The Unwanted Formatting
Google Docs includes aggressive auto-formatting features designed to speed up document creation. One of the most prominent is the automatic list generator. If you type the number “1”, followed by a period (or a parenthesis), and hit the Spacebar, Docs instantly assumes you are starting a formal numbered list. It automatically indents the text, changes the font alignment, and prepares to generate a “2.” when you hit Enter. While helpful for writing instructions, it is incredibly annoying if you are just trying to write a specific date format, a mathematical equation, or simply do not want Docs taking control of your indentation.
Reclaiming Your Indentation
To retain full manual control over your document structure and stop Google Docs from automatically generating numbered lists when you type a number and a period, you must disable the specific auto-format rule.
Open your Google Doc. Look at the primary menu bar across the top of the window and click on Tools. From the dropdown menu, select Preferences. A settings dialogue box will appear in the center of your screen. Click on the General tab at the top of this box (it is usually selected by default). Look through the list of checkbox options for the one explicitly labelled Automatically detect lists. Click this checkbox to completely uncheck it. Finally, click the blue OK button to save the changes. From now on, if you type “1. “, it will remain exactly as plain text, with no automatic indentation or list formatting applied.