Boxing words in microsoft word

Achieve more control and flexibility with your documents

Updated on September 11, 2022

What to Know

• Select Insert > Text Box > choose a text box template. Select and drag box to the position you want.
• To resize text, select and drag circles around the edge. To rotate text, select and drag the circular arrow.
• Place the cursor inside the text box and type the information you want to appear.

This article explains how to use text boxes in Microsoft Word. Instructions apply to Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, and Word 2013.

How to Insert a Text Box in Word

Start by opening the document you want to add a text box to. Then follow the steps below.

1. On the ribbon, select Insert.

2. In the Text group, select Text Box, then choose a text box template.

3. The new text box appears in the middle of the text, and the Shape Format tab is automatically selected.

4. Select and drag the box to the position you want. To resize the text box, select and drag the circles around the edge. To rotate the text box, select and drag the circular arrow at the top of the box.

5. Place the cursor inside the text box and type the information you want to appear there.

Why Use Text Boxes?

When you type text in Microsoft Word, you have options for making it look a particular way on the page (such as changing the page margins), but those options are limited. Text boxes expand your formatting repertoire by offering additional control and flexibility for how your text appears. You can place a text box anywhere within a document and format it with different colors and fonts. This feature is especially helpful for creating a blockquote or a sidebar.

Customize a Text Box

After you create a text box, you can customize it in a number of ways.

1. To bring up options, place the cursor inside the text box and right-click. Choose an option and follow the screen prompts to add a border, change the style, or adjust the way the text box interacts with the other text on the page.

   Alternatively, use the controls on the Shape Format tab.

2. To go directly to the Layout Options menu, select the text box, then select the Layout Options icon (it looks like a horseshoe and is located to the right of the text box).

3. Change the text, make more adjustments, or move the box to another location at any time. To delete a text box, select its border, then press Delete on the keyboard.

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3 Ways to Keep Text Together in Microsoft Word Documents

by Avantix Learning Team | Updated April 5, 2021

Applies to: Microsoft^® Word^® 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019,  2021 and 365 (Windows)

You can keep text together in several ways in Word. If you want to keep words or characters together, you can use nonbreaking spaces or nonbreaking hyphens or dashes and insert them using a dialog box or a keyboard shortcut. If you want to keep lines or paragraphs together on the same page, you can apply settings in the Paragraph dialog box (which can be built into styles if you use styles).

You may want to keep the lines in a paragraph together so that the paragraph doesn’t break across pages or you may want to keep a paragraph with the next paragraph and avoid inserting manual page breaks. This can be accomplished easily using the Paragraph dialog box (and can be built into styles if you use styles).

It’s important to understand some key paragraph concepts:

• A paragraph in Word is anything with a hard return after it (you have pressed Enter or Return).
• It’s best to eliminate any blank paragraphs in a long document.
• You can view paragraph marks or symbols by clicking Show/Hide ¶ on the Home tab in the Ribbon in the Paragraph group.

Recommended article: 14 Timesaving Microsoft Word Selection Shortcuts to Quickly Select Text

Do you want to learn more about Microsoft Word? Check out our virtual classroom or live classroom Word courses >

Keeping lines together in a paragraph

To keep the lines in a paragraph together on the same page in Word using the Ribbon:

1. Select the paragraph in the Word document with the text you want to keep together. You can simply click in the paragraph to select it.
2. Click the Home tab in the Ribbon and click the dialog box launcher on the bottom right of the Paragraph group. The Paragraph dialog box appears.
3. Select the Line and Page breaks tab. Word displays options to keep the lines of the paragraph together or to keep the paragraph with the next paragraph.
4. Check Keep lines together.
5. Click OK. The paragraph will no longer break across pages.

Below is the Paragraph dialog box in Word with Keep lines together selected:

You can also use a context menu to access the Paragraph dialog box (right-click in a paragraph and choose Paragraph from the drop-down menu).

Keeping a paragraph with the next paragraph

To keep a paragraph on the same page with the next paragraph using the Ribbon:

1. Click in the paragraph you want to keep with the next paragraph (the next paragraph should not be a blank paragraph).
2. Click the Home tab in the Ribbon.
3. Click the dialog box launcher on the bottom right of the Paragraph group. The Paragraph dialog box appears.
4. Select the Line and Page breaks tab.
5. Check Keep with next.
6. Click OK.

You can also use a context menu to access the Paragraph dialog box (right-click in a paragraph and choose Paragraph from the drop-down menu).

Keeping text together with nonbreaking spaces

If you want specific words or characters to stay together on the same line (such as De Marco), you can use nonbreaking spaces instead of regular spaces.

To insert a nonbreaking space between two words or characters using a keyboard shortcut:

1. Position the cursor between the two words or characters you want to keep together (there should be no space between these characters).
2. Press Ctrl + Shift + Spacebar. Word inserts a nonbreaking space.

To insert a nonbreaking space between two words or letters using the Ribbon:

1. Position the cursor between the two words or characters you want to keep together (there should be no space between these characters).
2. Click the Insert tab in the Ribbon.
3. Click Insert Symbol and then More Symbols in the drop-down menu. A dialog box appears.
4. Select the Special Characters tab.
5. Select Nonbreaking space and click Insert.
6. Click Close. Word inserts a nonbreaking space.

Below is the Insert Symbol dialog box to insert a non-breaking space:

Keeping text together with nonbreaking hyphens or dashes

You can also use nonbreaking hyphens or dashes to keep words or characters together (such as co-ordinator or 416‑222‑9999).

To insert a nonbreaking hyphen between two words or characters using a keyboard shortcut:

1. Position the cursor between the two words or characters you want to keep together (there should be no space between these characters).
2. Press Ctrl + Shift + Underscore (_). Word inserts a nonbreaking hyphen.

To insert a nonbreaking hyphen between two words or characters using the Ribbon:

1. Position the cursor between the two words or characters you want to keep together (there should be no space between these characters).
2. Click the Insert tab in the Ribbon.
3. Click Insert Symbol and then More Symbols in the drop-down menu. A dialog box appears.
4. Select the Special Characters tab.
5. Select Nonbreaking hyphen and click Insert.
6. Click Close. Word inserts a nonbreaking hyphen.

To view nonbreaking spaces, nonbreaking hyphens and paragraph marks:

1. Click the Home tab in the Ribbon.
2. Click the Show/Hide ¶ in the Paragraph group.

You can turn off the symbols by clicking on the same button.

You can also quickly find and remove nonbreaking spaces or hyphens using the Replace dialog box.

To find and remove nonreaking spaces or hyphens:

1. Press Ctrl + H. The Replace dialog box appears. You can also click the Home tab in the Ribbon and click Replace in the Editing group.
2. Click More to expand the dialog box if necessary.
3. Click in the Find What box.
4. Click Special. A drop-down menu appears.
5. Select nonbreaking space or nonbreaking hyphen.
6. Ensure the Replace with box is empty.
7. Click Find Next. Word should find the first nonbreaking space or nonbreaking hyphen.
8. Click Replace or Replace All.
9. Click Close.

Below is the Replace dialog box:

Although all of these techniques will keep text together, keeping paragraphs together is the most important. If you start using paragraph formatting to keep specific paragraphs together, you can avoid using manual page breaks for pagination.

This article was originally published on July 14, 2017 and has been updated for clarity and content.

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