How to Change Margins on Google Docs

Various formatting styles on a document call for different margin sizes, especially if you’re creating a blog post, report, or such. If you’re on Google Docs, you can easily change margins through mainly two ways. You can either manually set the margin via a ruler or enter custom sizes for your margins using the Page Setup menu. 

Click and Drag Margin Markers

The easiest way to change margins on your doc file is using the clock-and-drag method on the ruler. On your ruler, there are two margin markers in blue color. You can identify them as a combo of a rectangular icon and an upside-down triangle. 

But, you can also select them together and manually drag them to where you like. Here’s a demonstration of it: 

1. When you hover or click on the margin marker, you can view the current size. 
   
2. If you want to change the margin only for a single paragraph or selected content, highlight the section and then click on the bottom of the margin. 
3. Now, slowly drag either to the left or right. These changes will not apply to the rest of the document. 
   
4. If you want to change the margin size for the whole document, don’t select any text and directly hover on the middle section of the margin marker. This should now display an arrow that’s sideways. 
   
5. Next, drag the margin to either left or right as you prefer. 

Customize Margins Through Page Setup 

If you don’t want to opt for manually adjusting the margins as in the previous steps, you can directly set a custom size for the margins. You can access this feature from the Page Setup menu. These are the steps you’ll need to follow: 

1. Click on the File tab and then go to Page Setup. 
   
2. In this new window, you can set custom margin sizes for your document. If necessary, first select the orientation of your document, like Portrait or Landscape. In the Margins section, enter your desired values for the top, bottom, left, and right margins. 
   
3. Then, click on OK and exit. 

Change Margin Sizes on Mobile 

As of yet, there are no options to change or set a custom margin size for your doc file on Android. If you’re on iOS, you can refer to the steps below: 

1. Open a doc file and then tap on the three dots in the top-right corner. 
   
2. Tap on the Page Setup option.
   
3. Then, select Margins. 
   
4. Either select the available styles, like narrow, default, or wide. Or, select Custom and tap on the margin sizes. Enter custom values and then tap on Apply. 
   

How to Change Default Margin Size?

If you want your doc file to always have your preferred margin sizes, you can set a custom default margin style in these steps: 

1. Go to the Page Setup prompt from the File tab. 
2. Set custom margin sizes and then click on the Set as default option that’s on the bottom-left corner of the window. 
   

Now, whenever you open a new document, it’ll always have this margin size. 

Why are Margins Not Working on Docs?

If you find that the margins are not set as how you want them to be, it could be because of a few reasons. 

• You’ve not selected the supposed section of the content. 
• There are multiple bullet points and indents in your paragraphs. 

If you’re having this issue, re-enter the margin sizes from the Page Setup menu. It’s also worth checking if the Page Orientation and the Paper Size are accurate according to your preference. 

If the margins are not proper when printing your doc file, it’s best to first download the file as a PDF and then print it. Doing so will keep the formatting of your document intact. You can go to the File tab and click on the Download option. There, select the PDF document option.