How to change margins in Google Docs
Regardless of how you affix words to paper (physical or virtual), the same principles of design apply. If you’re writing something that’s meant to be read (whether on one ofthe best e-readersor on paper), the most important consideration is to make it easy to read. One of the best ways to do that is by giving your words some room to breathe with a little white space.
Setting the margins on desktop
By default, Google Docs places a one-inch margin on all sides of the document. That means that on an 8.5-inch by 11-inch paper, you’ll have a 6.5-inch by 9-inch area to begin writing your next novel. But depending on your requirements, it either might be too much or not enough. Changing your margins in Google Docs is straightforward and easy to remember.
How to add freehand margins
If you’d rather eyeball your margins, you can change the left and right margins (not the top or bottom) by clicking and dragging in the gray portion of the ruler at the top of the document.
How to adjust margins on iOS
It’s not possible to adjust the margins via the Android app, but it is possible to adjust them on an iPhone or iPad.
You have the option to select one of three preset margins (Narrow, Default, or Wide) or set custom margins. TapApply, and you’re set to show off those new margins. If you were wondering, Narrow and Default put a half-inch and one-inch margin on each side, respectively. Wide puts a two-inch margin on each side and one-inch margins on the top and bottom.
The tyranny of style
Now that you know how to change the margins on your document, what should you change them to? If you’re writing an academic paper, you may want to leave the margins alone. APA, MLA, and Chicago style guides mandate one-inch margins on all sides, as do many universities.
If you’re not bound by a style guide, you can set your margins however you like, but there are some general recommendations that you should still follow. The most important is to limit the characters (including spaces) on a line to no more than 90. Making this work involves setting the margins (which should be equal on the left and right) and alsochoosing a different fontand font size.
Design for the reader
Margins also make your document easy to print. If you eliminate the margins on your resume, so you’re able to cram more stuff onto one page, you’ll likely lose a chunk off of one or more of the sides if you or a potential employer prints it.
On the other hand, if you beef up your margins to up your page count for a term paper, your teacher might use that extra margin to leave you some choice criticisms of your formatting. At the end of the day, you want to make it easy for your audience to read what you’ve written.
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