Bullet lists are another type of hanging indent.You might have additional lines in your list.Hanging indents are most often used when creating a numbered list, or even a list with bullets.

The paragraph settings for this type of paragraph would look something like this: It is an effective way to set apart a paragraph for special attention. You might see this in a document that is quoting someone. The paragraph settings for this type of paragraph might look like this: There’s nothing special about this paragraph, except that the first line is indented ½ inch to make it easier to read. This is the first line of a paragraph in a document. Here are some examples: First Line Indent When you indent an entire paragraph, that is called a paragraph indent. When only the first line is indented, you can set a first line indent. The whole paragraph can be indented, or you can indent just the first line. These paragraphs use two types of indents you should understand:Ī paragraph can either start at the left margin, or can be indented any amount you specify. Hanging indents can most easily be understood by looking at the ruler at the top of the page in a Word document. The proper way to do this, though, is by using the Paragraph command, and changing the hanging indents “by the numbers.” Note that the marker for the hanging indent lines up with the numbers, and the paragraph indent marker lines up with the indented paragraphs. You can still see the shadow of the original place. In the picture to the left, the left marker has been moved to the left.

(This is actually the same place where the indent originally started.) Now move the left indent a little more to the left, to the ruler tick mark at the left. You can see the shadow of the original place. In the picture to the left, the pointer is moving the indent marker (the box on the bottom) to the right by one ruler tick mark. Select the bottom square of the marker on the right, and move to the right to the next ruler mark: To the left of the ruler, you should see indent markers: Step 2. At the top of your screen, you’ll see a ruler line. You want to do this so that all the paragraphs line up. The easiest way to do it is by moving the indent markers in the ruler, for all the numbers in your list. To fix this, you need to increase the amount of space that’s been allowed for the numbers. Yikes! The first line of the last paragraph isn’t aligned with the rest of the indented paragraphs! With some fonts and point sizes, you won’t have enough space for two numbers, a period, and a space-and your paragraph won’t be aligned with the indented paragraphs above it: Notice that in the above example, the number “10” is crowded in the same space allotted for the first nine numbers. You could, however, have a numbered list, which often goes past 9, such as: Word assumes, however, that you’re only going to use one character to hang to the left-like a bullet: Word will automatically change the format to a hanging indent for you. Nice! All you have to do for a numbered hanging indent is to type the number, a period, and a space. Whenever you want a paragraph with character(s) to the left (such as a bullet, a number, or some other character), anything to the left of the paragraph is said to be “hanging” next to an indented paragraph-you have a hanging indent.Įven if you don’t know what it’s called, Microsoft Word takes care of making them for you automatically. What’s a hanging indent? (Who comes up with these terms, anyway?)

Growly notes hanging indent