Document Formatting

How to Change Line Spacing in LaTeX

Many journals and universities require a specific line spacing for the whole paper. Use the setspace package in the preamble — \onehalfspacing for 1.5, \doublespacing for drafts, or \setstretch for a custom multiplier.

1.5, single, and double spacing (setspace)

Put setspace in the preamble and pick one command. \onehalfspacing is the usual 1.5 line spacing LaTeX journals and theses ask for:

\usepackage{setspace}

% Apply to the whole document:
\singlespacing       % Single spacing (default)
\onehalfspacing      % 1.5 spacing
\doublespacing       % Double spacing

Custom stretch with \setstretch

\setstretch takes a multiplier of normal leading. Prefer this (or the named commands above) over \linespread, which does not fix footnotes, floats, and captions the way setspace does:

\usepackage{setspace}

% In the preamble — whole document:
\setstretch{1.0}    % single
\setstretch{1.3}    % about 1.5 (\onehalfspacing is ~1.25–1.33)
\setstretch{1.5}    % 1.5× explicitly
\setstretch{1.6}    % about double (\doublespacing is ~1.6–1.667)

% Example: 1.5 line spacing for the paper
\setstretch{1.5}

One paragraph or quote only

Need different spacing for a block quote or a single paragraph? Do not change the preamble. Use a setspace environment instead — see Change line spacing for one paragraph or quote (/learn/change-line-spacing-single-paragraph).

% Keep global spacing in the preamble (e.g. \doublespacing).
% Wrap only the quote or paragraph — details:
% /learn/change-line-spacing-single-paragraph

Space between paragraphs (not line spacing)

\parskip is the gap between paragraphs, not the stretch inside a paragraph:

% Space between paragraphs:
\setlength{\parskip}{1em}

% Or parskip package (also removes indent):
\usepackage{parskip}

\setlength{\parindent}{0pt}
\setlength{\parskip}{6pt}

💡 Tips

•Journal templates often set line spacing for you — check the class before adding setspace.
•Double spacing is common for draft and review submissions; 1.5 (\onehalfspacing) is common for theses.
•setspace usually leaves footnotes and captions closer to single spacing, which is what most styles want.
•For one quote or paragraph only, see /learn/change-line-spacing-single-paragraph — not another \setstretch in the preamble.

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