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Overview

A hanging indent is a formatting style used with references in most formats, including APA and MLA. The first line of text is aligned at the left margin for a hanging indent, while the second and following lines are indented a half inch. See the instructions below for help setting this up in Google Docs or Word.

Google Docs

When creating your hanging indents, start with a blank page or highlight the text you have already typed. Don't forget to type Works Cited or References on the first line of your citation list.

When starting with a blank page, follow the steps below in order. If you have already created citations, highlight them and proceed with the steps below.

Start by clicking Format (step 1), then select Align and Indent (step 2), then choose Indentation Options (step 3).

Screenshot of how to find indentation options in Google Docs.

Select Hanging (step 1) under Special and apply changes (step 2).

Screenshot of how to set the hanging indent in Google Docs.

Microsoft Word

To set up your hanging indents, start with the cursor on the left margin of a blank page or highlight existing text to create the hanging indent.

Click Home on the ribbon, then launch the Paragraph dialog box (step 1).
Set Indentation in the drop-down menu under Special to Hanging (step 2). Make sure that 0.5" is selected in the By drop-down box.
Set Spacing in the drop-down menu under Line Spacing to Double. Ensure the boxes in the Spacing Before and After are set to 0.
Click the OK button at the bottom of the dialog box to save your settings (step 3).

Shcreenshot of how to create a hanging indent in Microsoft Word.

Now, you can start typing your citations, or if you were formatting existing citations, the first line should now start on the left margin with all lines after that indented half an inch. When you hit Enter to go to the following reference, your cursor should automatically return to the left margin. Please contact and make an appointment with one of our librarians if you have questions.