To create a hanging indent in Microsoft Word, follow these steps:
- Highlight the paragraph(s) where you want to apply the hanging indent.
- Go to the Home tab on the ribbon.
- Click the small arrow icon in the bottom-right corner of the Paragraph group to open the Paragraph dialog box.
- In the dialog box, go to the Indents and Spacing tab.
- Under the Indentation section, find the Special drop-down menu and select Hanging.
- Adjust the indent size in the By field if needed (default is usually 0.5 inch or 1.27 cm).
- Click OK to apply the hanging indent.
Alternatively, you can right-click the selected text, choose Paragraph , and follow the same steps in the dialog box to set the hanging indent
. For a quick keyboard shortcut, after selecting the paragraph, press Ctrl + T to create a hanging indent. Pressing Ctrl + Shift + T will decrease the indent
. This method works across various versions of Word, including Office 365 and Word for Mac
. Hanging indents are often used for bibliographies or reference lists to visually separate entries
