Hanging indent

In a hanging indent, the first line of a paragraph sits flush at the left margin (or at the paragraph's set indent) while all subsequent lines are pushed to the right by a fixed amount — typically 0.5 inch / 1.27 cm. This is the opposite of a first-line indent, where only the first line is pushed in. Hanging indents make wrapped lines easy to scan, which is why APA, MLA, and Chicago all require them for reference and Works Cited entries: the author's name and citation number stay visible on the left edge. In Word you create one via Home > Paragraph dialog launcher > Indentation > Special > Hanging, or by dragging the lower triangle on the horizontal ruler while leaving the upper (first-line) marker at the margin; the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+T increases a hanging indent. Bulleted and numbered lists also rely on hanging indents so that the bullet or number hangs to the left of the text that wraps beneath it. When hanging indents are applied inconsistently — some references indented, some not, or uneven indent depths — a document looks unprofessional and can fail a style check. Veermat can normalize indentation across a .docx so hanging indents are applied consistently without you re-dragging ruler markers on every entry.