Fix Extra Line Breaks Added in Google Docs to PDF
Extra line breaks in a PDF that were not visible in the Google Doc are almost always caused by hidden paragraph marks, spacing settings on paragraph styles, or section breaks adding extra space. Here is how to find and remove them.
Show paragraph marks to find hidden breaks
Press Ctrl+Shift+8 (or Cmd+Shift+8 on Mac) in the Google Doc to show paragraph marks and hidden characters. Every paragraph mark represents a paragraph, which takes up at least one line of space in the PDF. Delete any empty paragraph marks that are not supposed to be there.
Check paragraph spacing settings
Paragraph styles in Google Docs often have 'Space before' or 'Space after' values set. These can add whitespace in the PDF that is not visible in normal editing view. Select the paragraphs with extra space, go to Format > Line and paragraph spacing, and set 'Space before' and 'Space after' to 0 if you do not want extra spacing.
Section breaks adding blank space
Next page section breaks always push content to the next page, adding blank space between the end of one section and the start of the next. If you used a next-page section break where a continuous break would work, replace it. Position your cursor on the section break, delete it, and re-insert with Insert > Break > Section break (continuous).
Table of contents generating extra lines
A table of contents inserted in Google Docs sometimes adds extra blank lines above or below it in the PDF. Select the lines above and below the table of contents, show paragraph marks, and delete any empty paragraphs that appear adjacent to it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are there extra blank lines between paragraphs in my PDF but not in Google Docs?
The paragraph style has 'Space before' or 'Space after' set to a value greater than zero. In normal view this can be hard to see. Select the paragraphs, go to Format > Line and paragraph spacing > Remove space before paragraph (and after), then re-export.
How do I find the section break that is adding extra space?
Enable paragraph marks with Ctrl+Shift+8. Section breaks show as a dotted line with the break type labeled. A 'Next page' section break will always add at least one blank page or significant blank space. Change it to a continuous break if you do not want the page jump.
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