Google Docs is a full featured word processor. Unlike simple text editors like Notepad, you can use various formatting features to make your document look exactly the way you want it.
There are two ways to better format any document. The first is to change the margins on the sides, top and bottom of the document. Secondly, the line spacing and the spacing between paragraphs are adjusted.
This article will show you how to change fields in Google Docs, as well as how to double space in Google Docs.
How to Change Margins in Google Docs
Setting up document margins in Google Docs is not as easy as you might think. The margin setting feature is missing from the Format menu, as you might think.
- Instead, you need to choose from the File menu.
- Then select Page Setup.
- In the Page Setup window on the right, you will see the Margins option. Here you can adjust the top, bottom, left, or right margin. The margin is in inches and the default is 1.
- Just click OK when you’re done and the margins throughout the document will be automatically changed.
Change margins in Google Docs for one page only
The above approach is great when you need the same margins across all pages of your document. But what if you want to increase the margins on just one page?
Fortunately, you can do this by inserting section breaks into your document. Section breaks allow you to change the page formatting from section to section.
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To do this, place your cursor at the top of the page where you want to start with a different field format. Then select the Insert menu, select Break, and select Section Break (Continuous).
The next page option will move the text under the cursor to the next page. The Continuous option keeps all text in one place, but inserts a formatting break where the cursor is.
Now that you have placed your cursor in the second section of text after the section break, repeat the page customization process described above to customize the margins.
When you go to the page setup window, you will see that it now displays a drop-down list from which you can select the section of the document you want to format.
When you’re done, you will notice that other field formatting starts in your new section and leaves the formatting in the previous section unchanged.
To revert to normal formatting on the next page, simply create a new continuous section break and set the margins of that next section to the same as the margins in the original section.
Change margins in Google Docs for indentations
When most people want to change the margins for bulleted lists (known as “indents”), they will use one of the two indent buttons on the ribbon bar.
The left indent button moves the selected list to the left, and the right indent button moves it to the right.
The problem with using indent buttons for this is that it also changes the formatting of the marker. You must also do this for each list.
You can work around this by changing the indentation formatting for all bulleted lists in your document. To do this, select the “Format” item from the menu. Then select “Align & Indent” and then select “Indent Options.”
In the Indent Options pop-up window, use the Left or Right margins (displayed in inches) to specify the distance from the margin at which bullet lists should be positioned.
This will also be the distance bulleted lists move when using left or right padding buttons.
Set double space and paragraph space in Google Docs
There could be several reasons why someone might think they want to set double spacing in Google Docs. The lines in the document may already be too close together. The space between paragraphs may be too large.
In this section, you will not only learn how to set double spacing in Google Docs, but also how to set line and paragraph spacing.
Set double space in Google Docs
Set duplex space in Google Docs
Setting up double space mode in Google Docs is easy.
Just choose “Format” from the menu. Then select Line Spacing and Dual.
This will adjust all single lines you had in the document to double spacing. There is no need to select text that requires double spacing as it applies to the entire document.
If you don’t like the distance to the preset double spacing, you can adjust it yourself. To do this, select “Format” from the menu, select “Line Spacing” and select “Custom Spacing.”
This will open a new Custom Spacing window where you can set specific spacing between individual lines or paragraphs in your document.
Line spacing is measured in inches and paragraph spacing is measured in points (72 points is 1 inch).
After you click Apply, the new spacing will be applied to the entire document.
Now you know how to apply margins to sections of your document and apply fixed or custom line spacing on pages. With this knowledge, you will be able to completely customize the look and feel of all your Google Docs.
You can also save time by using templates for your documents, such as resume templates or meeting minutes templates.
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