A hanging indent is a formatting style where the first line of a paragraph is flush with the left margin, but all subsequent lines in that same paragraph are indented slightly to the right. This specific layout is mandatory when creating “Works Cited” or “References” pages in academic writing formats such as APA, MLA, and Chicago styles. While many students try to fake a hanging indent by pressing the Enter key and hitting the Spacebar repeatedly, this ruins the document’s structure if you ever change the font size or margin width. Microsoft Word includes a dedicated tool to apply perfect hanging indents automatically.
How to Apply a Hanging Indent
The hanging indent is a paragraph-level formatting rule. You can apply it to a single citation or an entire page of references at once.
- Open your document in Microsoft Word.
- Using your mouse, highlight the paragraph (or the list of citations) that you want to format.
- Look at the ribbon menu at the top of the screen and ensure you are on the Home tab.
- Locate the “Paragraph” group. In the bottom-right corner of this group, you will see a tiny square icon with a downward-pointing arrow. Click this Paragraph Settings dialogue launcher.
- A new “Paragraph” window will appear. Ensure you are looking at the Indents and Spacing tab.
- Look in the middle section titled “Indentation.”
- Find the drop-down menu labelled Special:.
- Click the drop-down menu and select Hanging.
- By default, Word sets the indent depth to 1.27 cm (or 0.5 inches), which is the academic standard. You can adjust this in the “By:” box next to it if your professor requires a different size.
- Click the OK button at the bottom of the window.
Your highlighted text will instantly snap into the correct layout. The first line of each citation will touch the left margin, and every subsequent line will be perfectly indented.