
Show Formatting is a basic option that Microsoft Word provides you as default. But Google Docs has no inbuilt option to show formatting as of now.
But, there is a way to achieve this, i.e., with the help of an add-on called Show. So, as part of this article, we will discuss how we can get the show formatting option in Google Docs with the help of the Show add-on.
Table Of Contents
Google Docs Show Formatting
As discussed, there is no default option Google Docs is providing to show formatting. So, we need to install the Show add-on to get the formatting options in Google Docs. Follow the below quick steps to install the Show app.
- Navigate to https://docs.google.com/ and open your existing Google Docs document.
- Click on the Add-ons –> Select Get add-ons option.

3. Search for Show and click on the search result “Show” application.

4. Click on the Install button.

5. Provide your Google account credentials and click on the Allow button.
6. Finally, click on the Done button to complete the installation.
7. Now, click on Add-ons –> Select Show application –> Show –> You can see the Spaces, Tabs, Page breaks, Line breaks, etc. You can even hide, highlight symbols, etc.

8. When I selected Spaces on the above window, you can see below that it is highlighted wherever space is.

How To Show White Space In Google Docs
To show white space in Google Docs, Follow the below instructions
- Open your Google Docs document.
- Click on Add-ons –> Select Show application –> Show –> Select the Spaces option.
You can refer to the above screenshots for more details.
Note: Sometimes, after installing the Show add-on, while trying to access, you can able to see only the help option. In that case, try uninstalling the Show application and reinstall the Show-add-on, Now you will all the options.
Google Docs Show Page Breaks
You can follow the below quick steps to view page breaks in Google Docs.
- Open your Google Docs document where you want to view the page breaks.
- Click on View –> Select the Print layout option.

You may also like following the articles below
- Google Docs Formatting Issues
- How to copy formatting in Google Docs
- How to clear formatting in Google Docs
Wrapping Up
In this article, we have discussed the Google Docs Show Formatting option. Hope you have enjoyed this article !!!

I am Rajkishore, and I have over 14 years of experience in the Software Industry. For a long time, I have been using Google Docs, Google Drive, and Google Sheets for my document usage, and I am sharing all the tips and tricks, the challenges I have come across, and their solutions to use Google Docs for your day-to-day use. I hope you will learn from these practical Google Docs tutorials. Read more.