MLA Format Google Docs | MLA Format
≡ Menu

MLA Format Google Docs

This tutorial will show you how to do MLA Format using Google Docs on Google Drive. It is very easy and we are going to accomplish the following settings:

There are two methods:

– Method 1, to use a Google Template with settings pre-configured
– Method 2, to perform the settings yourself (recommended)

Method 1: Using a Google Template:

  1. On the Google Docs menu, click on File => New => From Template.
    googledocs-mlatemplate
  2. In the newly opened window, you will see many professional templates.
  3. Scroll all the way down
  4. Under the Education category, click on the template that says “Report MLA
  5. The template will be copied to your Google Drive and you are ready to type your essay.

Method 2: How to Perform all of the Settings Yourself:

I. How to Set the Font and Size:

  1. When you create a new document, the default font is Arial and size 11.
    googledocs-fontandsize
  2. Click on the font and change it to Times New Roman.
  3. Click on font size 11 and change it to font size 12.
    googledocs-fontandsize2

II. How to Set the Margins in Google Docs:

Google uses the default margin of 1 inch for all top, right, bottom & left so there is no need to change.

If you would like to verify the margins, here are the steps: click on File => Page Setup

googledocs-pagesetup-margins

III. How To Create a Header in Google Docs:

  1. Click on Insert => click on Header & page number => click on Header.
    googledocs-header
  2. Notice the font on the Header is NOT Times New Roman => change the font to Times New Roman and font size 12.
  3. Notice the cursor is blinking on the left, click on the Right Align icon to align the cursor to the right.
    googledocs-header2
  4. Press the Enter key on your keyboard twice.
  5. Type your Last Name => press the Spacebar key on the keyboard once.
  6. Click on Insert => Header & page number => Page number => then click on the first box.
    googledocs-header3
  7. Now click on anywhere below the Header line to close the Header.

IV. How to Setup Line Spacing to Double Spaced:

  1. Click on the Line Spacing button => Choose Double.
    googledocs-line-spacing-doublespaced

V. How to Enter the First Page Information:

  1. Type your full name => press Enter.
  2. Type your professor’s name => press Enter.
  3. Type course title => press Enter.
  4. Type your paper’s due date => press Enter.
  5. Click on the Align Center icon on the formatting toolbar (to center your blinking cursor) => Type the title of your paper, capitalizing the first letter and all major words and proper nouns. Do not use italics, boldfaced type, underlining, or all caps to format your title. Do not type a period at the end of the title => press Enter.
  6. Click on the Align Left icon (to bring your blinking cursor to the left).
  7. Click on the Tab key to indent 1/2 inch to begin your first paragraph. Use the Tab key on every next new paragraphs. Your completed setting should look like this:googledocs-firstpage-mla

VI. How to Setup the Works Cited Page:

Follow this how-to when you are ready to work on your Works Cited page. The Works Cited page has the following characteristics:

  • A heading “Works Cited” centered one inch below the top edge of a new page. Do not bold or underline this heading.
  • No indent on the first line of each entry. If an entry runs more than one line, indent the subsequent line or lines 1/2 inch from the left margin.
  • Alphabetize entries in your list of works cited by the author’s last name, using the letter-by-letter system.
  1. Immediately after typing the final line of your paper, click on Insert => Page Break (to begin a new page).
  2. Click on the align center icon so that the text is centered.
  3. Type Works Cited (do not underline, boldface, italicize, or enclose the title in quotation marks).
  4. Press the Enter key once to begin a new line.
  5. Click on the align left icon so that the text is aligned left.
  6. Now type your sources. Don’t worry about indentation on the subsequent line/lines yet.
  7. Once you are done typing your sources => highlight all your sources => click on the Left Indent icon and drag it to the 1/2 inch mark.
    googledocs-workscited-hangingindent
    googledocs-hangingindent2
  8. Now click on the First Line Indent icon and drag it to 0 inch mark. You are done setting the Hanging Indent for Google Docs.
    googledocs-hangingindent3

You are done with the settings. I hope you found this tutorial helpful. Take care!

{ 216 comments… add one }
  • NATALIA WILLIAMS September 27, 2016, 12:41 am

    You are an amazing person for this. I could never figure out how to do the hanging indent. I’ve been using this same page since 10th grade LOL. Thanks!

  • clayton September 9, 2016, 11:23 am

    thank you so much!!!!!!!!

  • Ali Jannet September 8, 2016, 4:14 pm

    THANKS YO

  • NATALIA June 3, 2016, 12:16 pm

    SUPER HELPFUL I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

  • Elsie Alatorre May 24, 2016, 10:06 pm

    Thank you so much for the tip. Ive been looking everywhere searching up” how to move all citations from the bottom a google doc page to a new page”… until i came to this. This is really helpful and im sure that this is going to help me pass the cba since ive got til tommorrow to turn it in. Sometimes, teachers make students get confused when they explain the mla.So thanks for the great tip!!!!!!

  • tyler May 11, 2016, 6:25 am

    This was incredibly helpful thank you so much!

  • Trent May 10, 2016, 10:22 pm

    This was great! But how do you make it so when you form an out line it will use an MLA outline? Right now even in the “MLA” document, I cannot get the initial letters to be capitalized like the true MLA. Also the i’s should be replaced with numbers. If I could figure this out google docs would seem complete, but it is frustrating now because for all of my documents i have to flip from Open Office Word to Google Docs. Thanks for any help!

  • Katie May 10, 2016, 7:10 pm

    Thank you so much! I spent about 15 minutes trying to get this right and eventually I got so frustrated I decided to look it up. Thank you again!

  • Amir Abdulmalik April 26, 2016, 11:01 am

    This is very helpful. I have used this on multiple occasions. 🙂

  • Braeden April 14, 2016, 8:40 am

    Thank you so much! This helped me pass. 🙂

  • Dalton April 13, 2016, 10:17 am

    thank you so much

  • Zecarrius D March 18, 2016, 1:25 pm

    This was really helpful thx

  • Kitty F. February 21, 2016, 1:48 am

    Thank you for such an excellent, step-by-step explanation…and ZERO assumptions. “The devil is in the assumptions…”.

  • Sophia Bui January 28, 2016, 1:42 am

    Thank you so much for such detailed instruction.

  • Terence Hawkins January 27, 2016, 7:45 pm

    Thanks sooo much I use this every time I need to write a MLA format paper

  • Alexandria December 16, 2015, 7:18 pm

    This was sooooo helpful thanks for the awesome tips!?

  • Emily December 16, 2015, 6:34 pm

    This was so helpful to me! Thank you so so much, Merry Christmas!

  • Meagan November 30, 2015, 9:24 pm

    SOOOOOO helpful. Thank you to AcademicTips.org.

  • Peter Curtis November 17, 2015, 12:54 am

    You sir or ma’am are a lifesaver. I appreciate the hard work & diligently annotated screenshots.

    Cheers

  • Ethand October 21, 2015, 10:29 am

    This helped a lot thanks

  • Zachary Wills October 16, 2015, 1:42 pm

    Thank you this helped me alot because i needed to know how to setup a MLA paper to teach to my students.

  • Hunter J. October 5, 2015, 12:43 pm

    This really helped sooooo much thank you. I would have gotten points off if I hadn’t used this. Thanks! 😀

  • Jake Clements September 21, 2015, 7:38 pm

    Thanks a million, you have no idea how much this helped. Saved my grade lol.

  • Montreo parks September 4, 2015, 3:04 pm

    It really did help thanks

  • Carly Maddox August 25, 2015, 8:08 pm

    OMG!! Thanks soooo much. This helps me so much. You have no idea. So clear and easy-to understand, too.

  • Sam Vaughan August 11, 2015, 7:55 pm

    THANKS!!!!

  • Darwin March 12, 2015, 12:48 pm

    Oh my gosh, thank you, this helped alot

  • Darwin March 11, 2015, 12:22 pm

    Thank you so much for helping me with mla format.

  • Morgan February 26, 2015, 9:02 pm

    Oh my gosh, this is SO helpful! I hate using Word, so this is a great alternative. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

  • Mickey Goularte September 29, 2014, 3:06 pm

    This is the best tutorial I have seen, and I would like to use it in my classes

    Mickey Goularte
    Common Core Coach
    Monache High School

Leave a Comment