How to Make a Hanging Indent in Word

A reference list needs each entry's first line flush left and every following line indented half an inch. That is a hanging indent, and Word sets it per paragraph.

Select the paragraphs

Click in a single entry, or drag across the whole reference list to select several. The indent applies to every paragraph the selection touches.

Open the Paragraph dialog

Click Home, then the small arrow in the bottom right corner of the Paragraph group. The Paragraph dialog opens on the Indents and Spacing tab.

Set Special to Hanging

Under Indentation, open the Special dropdown and choose Hanging. The By box fills with 0.5", which is the standard for APA and MLA. Change it if a style guide asks for something else, then click OK.

Use the shortcut instead

With the paragraphs selected, press Ctrl + T (Mac: Cmd + T). Each press moves the hanging indent another half inch, so press it once. Ctrl + Shift + T (Mac: Cmd + Shift + T) moves it back.

Drag the ruler marker

If the ruler is hidden, click View and tick Ruler. At the left end of the ruler are two triangles stacked over a small box. Drag the bottom triangle, the hanging indent marker, to the right until it reaches the 0.5" mark. The top triangle controls the first line and stays where it is; dragging the box underneath moves both together.

Reference lists. APA and MLA both call for a half-inch hanging indent on every entry in the References or Works Cited page, with no extra blank lines between entries. Press Enter only at the end of each entry so each one is its own paragraph; if an entry contains manual line breaks, the indent will not land where you expect. To remove a hanging indent later, select the paragraphs and set Special back to (none), or press Ctrl + Shift + T.

On Mac. The Paragraph dialog is also under Format, Paragraph in the menu bar, and the ruler toggles from View, Ruler.