The Frustrating Formatting Shift
Google Docs tries to be helpful by anticipating your formatting needs. One of the most common ways it does this is with list formatting. If you type a number followed by a period and a space (e.g., “1. “), Docs assumes you are starting a numbered list. Not only does it apply the list formatting, but it also automatically indents the entire line, pushing it inward from the left margin. While great for standard outlines, this automatic indentation can completely break your layout if you are trying to type a numbered sequence that you want to remain flush with the left margin, such as a legal document or a specific script format.
Disabling Automatic List Detection
To keep your text exactly where you type it and stop Google Docs from automatically indenting numbered lists, you must disable the application’s automatic list detection feature.
Open the Google Docs document you are working on. Navigate to the top menu bar, click on Tools, and then select Preferences from the drop-down menu. A preferences dialog window will appear on your screen. Ensure you are on the General tab at the top. Scan through the list of checkboxes until you find the option labeled Automatically detect lists. By default, this box is checked, which enables the auto-indentation behavior. Click the checkbox to uncheck it. Finally, click the blue OK button at the bottom to save your changes. From now on, when you type “1. ” at the beginning of a line, Google Docs will treat it as plain text and will not apply any automatic indentation or list formatting.