Sr-or Fe-doped In 2 O 3 hollow sub-microspheres were successfully fabricated without the assistance of any additives or templates. The obtained hollow In 2 O 3 sub-microspheres show relatively uniform size and band gap of $3.1 eV. Benefited from the hollow microstructure and doping effect, the doped In 2 O 3 submicrospheres show excellent gas sensing performance towards a series of organic solvents. For 100 ppm of formaldehyde, the Sr-and Fe-doped In 2 O 3 sensors demonstrate sensing responses of 9.4 and 5.5, respectively. These values are much higher than previously reported In 2 O 3 -based gas sensors.Interestingly, Fe-doped In 2 O 3 shows relatively higher sensing response to propanol than that of Srdoped In 2 O 3 , although towards formaldehyde, ethanol, acetone and heptane, Sr-doped In 2 O 3 shows relatively higher sensing responses. This investigation therefore indicates that doped In 2 O 3 hollow microstructures could be an effective platform for sensing hazardous indoor formaldehyde gas, and that sensing selectivity could be improved through the doping effect.