The Formatting Override
Google Docs is designed to anticipate what you are trying to write and format it accordingly. One of its most aggressive features is automatic list creation. If you type an asterisk (*), a hyphen (-), or a number followed by a period (1.) and then press the spacebar, Google Docs will immediately assume you are starting a list. It will automatically indent the line, change the character to a formatted bullet point or numbered list item, and prepare the next line to follow suit. While often helpful, this automatic indentation can be infuriating if you are simply trying to write a sentence that begins with a hyphenated word, or if you prefer to manually control your document’s spacing and margins.
Disabling Automatic List Detection
To regain manual control over your document’s margins and stop Google Docs from automatically indenting lists when you type certain characters, you must disable the auto-detect feature in the application’s preferences.
Open any document in Google Docs. Navigate to the top menu bar and click on Tools. From the drop-down menu, select Preferences. A dialog box will appear. In this box, click on the General tab (it should be the default view). Look down the list of checkbox options. You will see an option labeled Automatically detect lists. By default, this box is checked. Click the checkbox to uncheck it. Click the blue OK button at the bottom right to save your changes. From now on, when you type a hyphen or an asterisk and hit the spacebar, Google Docs will treat them as standard text characters, leaving your indentation and formatting exactly as you set it.