how to double space your essay on google docs

How to Do Double Spacing on Google Docs: A Step-by-Step Guide

Google Docs is a widely used tool for both personal and professional writing tasks. One of the most commonly used formatting options is double spacing, which creates additional space between lines to make the text easier to read or to meet specific formatting guidelines. Whether you're writing an essay, a business report, or any other document, double spacing is a breeze to apply.

In this guide, we will walk you through the steps to enable double spacing in Google Docs.

Steps to Add Double Spacing in Google Docs

1. open your document in google docs.

The first step is to open the Google Docs document you want to format. If you don’t have an existing document, you can create a new one by clicking the "+ Blank" option in Google Docs.

2. Highlight the Text

If you want to apply double spacing to a specific portion of your document, select the text by clicking and dragging your mouse across it. If you want to apply double spacing to the entire document, you can press Ctrl + A (or Cmd + A on a Mac) to highlight all the text at once.

3. Access the "Line & Paragraph Spacing" Menu

Next, go to the toolbar at the top of your screen and look for the "Line & Paragraph Spacing" button. This icon looks like a series of horizontal lines with an arrow pointing up and down, indicating spacing options.

4. Choose "Double" from the Dropdown Menu

After clicking the "Line & Paragraph Spacing" button, a dropdown menu will appear. Simply select the "Double" option from the list. This will instantly apply double spacing to your highlighted text or the entire document if all the text is selected.

5. Adjust Paragraph Settings if Needed

Once double spacing is applied, you can further customize paragraph spacing if desired. Go back to the "Line & Paragraph Spacing" button and choose "Custom Spacing" if you want to manually adjust the space between paragraphs.

6. Check the Formatting

Before finalizing your document, scroll through it to ensure that the double spacing has been correctly applied. If necessary, repeat the process for specific sections that may need adjustment.

Why Use Double Spacing?

Double spacing is commonly required in formal documents like research papers, academic essays, and reports. It makes the text easier to read, allowing for better note-taking and feedback. In many cases, professors, editors, or reviewers request double spacing for easier line-by-line examination of the content.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Can I set double spacing as the default format for all new Google Docs? Yes, you can set double spacing as the default for new documents. Simply create a new Google Docs document, apply double spacing, then click on "Format" > "Paragraph styles" > "Normal text" > "Update ‘Normal text’ to match." Finally, click "Options" > "Save as my default styles."

2. Does double spacing affect the page count of my document? Yes, double spacing increases the vertical space between lines, which results in more pages compared to single-spaced text. This is often useful for academic papers where spacing and page length requirements are set.

3. Can I apply double spacing to specific sections only? Absolutely! You can highlight specific paragraphs or sections and apply double spacing only to the selected text, leaving other parts of your document with single or custom spacing.

4. How do I remove double spacing? To remove double spacing, highlight the text again, go to the "Line & Paragraph Spacing" menu, and select "Single" or any other spacing option you prefer.

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How to Double Space in Google Docs

Last Updated: August 2, 2018 Tested

This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff . Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. The wikiHow Tech Team also followed the article's instructions and verified that they work. This article has been viewed 469,577 times.

This wikiHow teaches you how to add double spacing to a document in Google Docs in a desktop browser or the mobile app.

Click Edit in the menu bar at the top of the browser window and Select all to highlight the entire document.

Alternatively, click the Line Spacing button in the toolbar at the top of the document. It's an icon of horizontal lines next to up and down arrows.

While different paragraphs may have different spacing, all the lines in a single paragraph must maintain the same line spacing.

Long-tap the text and tap Select all to select all the text in the document.

Making Double Spaced the Default for New Documents

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About this article

1. Open a document at http://docs.google.com . 2. Highlight the text you want to double-space. 3. Click Format . 4. Click Line spacing . 5. Click Double . Did this summary help you? Yes No