How to use hanging indents in Google Docs to cite your sources

A Hanging indent, also known as a second line indent or reverse indent, is a style of paragraph indentation that has the first line flush with the left margin but indents all of the lines under it in a paragraph. It is commonly used in MLA, APA, and other citation styles and helps the reader easily scan a “works cited” or “bibliography” page for breaks and/or author names.

How do you create a hanging indent in Google Docs?

To apply a hanging indent in Google Docs, put your cursor in front of the line/paragraph you want to indent, then click on “Format” on the Docs menu. Next, click on “Align & Indent,” followed by the “Indentation options” sub-menu.

A popup will come up with indentation options. Under “Special indent,” click on the drop-down and select “Hanging.” Finally, click on the blue “Apply” button to apply your changes.

I just want the steps!

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1. Put your cursor in the line/paragraph you want to indent.
2. Go to Format > Align & Indent > Indentation options.
3. Under “Special,” select “Hanging.”
4. Click on the blue “Apply” button.

That’s it! Your selected paragraph now has a hanging indent, as shown in the image above. If you want to add a hanging indent on more than one paragraph, simply select all the paragraphs for which you want to add this style and repeat the same steps. Happy citing!