How to Format Your Essay to MLA via Google Docs
Google Docs has a special template. However, it will be beneficial to learn how to customize the MLA format manually, especially for essay writing. Google docs can provide significant help in your schoolwork. You can easily change your document format to MLA with the use of templates. We are going to guide you through every step to format essay or homework to MLA format with help of google docs.
What Are the Guidelines for MLA Format?
While your teacher may have specific requirements for essay writing, the general guidelines for the MLA essay format are:
- Times New Roman font, size 12.
- One-inch page margins on each side.
- A heading, including your last name and page number in the upper right corner of each page.
- Your full name, the name of the instructor, course title, and due date in the upper left corner of the first page.
- Body paragraphs with 0.5” indent.
- Works Cited page at the end of the essay.
Using an MLA Template In Google Docs
You can find several templates in Google Docs available that can help students quickly format essays. Use the following template to set up MLA format in Google Docs:
- At first open google docs in the web browser of your device. Then click on the blank option to start a new document.
How to Format Your Essay to MLA via Google Docs
- Open a document and choose File. Then click New and From template option.
How to format docs to MLA via google docs
- You will see the template gallery opened in a separate browser tab. Find the Education section and choose Report MLA Add-on.
How to format docs to MLA via google docs
- You will see a new document with dummy text, which you can replace with your essay. The document has already been formatted. You will not need to change anything except the words.
How to Use MLA Format for Documents
If you are distrustful of templates or have a modified version of the MLA format that you must adhere to, you can also manually configure the MLA format in Google Docs. Once you’ve customized it, you can also save it as your own template, so you don’t have to format again the next time you write an essay.
- Select the Times New Roman font and the 12-point size. Google Docs uses 1-inch margins by default on all sides, so you don’t need to adjust the margins.
- Choose Insert> Headers & Footer >Header. If you want to remove headers from the document, this is a straightforward process if you are using Google Docs in a web browser. It is a bit tricky if you’re using Google Docs on Android or an iOS mobile device.
- Note that the heading font reverts to its default. You need to change it to Times New Roman size 12, then choose Right Align.
- Enter your last name and space, then choose Insert> Page Numbers.
- Change the page number settings if necessary, and then click Apply.
- Click anywhere below the heading, then choose Format> Line Spacing> Double. In addition, you can click the Line spacing icon at the top of the page and select Double.
- Enter your name, the name of the instructor, course title, and due date.
- Click Enter to move to the next line, then choose Center Align and enter the title of the essay. Start each main word with a capital letter. Do not use italics, bold, or other options of text formatting.
- Click Enter to move to the next line, then choose Left Align.
- Click the Tab key to indent, then begin typing the first paragraph. Start each new paragraph with an indent. When you are finished with the main body of the essay, choose Insert> Break> Page Break to go to a blank page for creating the Works Cited section.
How to Make an MLA Works Cited Section in Google Docs
The last page of the essay should start with the words “Works Cited” (don’t use quotation marks) in the centre. The format of every cited work differs depending on the source format. For example, you can use this format for articles, which you have found on the Internet:
- Author’s name (surname, first name). “Title.” Publication information, Date (e.g. 29 Jan. 2011). URL. Date of use.
Sources should be sorted alphabetically by the author’s last name. All cited works must be indented after the first line. If you want to know about free apple music code generator then click here.
How to Make a Hanging Indent In Google Docs
There are some paragraph formatting options that students often come across in Google Docs, such as making the first line a hanging indent. The first line indent is where only the first line of a paragraph is indented. A hanging indent is where the first line is the only one not indented.
This is difficult because if you select the first line or the entire paragraph and use the indent icon, the entire paragraph will be indented. To get the first line or hanging indent in Google Docs:
- Select the paragraph in which you want to indent.
- Choose the Format menu, choose Align & Indent, and then choose Indentation Options.
- In the Indentation Options area, choose Hanging. The default will be 0.5 inches. Change this if needed and select Apply. The selected paragraph will be applied to your settings. You can apply them to the whole text by highlighting it entirely.
How to Number Pages in Google Docs
A formatting feature that isn’t always easy to understand or use is pagination. This is another Google Docs feature hidden in the menu system. To number the pages of your essay in Google Docs (and the numbering format), choose the Insert menu and choose Page Numbers. A small pop-up window will open with simple page number formatting options. There are four options here:
- Numbering on all pages at the top right.
- Numbering on all pages at the bottom right.
- Numbering at the top right, starting from the second page.
- Numbering at the bottom right, starting from the second page.
If you don’t like any of these options, select More options. The next window will allow you to place exactly where you want the pagination to go.
- In header or footer.
- Whether numbering should be started from the first page.
- From which page to start pagination.
Students should take the time to create templates for their MLA essays, which can shorten the time it takes to complete the essay by eliminating the time allotted for proper formatting. We hope that this guide helped you understand how to do it right. Good luck!
