APA margins: 1 inch on all sides and how to set them
Quick answer
APA 7th edition margins are 1 inch (2.54 cm) on all four sides of every page: top, bottom, left and right. That is the "Normal" setting in Microsoft Word and Google Docs. Some schools ask for a wider left margin on theses so pages can be bound.
What are the margins in APA 7?
They are 1 inch (2.54 cm) on every side, on every page. Word and Google Docs use that value by default.
| Side | Measurement |
|---|---|
| Top | 1 inch |
| Bottom | 1 inch |
| Left | 1 inch |
| Right | 1 inch |
How do I set margins in Word?
- Open the Layout tab.
- Click Margins, then Normal.
- If you do not see 1 inch, choose Custom Margins and enter 1" on each side.
- Under Size, check that the paper is Letter.
How do I set them in Google Docs?
Go to File, then Page setup, and enter 1" in all four margin boxes. Click "Set as default" so new documents start with the same settings.
What about theses and binding?
The manual stays at 1 inch. Universities that bind theses often widen the left margin to 1.5 inches. Check your department's handbook, because it overrides APA.
What if I use A4 paper?
The margin stays 1 inch. Only the paper size changes. If your school uses A4, keep the same margins.
Why does APA use 1 inch?
The inch is the unit of the original manual. A one-inch margin leaves room for annotations, printing and binding without losing text. Outside the United States the same measurement is written in centimeters: 2.54. That is why you will see guides that round to 2.5 cm. The difference is half a millimeter, but if your school gives an exact number, use the one your school gives.
How do I check that my margins are right?
There are three quick ways.
- Open the margin dialog. In Word: Layout, Margins, Custom Margins. All four values should read 1".
- Look at the ruler. Turn it on from the View tab and check that the text starts and ends where the gray zones begin.
- Print a test page. Measure with a physical ruler. This helps when your printer clips the edges.
If the document has several sections (title page, body, appendices), check each one. Word stores margins by section, and an old section can keep earlier values.
What about the header and footer?
The page number sits inside the top margin, at the right. You do not need to change the margin for it to fit: Word places the header 0.5 inch from the edge by default. Do not raise the top margin to "make room" or lower it to fit more text, because that breaks the rule.
How do I use a wider left margin without breaking the format?
If your school asks for 1.5 inches on the left for binding, apply that value to the whole document, not to a few pages. In Word, open Custom Margins, enter the value under Left and choose "Whole document" under "Apply to." Keep the other three margins at 1 inch unless your handbook says otherwise.
| Situation | Left | Top | Bottom | Right |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| APA 7 | 1" | 1" | 1" | 1" |
| Thesis with binding (example) | 1.5" | 1" | 1" | 1" |
| Handwritten work (rough guide) | 1" | 1" | 1" | 1" |
The last two rows are examples. Confirm with your school before using them.
What if the text does not reach the right margin?
That is normal. APA asks for left-aligned, unjustified text, so the right edge is uneven. Do not use justification to "fix" the right margin, because it adds uneven spaces between words and makes reading harder. If a long word leaves a large gap, hyphenation is possible, but APA recommends avoiding word breaks.
Which mistakes show up with margins?
- Pasting text that carries its own margins. Text pasted from the web or another file can bring block indents. Paste as plain text.
- Using the ruler instead of the dialog. Dragging the ruler markers changes a paragraph's indent, not the page margin.
- Making a table too wide. If a table passes the right margin, fit it to the window.
- Forgetting regional defaults. Google Docs may start in Letter or A4 depending on your region. Check the paper size first.
- Mixing orientations. If you need a landscape page for a large table, create a separate section and repeat the 1-inch margins.
What should I do before submitting?
Open the file one last time and scroll through every page. Look for pages where the text stops short of the bottom margin because of a stray page break, and for tables that spill past the right margin. If you export to PDF, check the exported file too, since a different printer driver or a missing font can shift the layout. Ten minutes of checking here saves a returned paper later.
Checklist
- 1 inch on all four sides
- Letter paper, or A4 if your school prefers it
- Wider left margin only if your school requires it
- Same margins on title page, text and references
Frequently asked questions
What are the margins for an APA paper?
One inch on all sides. This applies to the title page, the body of the paper and the reference list. It is the default margin in Word and Google Docs, so you usually only need to confirm it.
How do I change margins in Word?
Go to Layout, click Margins and choose Normal. If your version shows something else, choose Custom Margins and enter 1 inch for top, bottom, left and right. Then confirm the paper size is Letter.
Do APA margins change for a thesis?
The manual keeps 1 inch, but many universities ask for 1.5 inches on the left so binding does not cut off text. That is an institutional rule, so check your thesis handbook.