How to Change the Default Formatting Settings in Google Docs

James Marshall is a pro journalist who covers technology and computer troubleshooting. He is also skilled with Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, and other word processors.

• Wichita Technical Institute

Jonathan Fisher is a CompTIA-certified technologist with more than 10 years of experience writing for publications like TechNorms and Help Desk Geek.

What to Know

• Format the text how you like it, highlight the text, then go to Format >Paragraph styles >Normal text >Update "Normal text" to match.
• Save your new default settings: Select Format >Paragraph styles >Options >Save as my default styles.
• Reset to the Google Docs original styles: Select Format >Paragraph styles >Options >Reset styles.

This article explains how to change the default settings in Google Docs for formatting. Instructions apply to the desktop version of Google Docs.

Changing Default Formatting in Google Docs

After you change the defaults, all documents you create thereafter will reflect these settings. You can still change the formatting of any individual element within a document, of course, but the default format provides a consistent starting point.

To change the default settings for Normal text in Google Docs, follow these steps:

1. Open a document.

Highlight the text you want to change.

Select Format.

Choose Update "Normal text"tomatch.

Click Paragraphstyles >Options >Saveasmydefaultstyles.

You also can change the default format settings for other elements such as headings, titles, borders, and shading using the same process.

Instead of choosing Format > Paragraph styles, select the formatting option you'd like to set in place of paragraph styles. Update the style to match the selected text and save as your default styles, and these styles will be applied to every document you create from now on.

If you'd like to reset to Google Docs' original styles, select Format > Paragraph styles > Options > Reset styles.

Why Change the Default Formatting in Google Docs?

When you create a document in Google Docs, the default settings such as font style, line spacing, and background color are applied automatically to the document.

Changing any of these elements for part or all of your document on a case-by-case basis is easy enough—but if you consistently use the same settings across most or all of your Google docs, you can save yourself a lot of time and trouble by changing the default document settings.

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