How to Do a Hanging Indent in PowerPoint

You’re deep into designing a slide. You’ve got bullet points, text boxes and maybe even an inspirational quote if you’re feeling fancy. Then suddenly, you hit a wall: you need a hanging indent. You know, where the first line sticks out and the rest are indented. You’ve seen it in MLA citations, legal references and formal documents. But can you do a hanging indent in PowerPoint?

Yes. Yes, you can.

It’s not immediately obvious, and you won’t find a giant “Hanging Indent” button, but the option is there. You just need to know how to do it, and that’s exactly what this guide will show you.

What Is a Hanging Indent?

Let’s clear this up before we dive in, just to make sure we’re all talking about the same thing: A hanging indent is when the first line of a paragraph starts flush left, and the remaining lines are indented. It’s the opposite of a regular paragraph indent.

You’ve definitely seen it before, but since there is no easy way to implement it on many websites, here is a visual to clear up any confusion there might be.

That’s an example that is commonly used for citations, bibliographies and legal documents. Of course, sometimes, they are even used in PowerPoint presentations.

Why Would You Want a Hanging Indent in PowerPoint?

A hanging indent isn’t the type of thing you’ll be using every day, at least for most people. And really, most PowerPoint text boxes aren’t designed with detailed formatting in mind. But sometimes, you’re presenting research or quoting sources, and you’re creating a professional presentation for an audience that expects properly cited sources.

Whether you’re working on a presentation for school, work or your master’s thesis defense, knowing how to format properly in PowerPoint helps your slides look more polished and professional. And for those reasons, it’s an important skill to know.

How to Create a Hanging Indent in PowerPoint

Creating a hanging indent in PowerPoint is probably easier than you think, and there are a couple ways to do it. Follow these steps and determine which option works best for your needs.

Using the Ruler

Step 1: Type or Paste Your Text

Start by typing out your text in a text box or content placeholder. This could be your citation, paragraph or whatever content needs that hanging indent.

Make sure it’s not just a bullet point list. You’ll need it in paragraph format for this to work.

Step 2: Open the Ruler

Here’s the key step most people miss.

Go to the View tab.
Check the box for Ruler in the Show group.

The ruler will appear at the top of your slide. This gives you visual control over where each line of text starts.

Step 3: Adjust the Indent Markers

Now click inside the paragraph you want to format. On the ruler, you’ll see two markers:

Top triangle: First line indent
Bottom triangle: Hanging indent
Rectangle below: Left indent (moves both triangles together)

To create a hanging indent:

Drag the bottom triangle (hanging indent) to the right as far as necessary.
Leave the top triangle (first line) at 0.

Now, your first line remains at the left margin, and all following lines are indented. Just like that, you’ve created a hanging indent in PowerPoint.

Using the Paragraph Dialog Box

If you don’t like the idea of dragging sliders around, there is another option. You can use the paragraph dialog box to accomplish the same task.

Select your text.
Right-click and choose Paragraph Options or launch the dialog box from the Home tab.
Under Indentation, go to Special and select Hanging.
Adjust the value and hit OK.

creating a hanging indent using paragraph dialog box in powerpoint

This method can be more precise and easier to repeat if you’re working across multiple slides. It just might not be the preferred option if you are wanting to change only one slide.

Keep in mind that hanging indents will work on both PowerPoint Online and in the desktop app. As usual, the user interface might look a little different and the steps may change between the two versions over time, but as of now, you should be able to follow what we outlined above for either PowerPoint version.

[More from Twistly: The Trick to Aligning Text Boxes in PowerPoint]

PowerPoint Hanging Indent vs. Word Hanging Indent

One other thing worth pointing out is that hanging indents work differently in PowerPoint than they do in Word. Actually, in Word, it could be argued that the process is even easier.

That’s because Word is built for document formatting. PowerPoint is built for visuals. So even though it supports hanging indents, the experience is a little clunkier. Still, if you’re citing references, including block quotes or formatting technical content, it’s totally doable. Just make sure that PowerPoint makes the most sense for your form of content so that you aren’t making things harder for yourself than they need to be.

Real Use Cases for Hanging Indents in PowerPoint

Still not sure why you would need to use a hanging indent? It comes up more often than you might think, especially if you are a student or working in an academic setting. If you’re wondering when you’d actually use this, here are a few common examples:

APA or MLA citations on a slide
Legal or policy references
Research presentations
Scientific posters
End-of-presentation bibliographies
Sourced quotes or data tables

Clean formatting matters, and anyone who works with structured info can benefit from this.

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It’s a small detail, but formatting like this is important. A clean, well-structured slide can make you look 10x more prepared, whether you’re presenting research or just want your sources to look legit. And while PowerPoint doesn’t make it easy, it is possible.

Now that you know how to do a hanging indent in PowerPoint, go forth and format like a pro.