How to Do a Block Quote in Google Docs

The purpose of blockquotes is to highlight a part of a text visually, and they're commonly used in poetry, prose, drama, and research studies that use APA referencing.

Moreover, in the modern era, when nearly everything is typed on a computer, we need writing software that enables us to create blockquotes, in addition to features like moving and adding tables, applying images behind the text, and working on the same document with colleagues.

And that software is Google Documents.

So, if you use Google Docs to write and want to format a blockquote in your text, this guide will show you how to do it in a few easy steps.

How to format a block quote in Google Docs

1. Highlight the quote.

2. Next, position the text further from the margin of the document by clicking on the Increase indent in the upper right corner.

3. Move the margin to a 6. Your paragraph will look like the screenshot below.

If you're following the APA block quotation format, you have to follow a few guidelines to make this right.

APA block quote format

1. The quotation always starts in a new line.
2. Indent the block 0.5 inches from the margin.
3. Quotation marks around the blockquote are not needed.
4. Use double line spacing for the entire quote. To do that, highlight the full quote first, then click on ‘Line & Paragraph Spacing’ and click on ‘Double’ space.

5. The first line of the second paragraph should be indented 0.5 inches if the block quote consists of more than one paragraph. To do this, select the paragraph, click on the Format menu, Align and Indent’, option.

From the formatting options choose “First line”.

The quotation block will look like this:

6. Include the author’s last name in the citation, or use the company name or title if the author's name is unavailable.
7. Write the date of the work after the author’s name.
8. Single page numbers should be written as p., pp., for multiple page numbers and para. if they are from online sources.

When to use Blockquotes?

It is best to use block quotes when the exact wording of the quoted text is very important to your argument.

You can find blockquotes in scientific studies or through analysis where word-for-word citations are needed.

Additionally, according to Western Oregon University block quotes can be found in poetry, play, and prose.

On the other hand, if you are using Word for editing documents, check out how to remove an anchor in Word