If you’re a regular user of Adobe InDesign, you’ll know the pain of the automatic hyphenation turning on when you’ve started a new document and insert a new text box.

It is undoubtedly a bugbear of mine.

Thankfully, turning off hyphenation in InDesign is a quick and easy process and I will teach you have to remove hyphens in InDesign quickly as well as how to turn it off forever!

Follow these quick and easy steps on how to turn off hyphenation in InDesign or watch our video below:

How To Remove Hyphen in InDesign

Step 1: Select The Text Box

Firstly, select the text box you want to turn off hyphenation for. You can do this by clicking and dragging your cursor over the text, or by selecting the text box that contains the text.

Step 2: Open The Paragraph Panel

Open the Paragraph panel by going to the menu at the top and go to Window > Type & Tables > Paragraph or use the shortcut ctrl+shift+T or cmd+shift+T. The Paragraph panel will then open up on your screen.

Step 3: Turn Off Hyphenation in InDesign

Once you’ve opened the Paragraph panel, look for the Hyphenate button. If hyphenation is turned on for the selected text box, there will be a check mark next to Hyphenate and the settings will be visible.

To turn off hyphenation, simply un-check the Hyphenate box. This will immediately turn off hyphenation for the selected text and hey presto the pesky hyphen is no more!

How To Turn Off Hyphenation in InDesign for Multiple Text Boxes

If you have multiple text boxes with the hyphenation setting still applied, you can use the Eyedropper tool to quickly copy and paste the formatting changes to other text boxes. Simply select the text box with the formatting changes, select the Eyedropper tool, and click on the other text boxes to apply the changes.

Can you to Permanently Turn Off Hyphenation in InDesign?

Yes you can.

When you open InDesign without opening any files click on Type at the top of the window and click on Paragraph.

A paragraph settings box will appear and you can un-tick the Hyphenate box and this will turn off the hyphenation on any text box and on any InDesign file.

Fear not, you can un-do this and more importantly this won’t affect your Basic Paragraph Style settings.

Why Should You Turn Off Hyphenation?

I generally find the use of hyphenation unpleasant to the eye but it can be a useful feature for preventing awkward spacing and ensuring that text fits neatly into a layout. However, there are times when you might want to turn it off. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Aesthetics: Sometimes, hyphenation can create visual distractions that disrupt the overall look and feel of a document. Turning off hyphenation within your work can help create a cleaner and more visually pleasing design.

2. Consistency: If you have a document with multiple text styles, turning off hyphenation can help ensure that there is consistency across all styles. This is especially important if you have headings or subheadings that don’t require hyphenation.

3. Readability: In many cases, hyphenation can make text harder to read. This is particularly true for long blocks of text, where hyphenation can break up the flow of the text and make it harder to follow.

Final thoughts

Turning off hyphenation in Adobe InDesign is a simple process that can help improve the overall look and feel of your design. Whether you’re looking to create a more consistent design, improve readability, or just create a cleaner layout, turning off hyphenation can be a great solution.

Remember, if you need to turn hyphenation back on, simply follow the same steps outlined above and check the box next to Hyphenate in the Paragraph panel.