Google Docs allows you to experiment with various styles and formats and chances are you often end up getting confused with all the changes. This is a common suffering and the easiest way out is by reverting to the default Google Docs settings.

The problem that arises here is that you can’t revert to the default settings for all the aspects in a single click. Therefore, you must understand how to reset to default for various formats and settings that affect your document. In this article, we will be discussing each under a separate heading for your better understanding.

Resetting Formatting to Default Settings in Google Docs

Formatting plays an important role in any document and one needs a clear grasp of the process of resetting to the default settings. To reset formatting, there are two ways, namely, the ‘Clear formatting’ option in the Format menu and the ‘Paste without formatting’ option.

Both methods have their pros and cons and you have to select the one that suits your requirement.

Using ‘Clear Formatting’ to Reset to Default Formatting

This method is used when the content to be formatted is already present in the document. It only changes the font style and related stuff without removing any hyperlinks. The drawback of this method is that the highlighted text you reset to the default format might not match with the other text in the document. Therefore, pay special attention to this aspect if it affects you.

To reset to default format settings, highlight the relevenat text and click on ‘Format’ in the top ribbon.

You will now have a lot of formatting options in the drop-down menu. Select ‘Clear formatting’ from the list.

The highlighted text will be reset to the default format set for the document.

Also, for those who find keyboard shortcuts more convenient, you can press CTRL + \ to reset the text to default format settings.

Using ‘Paste Without Formatting’ to Reset to Default Formatting

If you have something copied to the clipboard, you can reset the text to default formatting while pasting it. When you use this method, the font style of the pasted text will be the same as that of the text before it. Also, all the hyperlinks and pictures that were copied along with the text will not be pasted. In simple words, all you get is plain text.

To use this method, all you have to do is place the text cursor where you want to paste the content, right-click, and then select ‘Paste without formatting’ from the context menu.

You can also use the CTRL + SHIFT + V keyboard shorcut to make save time and make the process convenient.

Resetting Dictionary to Default Settings

There are many words that you use that are not a part of the conventional English language. Also, there are certain jargons that might not be recognized by Google Docs and end up being underlined in red color. You can always add these to the ‘Personal Dictionary’ on Google Docs.

However, after a long time, you may have by mistake added some incorrect words, or the ones you earlier added are not to be used anymore. Whatever be the case, you can always remove words from the ‘Personal Dictionary’. One thing that disappoints here is that you cannot remove all the words at once, rather, you have to delete them individually.

To remove words from the ‘Personal Dictionary’, click on the ‘Tool’ icon in the ribbon.

Next, select ‘Spelling and grammar’ from the drop-down menu. A context menu now pops up, click on ‘Personal dictionary’ from the list of options in the menu.

The ‘Personal Dictionary’ window will now open where all the words that you have added are displayed. To remove a word from it, hover the cursor over the word and then click on the ‘Delete’ icon that appears. You can similarly remove all the words that you want to from the ‘Personal Dictionary’.

After you have removed the words, click on ‘OK’ at the bottom-right to apply the changes.

The window will close as soon as you click on ‘OK’ and you can continue working on the document.

Resetting Margins to Default Settings

Margins are integral to a document and specify where the text line begins and ends in a document. It enhances the clarity and readability of the text.

The margins can easily be changed from the ruler at the top and sides of the document. However, many a time, a user may modify them by mistake and need to reset them to the default setting. The default margin for Google Docs is 1 inch or 2.54 cm.

Related: How to Edit, Adjust and Change Margins in Google Docs

To reset the margin to the default setting, click on the ‘File’ menu in the ribbon at the top.

Next, select ‘Page setup’, the second last option in the drop down menu.

The margins for the current document are specified on the right. As already mentioned above, the default margin is 1 inch or 2.54 cm on each side. Change all the margins by clicking on the four text boxes individually and replacing the current value with ‘1’. Also, while making the changes, make sure that ‘Apply to’ is set to ‘Whole document’ so that the changes are applied throughout.

After you have changed the value of individual margins, click on ‘OK’ at the bottom to save the changes.

You will now notice that all the margins in the document have changed to 1 inch.

Resetting Paragraph Styles to Default Setting

To reset paragraph style to default, luckily, you don’t have to remove all the formatting individually. Rather, Google Docs allows you the option to reset all the paragraphs at once.

To reset the paragraph settings, select the ‘Format’ menu from the top ribbon.

Now, select ‘Paragraph styles’, the second option in the drop-down menu. Next, select ‘Options’ in the context menu that appears, and then finally click on ‘Reset styles’.

The paragraph styles will be set to the default setting. This may at times not get you the desired result, therefore it is recommended that you once check the document for any flaws in formatting.

Resetting Printer to Default Settings

Trying to print a document but the result ain’t what you expected? You or someone else who uses the computer might have modified the printer settings. You have two options, either to identify the changes that were earlier made or to reset to the default browser settings. The first option is time-consuming and the chance of success is low while the second one is a sure-shot thing.

However, one of the drawbacks of resetting to the default settings is that you will also lose some of the data such as pinned tab, start-up page and will disable all the extensions but it won’t affect saved bookmarks, passwords, or browser history.

To reset the printer settings, click on the ellipsis (three dots) at the top-right corner of the browser and then select ‘Settings’ from the drop-down menu.

On the left, you will see different tabs for settings. Click on the ‘Advanced’ option.

You will now find a new set of options appear on the screen. Click on ‘Reset and clean up’, the last option from the list.

Next, select ‘Restore settings to their original defaults’ to reset the browser settings.

A confirmation box will pop up, all that is now left to do is to click on ‘Reset settings’.

After you have reset the browser to the default settings, you can now easily print documents according to the initial settings that were modified.

Resetting Header and Footer Margin to Default Setting

Headers are footers are margins at the top and bottom of the page used to specify the information that you want to include on every page of the document. It could be the page number, the writer’s name, and other related stuff.

The margin is the distance of the header and footer from the top and bottom of the page respectively.

To reset the header and footer outline, select the ‘Format’ menu from the top.

Next, a drop-down menu appears with multiple formatting options. Select ‘Headers & footers’ from the list.

In the ‘Headers & footers’ window that opens, you can now enter the desired margin. By default, the margins are set to ‘0.5 inches’ for both the header and footer. After you have made the required changes, click on ‘Apply’ at the bottom to save them.

The header and footer margins in the document will change according to the value you entered above.

You are now well versed in the whole process of resetting the various settings to the default state. Working on Google Docs will now be easier than ever.