How to Change Margins in Google Docs (A Quick 4 Step Guide)

The default margins for a document that you create in Google Docs will be one inch on all sides. For many schools and organizations, this is the standard, meaning that many Google Docs users won’t have a reason to change their margins. But if you aren’t so lucky then you may need to know how to change margins in Google Docs.

You can find more Google Docs tips at https://solveyourdocuments.com.

Unfortunately, this is not a universal standard, so you may find yourself in the position of needing to make your margins larger or smaller. Our guide below will show you where to locate this setting for your document so that you can specify the size of your margins.

The links below will take you to specific sections of this article. Or you can continue scrolling down to read the entire article.

How to Change Google Docs Margins

  1. Click File.
  2. Choose Page Setup.
  3. Change the margin values.
  4. Click OK.

Our guide continues below with additional information, including pictures for how to change your document margins.

Find out how to change text direction in Google Docs with the help of text boxes that are part of the Drawing tool.

Where is Page Setup in Google Docs?

If someone has verbally told you where to locate the margin settings in Google Docs, then they probably pointed you to the Page Setup menu.

But if you are unfamiliar with Google Docs or new to the application, then this information may not have been useful.

You can locate the Page Setup menu in Google Docs by selecting the File tab at the top-left of the window, then choosing the Page Setup option at the bottom of that menu.

where is page setup in google docs

If changing the page setup of your document involves inserting a new page in the middle of the document, then read this guide on adding a new page in Google Docs.

How Do You Change the Top and Bottom Margins on Google Docs?

The steps in this section were performed in the desktop version of the Google Chrome Web browser, but will also work in other browsers like Firefox or Edge.

Step 1: Sign into your Google Drive at https://drive.google.com and open the Google Docs document for which you would like to change the margins.

Step 2: Select the File tab at the top-left of the window.

select the file tab

Step 3: Click the Page Setup option at the bottom of the menu.

click page setup

Step 4: Adjust the values in the Margins fields at the right side of the window to the desired size, then click the OK button. Note that if you would like to make these margins the default for all future documents you create, you can elect to click the Set as default button as well.

how to change margins in google docs

One of the benefits of changing the default is that you only need to follow the steps for how to change margins in Google Docs one time. Any new document after that will have the correct margins.

Check out our article on how to change paper size in Google Docs if you need to make an A4 or legal sized document.

How Do I Change Inches to CM in Google Docs?

Depending on the geographic and language settings in your Google Account, it’s possible that your margin sizes are being defined in inches rather than centimeters.

If you would like to be able to set your margins in centimeters, then you can do so by adjusting the language setting for Google Drive.

Step 1: Sign into your Google Drive at https://drive.google.com.

Step 2: Click the gear icon at the top-right, then choose the Settings option.

open google drive settings

Step 3: Select the Change language settings option.

change language settings

Step 4: Click the pencil icon to the right of the current default language.

click the pencil icon

Step 5: Type English into the search field, then click the English search result.

select the english search result

Step 6: Scroll down and click the United Kingdom option, then click the Select button.

how to change form inches to cm in google docs

Now when you return to the Page setup menu in Google Docs you will be able to specify your margins in centimeters.

margins in cm in google docs

The rulers at the top and side of Google Docs can be toggled on or off. You can check out this Google Docs vertical ruler tutorial for more about this feature.

How Do I Change Headers in Google Docs?

If you have an existing header in your document that you wish to change, or you wish to add or edit something about the header, then continue with the steps below.

Step 1: Click the Insert tab at the top of the window.

click on insert

Step 2: Select the Header & page number option, then click Header. Note that you can alternatively select Page number and choose a page numbering style.

add a header in google docs

You can now type the information for your header above the gray Header bar. You can also click the Options button to change a header setting.

open google docs header options

To edit existing header information, simply click on the text that you wish to edit in the header and change it in the same manner that you would change regular document body text.

as you might be able to tell from this document, there are a lot of ways to customize a document. If it seems like your document has too many of these customizations, then find out how to remove formatting in Google Docs.

How Do You Fix the Spacing in Google Docs?

If you’re working with a new document, or you’re editing one that someone else created, you may have noticed that the spacing needs an adjustment. Whether it currently has double spacing and you need single spacing, or vice versa, then the steps below will help you change it.

Note that following the steps in this section are going to standardize the spacing for all of the selected text. So, for example, if some of your document is single-spaced and some is double-spaced, then completing the following steps will change everything to the type of spacing that you select.

Step 1: Click inside the document and press Ctrl + A to select the whole document, or use your mouse to select the section you wish to change.

Step 2: Click the Format tab at the top of the window.

Step 3: Choose Line spacing, then click the type of spacing you wish to use.

Note that if none of the default line spacing options are what you need you can select the Custom spacing option and enter your own values.

How Do You Change Page Orientation in Google Docs?

New documents that you create in Google Docs are going to be in portrait orientation by default. This means that the long end of the page is going to be on the left and right side of the paper.

But some types of documents will need to be in landscape orientation, so you might be wondering how to accomplish that.

Step 1: Click the File tab at the top-left of the window.

Step 2: Select the Page setup option from the bottom of the menu.

Step 3: Choose the Landscape option under Orientation, then click the OK button.

If you would like to adjust your Google Docs settings so that all of the new documents you create in the future are using the landscape orientation, you can click the Set as default option after you make the change.

How Do You Make a 1 Inch Margin On Google Docs?

A lot of schools, colleges, or universities have their own formatting that they require or their student, or they employ one of the formatting standards that have been agreed upon by various institutions.

One of the common options in these formatting guides involves the use of 1 inch margins in documents. Google Docs uses this margin size by default, so any new document that you create is going to have 1 inch margins by default unless you have previously changed that setting.

But if you have changed your default margins, or if someone has sent you a document that uses different size margins, then the steps below will show you what to change.

Step 1: Select the File tab at the top of the window.

Step 2: Click the Page setup option.

Step 3: Adjust the settings in the top margin, bottom margin, left margin and right margin fields to 1, then click OK at the bottom of the menu.

How Do I Change the Margins on Google Docs on My iPhone?

The Google Docs app on your iPhone has a surprisingly robust set of tools and options, and allows you to perform many of the same actions and formatting that you can use in your desktop browser.

But the interface is a little difficult to get used to the first couple of times that you use it, so you may be wondering where to go if you need to change your Google Docs document margins using the iPhone app.

Step 1: Open the Google Docs app on your iPhone.

Step 2: Select the document you wish to edit.

Step 3: Tap the button with the three dots at the top-right of the screen.

Step 4: Choose the Page setup option.

Step 5: Touch the Margins button.

Step 6: Select the margin size you wish to use from the options at the top of the screen.

Can You Print Directly from Google Docs?

Once you’ve finished formatting your document in all of the ways that you require, it is probably time to print that document so that you can submit it. Printing is an option that is available in most Google apps like Google Slides and Google Sheets, so it only makes sense that it’s part of Docs, too.

But if you are new to Google Docs and haven’t tried to print something before, then you may be having trouble finding the menu option that lets you print your document.

Step 1: Click the File tab at the top-left of the window.

Step 2: Select the Print option from the menu.

Step 3: Adjust the print options at the right side of the window, then click the Print button at the bottom of the window when you are done.

Note that you can also print directly from the document without going through the menus by pressing the Ctrl + P keys on your keyboard. This is known as a keyboard shortcut, and it is one of many keyboard shortcuts that are available in Google Docs.

Did you know that you can open Google Drive file types in Microsoft products? For example, find out how to create a Powerpoint version of a Google Slides file that you can open and edit in Microsoft Powerpoint.

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