Answered By: Elaine M. Patton
Last Updated: Jun 17, 2024     Views: 86793

There are ways to manually create a hanging indent, but you should always go for the built-in tool if it's available* (and it usually is). You'll want to look for paragraph settings relating to indentation.

These instructions are for Google Docs accessed in a browser (desktop). The app (mobile) does not provide this function. If you are using the app, you can do the otherwise not-recommended method of manually creating the hanging indent by creating line breaks yourself, then tabbing each line over…. but the desktop method described below is superior. The Google Doc can display hanging indents in the app, so you could edit your document on a library computer if needed to quickly apply this formatting.

 

In your document, highlight your citation(s) to select them, then go to Format > Align & indent > Indentation options.

Google Docs Format menu, highlight the alignment and 'more indentation' options to select

 

In the Indentation options window that pops up, select "hanging" under Special Indent. Make sure it says "0.5" in the field next to that dropdown, then click Apply.

Indentation options box with special indentation "hanging" selected, set to 0.5 inches. Nothing is filled in for left or right indentation.

 

Voila! You should have a lovely (or several lovely) citation(s) with the indentation.

Example MLA citation formatted with size 12 Times New Roman, with a hanging indent. The page is titled with Works Cited, centered at top.


*Why?

  • It's ultimately faster -- the tool can do all your citations at once.
  • It's more accurate because it takes care of the alignment for you.
  • If you have to edit your citation, you won't have to redo any of the line breaks -- your citation will grow/shrink but still flow in the hanging indent shape.

Comments (1)

  1. I've been searching for this an hour! Thank you!!!
    by Ben on Jun 17, 2024

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