Section 8 - Indenting

The Ruler at the top of the document window displays the current margin and tab settings as well as paragraph indentation. The two small triangles on the the left side of the ruler control the left indents. The upper triangle controls the first line indent. The lower triangle controls the second line left indent called the hanging indent. The rectangle below the bottom triangle is used to create a left indent for an entire paragraph. The triangle on the right side of the Ruler is used to set the right indent for an entire paragraph.

Changing the Left Indent of a Paragraph Using the Ruler

To change the left indent of a paragraph:

• Select the paragraph.
• Drag the top and bottom triangle on the left hand side (using the box) to the desired point on the ruler.

Changing the Right Indent of a Paragraph Using the Ruler

To change the right indent of a paragraph:

• Select the paragraph.
• Drag the right hand side triangle to the desired point on the ruler.

Creating a First Line Indent Using the Ruler

To create a first line indent:

• Drag the top triangle to the right. The bottom triangle does not move.

Creating a Hanging Indent Using the Ruler

Hanging indents are useful to apply to all references in a References (APA) section or Works Cited (MLA) section of a paper.

To create a hanging indent:

• Drag the bottom triangle to the right. Top triangle will not move.

For example, a hanging indent would look like the following: