To create a hanging indent in Google Docs, follow these steps:
- Highlight the text you want to format with a hanging indent (such as a citation or bibliography entry).
- Go to the top menu and click Format.
- Select Align & indent from the dropdown.
- Choose Indentation options.
- In the popup window, find the Special indent dropdown and select Hanging.
- Set the indent size (usually 0.5 inches is standard).
- Click Apply.
This will indent all lines of the selected paragraph except the first line, creating the hanging indent effect
. Alternatively, you can use the ruler at the top of the document:
- Drag the left indent marker (the light blue inverted triangle) to the right to set the hanging indent distance.
- Make sure the first line indent marker (the small rectangle above the triangle) stays at the margin.
Note: The hanging indent feature is only available on the desktop version of Google Docs, not in the mobile app
. This method is preferred because it automatically maintains the hanging indent formatting even when you edit or add new lines in the paragraph
