The Formatting Hijack
Google Docs tries to be a smart word processor, anticipating your formatting needs based on standard typing conventions. One common behavior is its automatic paragraph indentation. If you manually press the “Tab” key to indent the first line of a paragraph, Google Docs notes this. When you hit “Enter” to start the next paragraph, Docs will often automatically indent that new line for you. While helpful if you are writing a standard novel, this is incredibly frustrating if you only wanted a single indented quote or if you are trying to write a technical document where indentation rules vary line by line.
Resetting Paragraph Alignment
To regain strict control over your document layout and stop Google Docs from automatically indenting new paragraphs based on your previous actions, you must reset the alignment settings.
Google Docs does not have a master “turn off auto-indent” switch; it applies the indentation by silently changing the ruler margins for that specific line. To stop it from continuing to the next line, you must clear the formatting. The easiest way is to place your cursor on the newly created, unwantedly indented line. Navigate to the top menu bar, click on Format, select Align & indent, and then click Indentation options. In the dialogue box that appears, look at the “Special indent” section. If it says “First line,” change the dropdown back to None and click Apply. Alternatively, you can simply press Backspace once at the start of the new line to clear the auto-indent, and Docs will usually stop applying it to subsequent lines.