. A braking structure for a tape measure comprising: a) a housing having: i) a left housing piece having a first semi-arc opening and a first tape rule exit; and ii) a right housing piece connected to the left housing piece and having a second semi-arc opening and a second tape rule exit, the first and the second semi-arc half openings form a semi-arc opening when the left and right housing pieces are connected, the first and the second tape rule exit form a tape rule exit when the left and right housing pieces are connected; b) a tape rule having a first end connected between the first and second housing pieces and a second end movably extending through the tape rule exit; c) a braking mechanism slidably located in the housing and having: i) a pressing base having an upper end to be formed as an extruded pole and a lower end to be formed as a tape holding element; ii) a lower sleeve to be formed as a hollow pipe for holding said extruded pole, on the outer edge of the upper end of the lower section of the lower sleeve is formed with a plurality of equally spaced teeth, and some of the teeth formed with blocks having same height; iii) an upper sleeve to be formed as a hollow sleeve with a plurality of sections of different diameters, its lower section is formed with teeth which can be bit with said teeth formed onto the outer edge of said lower sleeve, and two group of blocks formed on the outer wall of said lower section; iv) a holding sleeve having a pair of outwardly extruded ears to be inserted into fixing holes formed inside the housing, there are a plurality of guiding units formed on the inner wall of the holding sleeve, each of the guiding units containing a pair of slope guiding rails a guiding groove formed between said guiding rails, and a guiding groove formed between each two guiding units; d) a control button slidably located in the semi-arc opening and engaging the upper flange of the stem.