How Many Spaces?
There are really two kinds of people in the world, those who type two spaces between sentences and those who just use one. Microsoft Word is now tipping the scales in the debate. Now the use of two spaces will be flagged as a grammatical error. Other style guides like AP and Chicago already recommend using one space. But if you cannot stop yourself from typing two spaces, not to worry. Throw caution to the wind and ask Word to just ignore the grammar suggestion.
(https://www.npr.org/2020/04/28/846919788/typing-debate-do-you-type-2-spaces-between-sentences-or-1)
As Tom Warren reports for the Verge, Microsoft Word has started marking double spaces between sentences as errors. Though the feature isn’t yet universal, the company has begun trialing the change in desktop versions of the program and will likely be rolling it out to all users soon.
Before panic ensues among “two-spacers,” take comfort in the fact that the program’s suggestion is just that—a suggestion. Microsoft Word is an exceedingly passive editor and can be rejiggered to ignore all sorts of spelling and grammar quirks it might otherwise flag. Users will be able to accept the change, ignore it once or disable the program’s ability to highlight two-space gaps entirely.
This debate has existed for years! I fought it in high school and college - 25 years ago!
I am self-admitted "two-spacer": in my opinion (very strong opinion), using 2 makes it so much easier to read a document. (see "p.s." item below)
Gotta be consistent though! I agree that randomly using both 1 space and 2 spaces within the same document is definitely wrong.
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt
p.s. More support for my position...... 2018 article from The Atlantic:
