The Formatting Hijack
Google Docs is designed to anticipate the user’s formatting needs. When you are typing a standard document and you intentionally center a line of text (perhaps for a section title) and press Enter, Google Docs assumes you want the next line to be centered as well. It automatically carries the paragraph alignment down to the new line. While this makes creating title pages faster, it is highly disruptive if you are simply centering a single image caption or a short pull-quote, and you want your standard typing to immediately return to the standard left-aligned format without having to constantly reach for the toolbar.
Breaking the Alignment Chain
Google Docs does not possess a universal “off switch” to prevent formatting from carrying over to the next paragraph; this is a fundamental behavior of almost all word processors. To stop it, you must use a specific keyboard shortcut.
If you have just finished typing a centered line of text (or right-aligned text) and your cursor is blinking at the end of that line, do not simply press the Enter key. Pressing Enter creates a new paragraph that inherits the previous paragraph’s settings. Instead, to break the formatting chain and immediately return to the document’s default, unformatted state, press Ctrl + Backslash (\) (or Command + Backslash on Mac) to “Clear formatting,” and then press Enter. Alternatively, you can press Enter, and if the cursor appears in the center of the screen, press Ctrl + Shift + L to instantly force the new line back to left-alignment before you begin typing.