How to Do a Hanging Indent

This updated guide examines How to Do a Hanging Indent and organizes the essential facts, background, and practical takeaways in clear American English.

Method 1

MS Word Hanging Indent

1. Open your Microsoft Word document.
2. Write your paragraph. It is helpful to have some text and simply move your cursor, when you first create the indent.
   • Highlight the paragraph that you would like to be formatted with a hanging indent.
3. Click the "Format" menu in the top horizontal toolbar. Scroll down and click the "Paragraph" option.
   • In the 2007 version of MS Word, On the Page Layout tab, click the Paragraph Dialog Box Launcher.
4. Choose the "Indents and Spacing" section of the Paragraph formatting box.
5. Find the "Indentation" section. Click on the drop down box that says "Special."
6. Choose "Hanging" from the list.
7. Choose the size of the indent to the left of the list. The standard indent of 0.5 inches (1.27cm) will be used as default.
8. Click "Ok" to save your changes. Your paragraph should now have a hanging indent.
   • You can set the hanging indent format before you type any text. This will tell your Word document to do it automatically. If you prefer that the hanging indent isn't present throughout the document, return and indent highlighted portions after you type the text.

Method 2

Open Office Hanging Indent

1. Open your document in Open Office.
2. Type some text into the document. Place the cursor next to the text where you would like to have a hanging indent.
   • You can also set the hanging indent before you start typing. Open Office will use this formatting style as a default.
3. Select the "Styles and Formatting" window located in the drop down menu.
4. Select "Hanging Indent" from the formatting options.
5. Adjust the amount of indent from the default in the paragraph formatting toolbar. Close the formatting window you used previously.
   • Click "Format" from the menu. Select "Paragraph" from the list of formatting options.
   • Click on the "Indents & Spacing" section. You should see the words "Before text" and "First line."
   • Use the up and down arrow buttons to increase or decrease the hanging indent.