I have a problem. Not a big one, mind, but one all the same: I dislike the default formatting on Google Docs.
âExcuse me?â I hear you scream. âDo you really care enough about fonts and line spacing and text size on a simple word processor to write a whole damn article about it?â
And the answer to that, dear reader, is a resounding yes.
I use Google Docs constantly. Seven days a week, 12 hours a day, your boy is thriving in that word processor, hopping from document to document like the metaverseâs dullest Spiderman.
And hereâs where I encounter the problem: whenever I open a new Google Doc, itâs formatted in a way I find neither pleasing, useful, or acceptable. You probably know the set up: Arial, a font size of 11, and a 1.15 line spacing. The words unsophisticated and crude barely come close to how this affronts me.
Yet, foolishly, I accepted this state of affairs for years.
Yeah, it was a hassle to manually change the default formatting each time I opened a new document, but it wasnât quite enough of one for me to, you know, actually do anything about it. But then the day came when Iâd had enough. I could no longer live that way â like an animal, a fool in a jingly bell hat, a vile little trollman living under a dilapidated bridge.
And since I changed Google Docsâ default formatting? Bliss. And Iâd like to offer you a weighty slice of this wonderful feeling.
How to change the default formatting on Google Docs
Itâs a simple process. First thing you need to do is write something with the formatting you want.
It can be a paragraph, a sentence, a couple of words, whatever, really. Just write it and make sure itâs formatted how youâd like. Choose your ideal font, text size, and line spacing in the menu bar.
Next up, select that text.
Then you want to go to the Format menu at the top of the screen (it should be just under your documentâs title). From there, click on Paragraph styles and navigate to Normal text.
One youâre there, click Update âNormal textâ to match.
Weâre almost done people, just one more thing.
Go back to the Format menu. Then, navigate to Paragraph styles and through to Options.
Here, you should see something that says âSave as my default styles.â
Click it. CLICK IT SO DAMN HARD.
Now all thatâs left to do is open a new Google Doc to see if it worked. And it did, right? And I bet youâre feeling pretty magnificent about life right now.
Whatâs that? The default Google Docs formatting I went for? Easy: Helvetica Neue, size 12, 1.5 line spacing.
The choice of kings â and overgrown manchildren who have too much time on their grubby hands.
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