How to Double Space on Google Docs

Google Docs is a part of the Google Workspace package, and offers almost everything that Microsoft Word offers - plus, it's online.

Writing and editing text in Google Docs is quite simple and user-friendly, which explains the millions of monthly users.

When it comes to spacing, for example, line spacing is set at 1.15 by default, while the double spacing option seems to be missing.

This is a cause of issues for many users, since the double space on Google Docs is set by default, and due to a large number of options available on Google Docs, people find it hard to find the line spacing icon.

Double-spaced text in Google Docs creates a bigger space between two rows, meaning it creates a full blank line after each row of text.

This is widely used in academic papers, but since many users are unsure of the step-by-step process, check it out below!

You might also find interesting: How to Sort Things Alphabetically in Google Docs [3 Ways].

How to double space on Google Docs

For users that are not so familiar with Google Docs, it might be extremely difficult to locate the line spacing icon and adjust their text.

Luckily, it's not as difficult as it may seem. There are two ways to make this change:

• By using the toolbar
• By using the menu bar

Option 1: Using the toolbar

Using the toolbar is a bit easier, and quicker, as opposed to using the menu bar. Follow these steps to learn how to add double spacing in Google Docs:

1. Highlight the text that you need to have double-spaced. If you want to add space to the entire text, select the whole text. Windows users can press Ctrl + A simultaneously, while Mac users can press Cmd + A to highlight the whole text.

1. Click on the line spacing icon in the toolbar. The icon looks like three horizontal lines with an arrow pointing up and down.

1. From the drop-down menu, choose 'Double'.

Option 2: Using the menu bar

If you feel like navigating Google Docs is too difficult, you can make the same adjustments for custom spacing by using the menu bar.

Follow these steps:

1. Select the text where you want to add double spacing. You can either select segments or the entire text using the shortcuts we mentioned above.

2. From the top menu, click on 'Format'.

3. A drop-down menu will show up. Hover the mouse over 'Line and paragraph spacing' to launch another menu.

4. Select 'Double' from the list of options.

Related: How to Hide Comments in Google Docs [3 Ways] and How to Print Double-Sided on Google Docs.

How to double space in the Google Docs app

The steps we went through above are made for the Google Docs Desktop version. The following steps are for the Google Docs mobile app and are the same for both Android and iOS.

1. Open the Google Docs app, and open the document where you want to add double spacing.
2. In the lower-right corner, click on the pencil icon to launch the 'Editing' menu.
3. Select the section where you want to add double spacing or select the whole text.
4. At the top, tap the formatting icon - it looks like the letter 'A' with several horizontal lines next to it. This will launch the formatting options.
5. From the menu, open the 'Paragraph' section, and under 'Line spacing', increase it to 2 and tap the checkmark at the top-left corner to save the applied changes.

How to make the double space option default in Google Docs

The Desktop version of Google Docs allows users to make double-spacing a default feature. Unfortunately, this feature is unavailable on the mobile app.

Follow these steps:

1. Open Google Docs from your browser.
2. Highlight any section from an already double-spaced text.
3. From the toolbar, click on 'Normal text'.
4. A drop-down menu will show up. Click on the arrow right next to ‘Normal text’.
5. From the two options - 'Apply Normal text' and 'Update Normal text', select the second one.
6. Click on 'Normal text' again to launch the drop-down, and from 'Options', select 'Save as my default styles'.

Conclusion

Writing in Google Docs is simple and easy due to its well-developed UI. However, in order to make the text easily readable, you might need to add double spacing.

In this article, we covered how to add double-spacing by using the toolbar and menu bar for Desktop and mobile phones, as well as the step-by-step process of making these adjustments default.

If you liked this article, check out: How to Make a Matrix in Google Docs and How to Remove All Links in Google Docs.