Right-to-left paragraph direction controls the reading flow of languages such as Arabic or Hebrew in Google Docs. It is different from merely aligning an English paragraph to the right edge.
Show the direction controls if needed
- From a Google Docs home screen, open its menu and Settings.
- Enable Always show right-to-left controls if the controls are not already available.
- Confirm the setting.
- Open the intended document.
Google can also show these controls automatically when right-to-left text is present. The home-screen preference applies across Docs, Sheets, and Slides, so understand that scope before changing it.
Set the paragraph’s direction
Click in or select the intended paragraph and use the toolbar’s Paragraph direction control. Check mixed content such as numbers, punctuation, and a short English product name within the sentence.
Do not reverse characters manually to imitate right-to-left writing. The text should retain its meaningful underlying sequence, with the editor’s direction controls handling presentation.
Check tables and mixed-language content
Table column order is a separate setting from paragraph direction. If a table needs right-to-left ordering, inspect its table options rather than changing every cell’s paragraph alignment as a workaround.
Review the document in the language’s actual reading order and inspect the exported output. A right-aligned paragraph is not proof of correct bidirectional text behavior. Check a representative URL or product code as well as ordinary prose. Ask a competent reader of the language to review important mixed-language material, particularly where punctuation, dates, or identifiers could be misread.
References
Reviewed against the linked official product guidance on November 3, 2026. Features, limits, screen labels, and access can vary by account, platform, region, and organization policy.