Clean Up Your Document: How to Remove Extra Spaces in Google Docs

When you create a document on Google Docs, it’s time to format the text to ensure it looks professional and usable. One commonly faced issue is the extra spacing between words, lines, and paragraphs. When there are multiple instances of this issue, it can turn cumbersome. If you’ve ever wondered about the method to remove extra spaces in Google Docs, understand that it’s easy. 

Select the text to remove extra spaces between lines and click Format -> Line & paragraph spacing -> Choose one of the spacing options. You need to use Find & Replace option to remove extra spaces between words. However, to bring paragraphs together, select the text and click Format -> Line & paragraph spacing -> Add space before/after paragraph. 

While that sounds easier, it needs to be done step-by-step, and this article explains the same with supporting screenshots. 

How To Remove Extra Spaces In Google Docs

Extra spaces amidst text in Google Docs can affect the document’s readability. It can often happen during an editing procedure or if you’re working in a hurry. 

If that sounds like your experience, you can always remove extra spaces, and Google Docs lets you do that easily with a couple of clicks. However, identify the type of extra space in Google Docs – is it between two words or paragraphs? You can look at the strategy accordingly. 

Line Spacing

In conventional documents, you can notice that most documents have lines close to each other. That’s a single-line spacing. Due to the needs of users, there are more line spacing options. 

To remove extra spaces between lines in Google Docs, follow the steps below:

1. Open the document on Google Docs. 
2. Select the text that needs to be fixed. 
3. Click Format on the menu bar and select Line & paragraph spacing. 

4. You can see single, 1.15, 1.5, and double on the right. Choose one of them. 

The new format immediately applies to the text. 

Paragraph Spacing

What if there are excess spaces between paragraphs in Google Docs? You can still address them. 

To remove extra spaces between paragraphs in Google Docs, follow the steps below:

1. Open the document on Google Docs.
2. Select the text that needs to be fixed. 
3. Click Format on the menu bar and select Line & paragraph spacing. 
4. Choose one of these options -> add space before paragraph or add space after paragraph. 

This eliminates unwanted spaces and brings them together. It quickly fixes the readability of the document. 

Word Spacing

The trickiest part about spacing is when it happens in multiple instances, especially between two words. It can look clumsy and also consumes time to remove those spaces. 

Note that you can remove extra spaces between words in one go. 

1. Open the document on Google Docs.
2. Click Edit -> Find and Replace. 

3. On the find and replace dialog box, hit the space bar twice on the first placeholder (find) and hit it once on the second placeholder (replace with). 

4. Click Replace All. 

You can repeat the same approach to remove multiple spaces between words in one go. Isn’t this approach a time-saver?

Final Thoughts

Removing extra spaces is critical to submitting a professional document to your target audience. Sometimes, it can happen in a couple of clicks, but in most cases, it’s assumed to be a roundabout solution. This article breaks the myth with easy steps that can remove unwanted spaces without a hassle.