How to Align Text in LaTeX Like Left, Center, Right, and Justify

Text alignment is an important part of formatting documents. By default, LaTeX justifies text, which means it stretches spaces so that both left and right margins are even.

But sometimes you may want left, right, center, or fully justified alignment.

This tutorial explains all alignment methods in LaTeX with proper examples.

Standard LaTeX Environments and Commands

LaTeX provides specific environments and commands for text alignment.

Environment	LaTeX command
center	`\centering`
flushleft	`\raggedright`
flushright	`\raggedleft`
justify	`\justifying`

Note that justification requires the ragged2e package because LaTeX does not provide a built-in justify environment.

Single Column Alignment

Left Align

The flushleft environment is used to align text along the left margin. This keeps text on the left side without stretching spaces.

\begin{flushleft} ... \end{flushleft}

\begin{flushleft} ... \end{flushleft}: This environment ensures all text inside is aligned with the left margin. Unlike justification, spaces are not adjusted to equalize line lengths.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[document]{ragged2e}
\begin{document}
  \begin{flushleft}
   \section{What is Lorem Ipsum?}
      Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever     since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.
   \subsection{Why do we use it?}
      It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution.
  \end{flushleft}
\end{document}

Output :

Right Align

The flushright environment aligns all text to the right margin of the page. This is useful for specific headings or side notes.

\begin{flushright} ... \end{flushright}

\begin{flushright} ... \end{flushright}: This environment forces all enclosed text to align on the right side of the page. It does not adjust space between words.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[document]{ragged2e}
\begin{document}
  \begin{flushright}
   \section{What is Lorem Ipsum?}
     Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.
   \subsection{Why do we use it?}
     It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution.
  \end{flushright}
\end{document}

Output :

Center Align

The center environment places text in the middle of the page horizontally. It is commonly used for headings, equations, or figures.

\begin{center} ... \end{center}

\begin{center} ... \end{center}: This environment centers the text block horizontally on the page. It is ideal for titles or standalone content.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[document]{ragged2e}
\begin{document}
  \begin{center}
   \section{What is Lorem Ipsum?}
     Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever     since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.
   \subsection{Why do we use it?}
     It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution. Proin et massa et nisl porttitor tempor. Vestibulum volutpat enim nec orci egestas, sed iaculis lorem dignissim. Mauris nec lorem varius, malesuada nulla sit amet, posuere leo. Integer id risus et ligula tempus sagittis eu sit amet leo. Vestibulum maximus turpis aliquam neque ultrices imperdiet.
  \end{center}
\end{document}

Output :

Justify Align

Justification ensures text is aligned evenly on both margins. For this, you must use the ragged2e package.

\begin{justify} ... \end{justify}

\begin{justify} ... \end{justify}: This environment aligns text to both left and right margins by stretching word spacing where necessary. It creates a clean block-like appearance.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[document]{ragged2e}
\begin{document}
  \begin{justify}
   \section{What is Lorem Ipsum?}
     Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever     since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.
   \subsection{Why do we use it?}
     It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution. Proin et massa et nisl porttitor tempor. Vestibulum volutpat enim nec orci egestas, sed iaculis lorem dignissim. Mauris nec lorem varius, malesuada nulla sit amet, posuere leo. Integer id risus et ligula tempus sagittis eu sit amet leo. Vestibulum maximus turpis aliquam neque ultrices imperdiet.
  \end{justify}
\end{document}

Output :

Multi-Column Alignment

The multicol package lets you split text into multiple columns. You can apply left, right, center, or justify alignment inside it just like in single-column cases.

Left Align Multi-Column

The left-aligned multi-column layout combines multicol with flushleft.

\begin{multicols}{2} ... \end{multicols}

\begin{multicols}{2}: This command splits the text into two columns. The number inside braces defines how many columns to create.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{multicol,lipsum}
\begin{document}
  \begin{flushleft}
   \begin{multicols}{2}
    \section{What is Lorem Ipsum?}
    \lipsum[1][1-7]
    \subsection{Why do we use it?}
    \lipsum[2][1-4]
   \end{multicols}{2}
  \end{flushleft}
\end{document}

Output :

Right Align Multi-Column

Similar to single-column right alignment, but combined with multicols.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{multicol,lipsum}
\begin{document}
  \begin{flushright}
   \begin{multicols}{2}
    \section{What is Lorem Ipsum?}
    \lipsum[1][1-7]
    \subsection{Why do we use it?}
    \lipsum[2][1-4]
   \end{multicols}{2}
  \end{flushright}
\end{document}

Output :

Center Align Multi-Column

This combines multicols with the center environment to place two columns in the middle.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{multicol,lipsum}
\begin{document}
  \begin{center}
  \begin{multicols}{2}
  \section{What is Lorem Ipsum?}
   \lipsum[1][1-7]
  \subsection{Why do we use it?}
   \lipsum[2][1-4]
  \end{multicols}{2}
  \end{center}
  \end{document}

Output :

Fully Justified Align Multi-Column

For multi-column justification, use ragged2e with multicol.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[document]{ragged2e}
\usepackage{multicol,lipsum}
\begin{document}
  \begin{justify}
  \begin{multicols}{2}
  \section{What is Lorem Ipsum?}
   \lipsum[1][1-7]
  \subsection{Why do we use it?}
   \lipsum[2][1-4]
  \end{multicols}{2}
  \end{justify}
  \end{document}

Output :

Using Commands Instead of Environments

Instead of environments, LaTeX also provides commands that can be applied before paragraphs. They require the ragged2e package.

\RaggedRight, \Centering, \RaggedLeft, \justifying

\RaggedRight: Aligns text to the left margin like flushleft.
\Centering: Centers the following text, similar to center environment.
\RaggedLeft: Aligns text to the right margin like flushright.
\justifying: Fully justifies the text by adjusting word spacing. Requires ragged2e.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[document]{ragged2e}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\begin{document}
   \RaggedRight {\color{red} \verb|\RaggedRight| }\\ It has survived not only five centuries...
  
   \Centering {\color{red}\verb|\Centering| }\\ Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text...
   
   \RaggedLeft {\color{red}\verb|\RaggedLeft|} \\It has survived not only five centuries...
       
   \justifying {\color{red}\verb|\justifying| }\\ Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text...
\end{document}

Output :