins" of the fonts themselves create a large gap.

Answer 1

Workaround 1: Use Line Spacing Options

1. Select the paragraph you want to move up.
2. Go to Paragraph > Line Spacing Options.
3. Under Line Spacing, choose Exactly.
4. Then in the At box, reduce the value (e.g., from 12 pt to 10 pt or even smaller).
5. You can also set Line Spacing After to 0 pt in the paragraph above.

📌 Effectively shrinks the vertical space between lines/paragraphs, even without true negative margins.

Workaround 2: Adjust Font Size Temporarily

1. Add a line break (Shift + Enter) instead of a new paragraph (Enter).
2. Select the break or the empty line, and set the font size very small (e.g., 1 pt).
3. This creates minimal vertical spacing, faking a "negative" gap.

🔍 Useful if the gap is caused by font metrics and you’re not concerned with semantic structure.

Workaround 3: Use a Text Box or Frame

If this is just for layout (e.g., a brochure or styled report):

1. Insert a Text Box.
2. Paste your paragraphs inside.
3. Set the internal text box margins to small or zero via:
4. Right-click → Format Shape → Text Box → Set Internal Margin → Top = 0 pt
5. Then, move the text box upward slightly to "overlap" the previous paragraph.

🧠 This gives you full control over layout like in desktop publishing tools.

Workaround 4: Reduce “Before”/“After” Spacing on Both Paragraphs

Even though you can't use negative values, try:

1. Setting both Spacing Before and After to 0 pt or 1 pt on both paragraphs.
2. It helps close the gap as much as Word allows natively.