Whether you are writing an academic paper that requires MLA or APA formatting, or you simply want to make your document easier to read and edit, double spacing your text is a common requirement. Google Docs makes it incredibly easy to adjust your line spacing on both computers and mobile devices. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to double space text in Google Docs.
How to Double Space on a Computer
If you are using Google Docs in a web browser on your PC or Mac, follow these steps:
- Select your text: First, highlight the text you want to double space. If you want to apply double spacing to the entire document, press Ctrl + A (Windows) or Cmd + A (Mac) to select everything.
- Use the Toolbar Icon: Locate the Line & paragraph spacing icon on the top formatting toolbar. It looks like an up-and-down arrow placed next to three horizontal lines.
- Click the icon to open a dropdown menu.
- Select Double from the list of options.
Alternative Method: You can also achieve this by going to the main menu bar at the top, clicking Format, hovering over Line & paragraph spacing, and then selecting Double.
How to Double Space on the Google Docs Mobile App
If you are editing a document on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device using the Google Docs app, the process is slightly different:
- Open the document in the Google Docs app.
- Tap the pencil icon in the bottom right corner to enter editing mode.
- Tap and drag to highlight the text you want to format.
- Tap the Formatting icon at the top of the screen (it looks like a capital “A” with small horizontal lines next to it).
- In the menu that pops up at the bottom, tap the Paragraph tab.
- Next to Line spacing, tap the up arrow until the number reaches 2.00.
- Tap anywhere on the document to close the menu and continue editing.