MLA format in Word: every setting for an MLA 9 paper, and where it lives

An MLA 9 paper has eight formatting rules, and every one of them maps to a single Word setting. This guide lists them in the order a marker checks them, with the setting next to each. If you would rather not set them by hand, the free MLA paper formatter applies all eight to a .docx in about thirty seconds and returns an itemised report; the MLA format checker reports without changing anything.

1. Typeface and size

Times New Roman, 12 point, for everything: heading block, title, body, quotations, Works Cited. MLA allows any legible typeface whose italic is clearly distinct from its regular, but Times New Roman 12 is what every rubric expects. Word: select all, Home, font and size.

2. Double spacing, nothing extra

Line spacing 2.0 throughout, with the space before and after each paragraph set to 0. The extra paragraph space Word adds by default is the most common MLA formatting fault, because it makes every paragraph break look like a blank line. Word: Layout, Paragraph, Spacing Before 0, After 0, Line spacing Double.

3. One-inch margins

One inch on all four sides. Word's default is already one inch on most templates, but files that began life as something else often carry 0.75 or 1.25. Word: Layout, Margins, Normal.

4. First-line indent of half an inch

Every body paragraph begins half an inch in, set as an indent, not typed as spaces or a tab. Word: Paragraph, Indentation, Special: First line, 0.5".

5. The heading block

Four lines, flush left, at the top of page 1: your name, your instructor, the course, the date as day month year. Double-spaced like everything else, no blank lines between them, no bold. MLA has no title page. The heading block guide covers the details.

6. The title

On the line after the date, centred, plain: no bold, underline, italics, quotation marks, or larger size. Title case. Body text begins on the next line with its normal indent.

7. The running head

Your surname and the page number, top right of every page, half an inch from the top: "Okafor 3". Word: Insert, Header, type your surname and a space, then Insert, Page Number, Current Position. Using the field, not typed digits, is the point; typed numbers are wrong after the first edit.

8. Works Cited

A new page, heading "Works Cited" centred and plain, entries double-spaced in alphabetical order with a half-inch hanging indent. Word: insert a page break before the heading; select the entries, Paragraph, Indentation, Special: Hanging, 0.5". The Works Cited guide covers entry construction and citation matching.

Checking the whole paper at once

Each rule is a one-minute fix on its own. The problem is that a paper written over two weeks accumulates exceptions: a paragraph pasted from notes in Calibri, a quotation with single spacing, a heading someone made bold. Upload the file and the checker reports every one of the eight rules as pass or needs-attention, with the paragraph counts behind each verdict, so you can see what a marker will see before they do.