Lower underline in word

Word for Microsoft 365 Word 2021 Word 2019 Word 2016 Word 2013 Word 2010 Word 2007 More…Less

Underline words and the spaces between them

The quickest way to underline text is to press Ctrl+U and start typing. When you want to stop underlining, press Ctrl+U again.

You can also underline text and spaces in several other ways.

What do you want to do?

Example

Underline words and the spaces between them

Example of single underline

Underline words, but not the spaces between them

Change the underline style and color

Underline style and color

Use a double underline

Underline blank spaces

Remove underlining

text without underline

  1. Select the text that you want to underline.

  2. Go to Home > Underline. Or press Ctrl+U.

    Click Underline

Underline words, but not the spaces between them

  1. Select the text that you want to underline.

  2. Go to Home and select Font dialog box launcher Button image.

    Clicking the Font dialog box launcher

  3. Go to Font and select Words only in the Underline style drop-down list.

Change the underline style and color

  1. Select the text that you want to underline.

  2. Go to Home and select Font dialog box launcher Button image.

    Tip: You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+D.

    Clicking the Font dialog box launcher

  3. Use the Underline style drop-down list to select an underline style.

    Use the Underline color drop-down list to change the color of the line.

Use a double underline

  1. Select the text that you want to underline.

  2. Go to Home and select Font dialog box launcher Button image.

    Clicking the Font dialog box launcher

  3. Select double underline in the Underline style drop-down list.

Underline blank spaces

You can underline blank spaces by pressing Shift+Hyphen (-), but it is difficult to line up the underlines — if you are creating a fill-in form, for example. Also, if the AutoFormat option for changing underscore characters into border lines is turned on, pressing Shift+Hyphen (-) three or more times in a row will result in a line that extends the width of the paragraph, which may not be what you want.

A better way to underline blank spaces for a printed document is to use the Tab key and apply the underline formatting to the tab characters.

When you want to create an underline in an online form, insert table cells with the bottom border turned on.

Underline blank spaces for a printed document

To underline blank spaces for a printed document, use the Tab key and apply the underline formatting to the tab characters.

  1. Go to Home > Show/Hide ¶ so that you can see the marks that indicate spaces and tab stops.

  2. Press the Tab key.

  3. Select the tab characters that you want to underline. A tab character looks like a small arrow.

    Tab

  4. Do one of the following:

    • Press Ctrl+U to apply a simple underline.

    • To apply a different style of underline, go to Home and select Font dialog box launcher Button image.

      Select Underline style to choose a different underline style.

Underline blank spaces for an online document

To create an underline in an online document or form, insert a table cell with the bottom border turned on. This method ensures that when someone types on the line, the line stays in place.

  1. Click or tap where you want to insert a blank underline.

  2. Go to Insert > Table.

    Insert a table

  3. Select the upper-left box to insert a 1×1 Table.

    If you want to add introductory text, such as a name or Social Security Number, before the underline, insert a 2×1 Table.

    To change the length of the line, move the pointer over the end of the table until it becomes a resize pointer resize pointer (double-headed arrow), and then move the arrow right or left to lengthen or shorten the line.

  4. Click or tap in the table (or in the second table cell if you created a 2×1 table).

  5. The Table Tools appear. On the Design tab, select Borders > Borders and Shading.

  6. Under Setting, select None.

  7. Under Style, select the line type, color, and width that you want.

  8. In the diagram under Preview, click or tap between the lower margin markers to add the bottom border. Make sure only the bottom line is displayed.

    Note: If you prefer to view the table without the light gray gridlines that do not print, select the table, go to Layout next to the Table Design tab and select View Gridlines.

    If you used a 2×1 table to make room for introductory text, you can type the text before the line.

Remove underlining

To remove single underlining from words and spaces, select the underlined text and press Ctrl+U.

To remove other styles of underlining, press Ctrl+U twice.

Need more help?

Creating underline to certain sentence in Word 2016 can highlight the information you want to emphasize. Here I gathered 4 simple and pratical ways that can underline specific text in Word , let’s have a quick look.

1. Use Shortcut key to Underline Text

It may be the best known way of adding underline in Word. Select the content you want to emphasize, press Ctrl+U to underline it.

4 Ways to Create Underline in Word 2016

2. Underline Text with Font

Select the text, click the U symbal in Home tab. Or you can click the small black triangle next to it and choose the style of underline.

4 Ways to Create Underline in Word 2016

3. Underline Text with Table Border

1. Select the text, click the small black triangle next to Borders in Home.

4 Ways to Create Underline in Word 2016

2. But the underline created in this way will take up an entire line. For better result, you can click Insert tab and create a new table in the first place.

4 Ways to Create Underline in Word 2016

3. Input the content in the table, and resize it to adapt the text.

4 Ways to Create Underline in Word 2016

4. Right click the table and select Table Properties.

4 Ways to Create Underline in Word 2016

5. Click Borders and Shading.

4 Ways to Create Underline in Word 2016

6. Choose the style you like and disable the other three borders in Preview, then click OK.

4 Ways to Create Underline in Word 2016

6. Now you can see the result. Underline created in this way will be farther to the character than created by Ctrl+U.

4 Ways to Create Underline in Word 2016

4. Underline Text with Shapes

1. Click InsertShapes. Choose the straight line icon in Lines.

4 Ways to Create Underline in Word 2016

2. Underline the text directly. You can also choose the color of underline in Drawing Tools. If you feel difficult to draw a straight line, then press Shift key at the same time.

4 Ways to Create Underline in Word 2016

Copyright Statement: Regarding all of the posts by this website, any copy or use shall get the written permission or authorization from Myofficetricks.

Microsoft Word Logo on blue background

Underlining seems like a simple enough task in Microsoft Word, but many times there’s more involved. You can underline words, spaces, words with spaces, and words without spaces. We’ll show you several ways to use underline in Word.

Many people reserve underlining for web links while others find it a good way to emphasize text in a document. Along with the options for underlining words and spaces, you can format it as a double, bold, or dotted line and remove an underline you’ve added. Let’s walk through it all!

Underline Words With Spaces

The most uncomplicated way to underline in Word is words with spaces. You may have a phrase, sentence, or paragraph you want to underline.

Select the text and then apply the underline one of these ways:

  • Click the Underline button in the Font section of the Home tab.
  • Press Ctrl+U on Windows or Control+U on Mac.

Text underlined with spaces in Word

Underline Words Without Spaces

Underlining words without spaces takes a little more work, especially for sentences and paragraphs. You can select each word, one at a time, and then apply the underline as described above using the Underline button or keyboard shortcut. But there’s a faster way!

Select the text you want to underline, including the spaces. Right-click and pick “Font.”

Font in the context menu

In the Underline Style drop-down box, choose “Words Only.” You can see a preview at the bottom of the dialog box confirming that only the words are underlined and not the spaces. Then, click “OK.”

Word Only for the Underline Style

You should have your phrase, sentence, or paragraph with underlines only below the words.

Word underlined without spaces in Word

Underline Only Spaces

Maybe you’re creating a document such as a printable form where you want to underline spaces to make a blank line. You’d think that inserting several spaces and applying the underline to them would be the way to go. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. Here are two ways to underline spaces.

RELATED: How to Overline Text in Word

Method One: Use Tab Stops

You can use the default tab stops in Word which are 0.5 inches with each press of the Tab key. If you prefer, you can set up your own tab stops.

Press the Tab key the number of times necessary to cover the length you need. Then, select all of the tab stops you just inserted by dragging your cursor through them.

Selected tab stops

Click the Underline button in the ribbon or use a keyboard shortcut. You’ll then see your line, or underlined spaces.

Underlined tab stops

Method Two: Use a Table

Another way to create underlined spaces is by inserting a table and adjusting the borders. Go to the Insert tab and select the Table drop-down arrow. Choose the first square which is the one-by-one table.

One by one table size

When the table appears, it should stretch the width of your document. If not, drag the right side so that it does. Right-click and choose “Table Properties.”

Table Properties in the context menu

Click “Borders and Shading” at the bottom of the Table tab.

Borders and Shading on the Table tab

On the right side of the dialog box, click to remove the top and side borders, leaving only the bottom border. Click “OK” to apply the change.

Borders removed from the table

You’ll then have a single line as your “underlined spaces.”

Underlined spaces using a table

Change the Underline Format

You have a few different ways to change the format for your underline. You can pick a double underline, a bolder line, or a dotted line in a variety of styles. And you can change the line before or after you apply the underline to your text or spaces.

RELATED: How to Add a Dotted Line in a Microsoft Word Document

To change the line style at the time you apply the underline, select the text you want to underline. If you’ve already applied the underline, select all of the underlined text. Then, do one of the following.

Click the arrow next to the Underline button in the Font section of the Home tab. Select the line style you want to use.

Underline button styles

Right-click the selected text and pick “Font.”Choose the line in the Underline Style drop-down box and click “OK.”

Underline Styles in the Font box

If you used the table method above to underline spaces, select the table and head back to Table Properties > Borders and Shading. Then, use the options in the Style drop-down box.

Border Styles for a table

How to Remove an Underline

Removing an underline is as easy. Select the underlined text and click the Underline button in the Font section on the Home tab. This deselects the Underline button and removes the underline from your text.

Removed underline

Alternatively, you can use the shortcut Ctrl+U on Windows or Control+U on Mac.

Another way to remove an underline is to select the underlined text, right-click, and choose “Font.” Choose “None” in the Underline Style drop-down box and click “OK.”

None selected in the Font box

If you inserted a table for underlined spaces, you can remove the table by right-clicking it and choosing “Delete Table.”

Delete Table in the context menu

Knowing how to apply, format, and remove underlines in your Word documents is important if that’s your preferred method of emphasizing text. But you can also highlight text or apply a format like bold or italics.

READ NEXT

  • › BLUETTI Slashed Hundreds off Its Best Power Stations for Easter Sale
  • › HoloLens Now Has Windows 11 and Incredible 3D Ink Features
  • › The New NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Is Like an RTX 3080 for $599
  • › Google Chrome Is Getting Faster
  • › How to Adjust and Change Discord Fonts
  • › This New Google TV Streaming Device Costs Just $20


Asked by: Thalia Maggio

Score: 4.2/5
(14 votes)

A. Those underscores are very useful because they give users an alternative way—without the mouse—to activate many commands. … And then, if you want to activate one of the commands in the Format menu, keep holding down the Alt key and press the underlined letter in the menu list.

How do I turn off underlining?

Right-click on the underlined text you selected. Choose «Font» from the pop-up menu to reveal the Font screen. In the Underline Style box, select «(none).» Then click «OK» to remove the underlining.

Why there is an underline below some letters when I right click in my Windows 10?

These are simply shortcut keys that you can use to access the feature easier, unlike pressing Multiple Keys like BulldogXX described. When this menu is displayed on-screen, you can press any of the Underlined Keys to access that feature.

What does an underscored letter mean?

An underscore, also called an underline, low line or low dash, is a line drawn under a segment of text. In proofreading, underscoring is a convention that says «set this text in italic type», traditionally used on manuscript or typescript as an instruction to the printer.

What are shortcut underlines?

Source: Windows Central. On Windows 10, the underline keyboard shortcut is a feature that has been around for a long time, and it enables you to quickly navigate menus and select items of applications without the need to use the mouse.

27 related questions found

What does it mean when a letter is underlined in Windows?

The underlined letter convention is not limited to Word. It extends to many Windows applications—not just Microsoft. And it’s a handy shortcut. To speed a command, hold down the Alt key and then press a letter on the keyboard that corresponds to one of the underlined letters on the toolbar.

How do you underline letters in Word?

Underline words and the spaces between them

  1. Select the text that you want to underline.
  2. Go to Home > Underline. Or press Ctrl+U.

What does an underlined letter mean in a rough draft?

For example, if you handwrite the rough draft of your essay, you might use underlining to show your teacher where you’ll italicize in the final typed draft. Essays, school projects, and research papers will use italics for emphasis in the typed text per style guide and teacher expectations.

What is the difference between underline and underscore?

Use underline to describe text formatting that puts a line under the characters. Use underscore to refer to the underscore character ( _ ).

Which letter is used for underline in the button control?

Click the Underline button on the Formatting toolbar (Ctrl+U).

How do I remove the underline from desktop icons in Windows 10?

You can remove the underline by following these steps:

  1. Open Control Panel.
  2. Choose File Explorer Options (should be on Small icons view to see it).
  3. Under Click items as follows, click Underline icon titles only when I point at them or Double-click to open an item.
  4. Click Apply, then OK.

What is Ctrl F2?

Ctrl+F2 displays a print preview window in the Microsoft Word. Quickly rename a selected folder or file. Enter the CMOS Setup. F3. Often opens a search feature for many programs, including the Microsoft Windows.

How do I turn off auto underline in Word?

Open Word. Format—Font, uncheck underline, hit DEFAULT button. Hit OK. Hope it helps!

How do I turn off underline in Word?

In the “Font” tab, click the down arrow under the “Underline Style” option. Click “None” in the drop-down menu, then select the “OK” button. The underline is now removed from the selected hyperlinked text.

How do you underline text underscore?

Most word processing programs, such as Microsoft Word and OpenOffice, allow you to underline by pressing «CRTL»+»U» on your keyboard. The underscore is accessed by holding shift on your keyboard and pressing the hyphen key, which is usually located to the right of the «0» key.

Is underscore a punctuation?

An underscore is a character, not punctuation. … These days underscores are mostly used in passwords, e-mail addresses and the like. The symbol underscore [ _ ] (also called underline, underbar, low line, or low dash) is a character that originally appeared on the typewriter and was primarily used to underline words.

What does a underscore look like?

The underscore sign is mainly used to show a space where a space is not allowed, such as in internet usernames, email addresses and some computer programs. The underscore looks like a dash below the letters ( _ ). The underscore sign is also called: understrike.

What does the word underlined mean?

1 : to mark (something, such as a word) with a line underneath. 2 : to put emphasis on : stress. 3 : to show clearly or emphatically.

What titles should be underlined?

The words that often get emphasized are names of ships or planes, words used as themselves, foreign words, and titles of books, movies, songs, and other titled works. Italics and underlining are used today to emphasize titles of works such as books, poems, short stories, and articles.

Should a colon be underlined?

Do you underline a colon in a title? 6 Answers. The general rule seems to be to include the punctuation in the underlined text only if it is an integral part of the final word. Otherwise, if the punctuation is simply to end the piece of text — such as a period, semi-colon, and so on — it should not be underlined.

How do you underline letters?

Steps to Follow:

So, tap on the ‘A’ icon from the top menu bar. After tapping on that icon, you will see a few formatting and font-related options appear at the bottom of the screen. Among those options, you will find an icon that looks like a ‘U’ with an underscore. This is the underline icon.

Where is the underline on the keyboard?

On U.S. keyboards, the underscore key is shared with the hyphen key, which may be shown next to or above the hyphen symbol. To create the underscore, hold down Shift while also pressing — above the P key.

How do I remove double underline in Word?

The text at the insertion point (or the default empty paragraph in a new Word document has acquired double underline formatting. If this is the case, then selecting the text and pressing Ctrl+Spacebar (ResetFont) will clear it. Your Normal style has acquired double underline formatting.

Содержание

  • Способ 1: Табуляция
  • Способ 2: Пробелы
  • Способ 3: Символ
  • Способ 4: Таблица
  • Способ 5: Фигура
  • Вопросы и ответы

Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде

Способ 1: Табуляция

Одним из наиболее простых способов подчеркивания без текста в Microsoft Word является использование символов табуляции.

  1. Установите курсор в том месте документа, где требуется сделать подчеркивание. Нажмите клавишу «Tab» столько раз, чтобы это соответствовало желаемой длине будущего подчеркивания (при этом, если подчеркнуть требуется несколько пустых строк, лучше сначала создать одну, а затем скопировать ее нужное количество раз на следующие).
    Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_025

    Читайте также: Табуляция в Майкрософт Ворд

  2. Выделите с помощью мышки проставленную табуляцию.
  3. Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_026

  4. Нажмите на кнопку «Подчеркнутый», расположенную на верхней панели в группе инструментов «Шрифт» вкладки «Главная». Вместо этого можете воспользоваться клавишами «Ctrl+U».
  5. Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_027

    В документе Word появится подчеркивание, соответствующее по своему размеру количеству проставленных вами символов табуляции. Если требуется изменить вид используемой линии, разверните меню кнопки «Ч» и выберите предпочтительный вариант (предварительно потребуется выделить нужную область).

    Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_028

    Читайте также: Как сделать подчеркивание в Ворде

Способ 2: Пробелы

По аналогии с предыдущим способом, подчеркивание без текста можно сделать и с помощью пробелов, но здесь есть два нюанса: либо потребуется использовать символ «неразрывный пробел», либо поставить точку сразу за последним пробелом обычным.

Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_002

Введите нужное количество пробелов и поставьте точку или используйте клавиши «Ctrl+Shift+Пробел», чтобы ввести пробел неразрывный. Выделите эту часть документа и примените к ней подчеркивание.

Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_029

Читайте также: Как сделать неразрывный пробел в Microsoft Word

Способ 3: Символ

Наверное, самый очевидный способ подчеркивания без текста в Ворде заключается в использовании соответствующего символа на клавиатуре. Просто нажмите клавиши «Shift» + «–» нужное количество раз («–» – клавиша в верхнем цифровом блоке, расположенная сразу за цифрой «0»).

Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_044

Визуально такое подчеркивание не будет отличаться от рассмотренного выше варианта начертания, однако располагается оно немного ниже относительно строки, как раз на толщину одной такой линии.

Lumpics.ru

Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_030

Если же вам требуется подчеркнуть сразу несколько линий, можно воспользоваться встроенной в Microsoft Word функцией автозамены, которая срабатывает после ввода трех одинаковых символов и нажатия клавиши «Enter».

Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_031

Вы можете вводить как минус (тире, дефис), используя клавишу «–», так и именно нижнее подчеркивание, с помощью сочетания «Shift» + «–» – во втором случае линия получится более жирной.

Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_032

Какой бы из символов вы не использовали для создания подчеркивания без текста, в результате это получаются строки, между которых можно писать текст.

Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_033

Способ 4: Таблица

Еще один способ решения нашей задачи – создание таблицы размером в одну ячейку с последующим скрытием всех ее границ, кроме нижней, и изменением размера.

  1. Перейдите во вкладку «Вставка», разверните меню кнопки «Таблица», наведите курсор на одну (первую) ячейку и кликните по ней.
  2. Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_034

  3. Растяните созданную таким образом рамку до нужного размера.
    Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_038

    Читайте также: Как изменить размер таблицы в Ворде

  4. Кликните по ней для выделения и перейдите во вкладку «Конструктор таблиц». Разверните меню кнопки «Границы» и выберите в нем сначала «Нет границ», а затем «Нижняя граница».
  5. Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_039

    Читайте также: Как скрыть границу таблицы в Word

    В результате мы получим подчеркивание, созданное из ячейки таблицы, у которой будут скрыты все границы, кроме нижней.

    Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_040

    Читайте также: Как сделать таблицу в Майкрософт Ворд

Способ 5: Фигура

Последний вариант создания подчеркивания без текста заключается в рисовании горизонтальной линии. Для этого:

  1. Перейдите во вкладку «Вставка», разверните меню кнопки «Фигуры» и выберите в нем обычную линию.
  2. Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_041

  3. Зажмите клавишу «Shift», чтобы будущая линия была горизонтальной, нажмите левую кнопку мышки (ЛКМ) для обозначения начала подчеркивания и проведите вправо до его завершения, после чего отпустите ЛКМ.
  4. Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_042

  5. Если это потребуется, выделите нарисованную фигуру, перейдите во вкладку «Формат фигуры», измените ее цвет, толщину, вид и другие параметры на свое усмотрение.
  6. Как сделать подчеркивание без текста в Ворде_043

    Читайте также: Как нарисовать линию в Microsoft Word

Еще статьи по данной теме:

Помогла ли Вам статья?

Underline text or spaces

  1. Select the text that you want to underline.
  2. Go to Home > Underline. Or press Ctrl+U.

Contents

  • 1 How do you extend an underline in Word without text?
  • 2 How do you extend a line in Word?
  • 3 What is the shortcut key for underline?
  • 4 How do I type a word above a dotted line without it moving in a form?
  • 5 How do I make an underline go across the page?
  • 6 How do you underline text?
  • 7 What is Ctrl F2?
  • 8 How do you underline without a mouse?
  • 9 How do you align a line shape in Word?
  • 10 How do I align only part of a line in Word?
  • 11 How do you right align part of a line?
  • 12 How do you type over a dot in Word?
  • 13 How do I type in a word document without moving text?
  • 14 How do you type over on a Mac?
  • 15 How do you put a line above and below text in Word?
  • 16 How do you underline a word in Windows 10?
  • 17 What is underline tag?
  • 18 How do you underline a word in CSS?
  • 19 What does control F9 do?
  • 20 What is Ctrl Shift F9?

How do you extend an underline in Word without text?

To create an underline without any text in Microsoft Word, press Ctrl + U to start the underline, then, press Ctrl + Shift + spacebar to create non-breaking spaces. Press and hold this keyboard shortcut combination to add multiple underlines next to each other, creating an underline.

How do you extend a line in Word?

Press and hold down the “Shift” key to keep your line straight when you draw it. Position the cursor at the leftmost point where you want the line to begin, click and hold down the left mouse button and drag to the rightmost point where you want to line to extend.

What is the shortcut key for underline?

Format characters

To do this Press
Hide the selected text. Ctrl+Shift+H
Apply bold formatting. Ctrl+B
Apply underline formatting. Ctrl+U
Apply underline formatting to the words, but not the spaces. Ctrl+Shift+W

How do I type a word above a dotted line without it moving in a form?

Choose the “Scribble” tool, which looks like a squiggly line. When the cursor changes to a plus sign, click inside the text box above the line, press and hold down the left mouse button and draw what you want to write. Release the left mouse button when the word is complete.

How do I make an underline go across the page?

Click in the paragraph of text you want a line under. Click on the HOME Tab > BORDERS button — Bottom Border is usually the default. This places a line across the page, underlining not just the text but the rest of the row, too.

How do you underline text?

Steps to Follow

  1. Open the ‘Docs’ app on your android phone.
  2. And you can open the document you want to underline.
  3. Now, tap and drag over the texts you want to underline to highlight or select them.
  4. Once you have selected the texts, tap on the underline (looks like a ‘U’) icon from the bottom of the screen.

What is Ctrl F2?

Ctrl+F2 displays a print preview window in the Microsoft Word. Quickly rename a selected folder or file. Enter the CMOS Setup. F3. Often opens a search feature for many programs, including the Microsoft Windows.

How do you underline without a mouse?

Press the Alt key and press the letter with the underline to select the item. For example, pressing the Alt key + E key will open the “Edit” menu in Notepad. Then within the menu, note the underlined letter that indicates the key that corresponds to the item you can select when pressing the “Alt” key.

How do you align a line shape in Word?

Hold down Shift , click the objects that you want to align, and then click the Shape Format tab. Click Arrange > Align > Align to Page. Click Arrange > Align, and then click the alignment that you want.

How do I align only part of a line in Word?

Now, let’s create that right-aligned tab as follows:

  1. On the Home tab, click the Paragraph group’s dialog launcher and then click Tabs in the bottom-left corner.
  2. Enter 6.5 in the Tab stop position.
  3. Click Right in the Alignment section (Figure C).
  4. Click Set.
  5. Click OK.

How do you right align part of a line?

In the Alignment area, click Right. (This tells Word that this will be a right-aligned tab, just like you want.) Click on Set. Click on OK.

How do you type over a dot in Word?

To use a line shortcut, first, open your document with Microsoft Word. Next, place your cursor where you want to add a dotted line in your document. Type the asterisk sign (“*”) three times in your document. Now, press Enter, and Word will convert your asterisks into a dotted line automatically.

How do I type in a word document without moving text?

On the Shape Format tab in the Shape Styles group, click the Shape Outline button, and in the drop-down list, select No Outline. Notice that the text box lines become invisible. Then click the Shape Fill button, and in the drop-down list, click No Fill. Drag the text box closer to the line.

How do you type over on a Mac?

On the Word menu, click Preferences. Under Authoring and Proofing Tools, click Edit, and then in the Edit dialog box, select Replace existing text as you type (Overtype mode). Note: To turn off overtype mode, clear the check box next to Replace existing text as you type (Overtype mode).

How do you put a line above and below text in Word?

To insert a line in Word above and / or below a paragraph using the Borders button:

  1. Select the paragraph(s) to which you want to add a line.
  2. Click the Home tab in the Ribbon.
  3. Click Borders in the Paragraph group. A drop-down menu appears.
  4. Select the line you want to use.

How do you underline a word in Windows 10?

On the Ease of Access page, choose the “Keyboard” tab on the left. On the right, scroll down a bit and turn on the “Underline Access Keys When Available” toggle under the “Change How Keyboard Shortcuts Work” section. Once enabled, you’ll start seeing underlined letters in various menus, dialog boxes, and windows.

What is underline tag?

: The Unarticulated Annotation (Underline) element. The HTML element represents a span of inline text which should be rendered in a way that indicates that it has a non-textual annotation. This is rendered by default as a simple solid underline, but may be altered using CSS.

How do you underline a word in CSS?

The property text-decoration-line is used to underline the text. This property has three values that are overline, underline, or line-through. So, the value underline is used to underline the text in CSS. This value draws the underline beneath the inline text.

What does control F9 do?

Ctrl+F9: Minimizes a workbook window to an icon.

What is Ctrl Shift F9?

Ctrl+F9: Insert new Empty Field {} braces. Ctrl+Shift+F9: Unlink a field. Alt+F9: Toggle the display of a field’s code.

A Quick Guide to Underlining in Microsoft Word

Underlining text in Microsoft Word is simple. You can even tailor the line style! To find out how, check out our guide to underlining in Microsoft Word.

Underlining in Microsoft Word

The basics of underlining text in Microsoft Word are simple. All you do is select the text you want to format, or place the cursor where you want to start typing, then do one of the following:

  • Click the U symbol on the Home tab.
  • Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + U (or Cmd + U on Mac computers).

This will add the default underlining in the place selected.

Toggling the underlining via the Home tab.

Toggling the underlining via the Home tab.

Custom Underlining in Microsoft Word

If the default underlining doesn’t suit your needs, you can customize it by:

  1. Selecting the text you want to underline (or placing the cursor where you want to start typing the underlined text).
  2. Clicking the little arrow next to the U symbol on the Home tab.
  3. Selecting a line style or color from the dropdown menu.

This will apply the selected line style and color as required. Alternatively, you can click More Underlines… in this same dropdown menu to open the font dialog box, where you’ll see further underlining options.

Find this useful?

Subscribe to our newsletter and get writing tips from our editors straight to your inbox.

The underlining options in Microsoft Word's font menu.

The underlining options in Microsoft Word’s font menu.

Underlining or Italics?

As a final note, you might want to check whether to use underlining or italics in your work, since italics are more common in modern writing.

For instance, while underlining was once widely used for emphasis, most people use italic or bold formatting for this now. And while people used to underline titles in writing (e.g., if mentioning a published book in an essay), these are now italicized or placed in quote marks.

This is because underlining is a hangover from the days of typewriters, which didn’t have italic or bold fonts. But this isn’t an issue in the age of word processors, so underlining has become rare.

Expert Proofreading and Formatting

If you need to be sure your documents are clear and professional, our services could help. Submit a 500-word sample document for free proofreading today to find out more.

In this guide, you will learn how to underline text in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

There are three different ways to underline text:

  1. The underline shortcut (recommended)
  2. The underline command
  3. The Font dialog box

While these all accomplish the same task, the Font dialog box gives you the most underlining options in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. As you can see in the picture below, there are 8 underline styles in Word, 16 styles in PowerPoint, and 4 styles in Excel.

Examples of all the underline text options in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

It’s worth noting that in Microsoft Word you can underline words only. And in Word and PowerPoint, you can change the color of your underline (compared to your text)t, as pictured below.

Example of underlining words only in word and changing your underline color in PowerPoint and Word

As you can see, there are a lot of options for underlining text in the Microsoft Office Suite depending on which program you are working in. Below, I’ve broken out each one into its own section so you can navigate directly to the underline style you are trying to create.

As most of the time you will probably just want to add a single underline to your text, the shortcut is the fastest way to do this.

1. The Underline Text Shortcut

The underline text shortcut on a PC is control plus U and on a Mac is command plus U

The fastest way to underline text in the Microsoft Office Suite (or any word processing program), is Ctrl+U on a PC and Cmd+U on a Mac.

Using the shortcut once applies the underline effect. Using the shortcut a second time removes the underline effect.

Note: Ctrl+U only allows you to add a single, solid underline to your text. If you want to double underline your text, or create a dashed underline effect, you need to use the underline style options discussed below.

2. The Underline Command

The underline command gives you more options than the Ctrl+U shortcut discussed above as it includes a ‘more options’ area.

To expand your knowledge and learn how to double underline text in Word using keyboard shortcuts, read our guide here.

A. Using the Underline command

The underline command is on the Home tab in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Another fast way to underline text in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is to simply click the Underline command on the Home tab in the Ribbon.

Simply select the text you want to underline and click the command to add your underline. Clicking the command a second time removes the underline effect.

B. Using the Underline command style options in Word

The Underline command in Word is a two-part button. While clicking the button on the left underlines your text (discussed above), clicking the downward facing arrow on the right gives you additional line style options to choose from.

Selecting the more line style options gives you additional text underlining styles to choose from

To choose a different underline style in Word, simply select your text and then follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Home tab
  2. Click the Underline style arrow
  3. Choose an underline style

There are a total of eight underline styles in Word you can choose from, as pictured below. To see the additional options in Excel and PowerPoint, you will need to use the Font dialog box discussed next.

Examples of the eight underlining styles in Microsoft Word

Note: If you do not select your text first, the underline style you choose will be applied to whatever text you type next. To stop underling your text, simply click the command a second time or hit Ctrl+U on your keyboard.

3. Underlining text using the Font dialog box

The font dialog box shortcut is control plus shift plus F in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

There are multiple ways to open the Font dialog box. The simplest (and fastest way) is to use the Font dialog box shortcut. This shortcut works in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, so it’s a triple dipper shortcut.

Another way to open the Font dialog box is to click the diagonal facing arrow in the corner of the Font group. Clicking this arrow accomplishes the same task.

You can open the font dialog box by clicking the home tab and then clicking the diagonal facing arrow in the Font group

As a speed training tip – although there is no difference between using the shortcut and clicking the diagonal facing arrow, as the shortcut is significantly faster, I recommend learning the Ctrl+Shift+F shortcut.

The font dialog box is where you can change the style of your underlined text and the color for your underline in Word

As you can see in the picture above, inside the Font dialog box, you can:

  1. Choose your underline style
  2. Choose your underline color

The Font dialog box is also where you can access a number of other text effects like strikethrough, double strikethrough, etc. As you will see in the next section, the Font dialog box is also the trick to underlining words only in Microsoft Word.

To expand your knowledge and learn the strikethrough shortcut to quickly cross out text in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, read our guide here.

How to Underline Words Only in Word

Microsoft Word includes the ability to underline words only. This means that you do not need to select the words individually and apply the underline to create the desired effect.

To underling your words only in Microsoft Word, select your text, hit control plus shift plus F and within the font dialog box select Words only for the underline style

To underline your words only in Word, simply:

  1. Select your text
  2. Open the Font dialog box (Ctrl+Shift+F)
  3. Open the Underline style options
  4. Select Words Only
  5. Click OK

Doing so creates the ‘underline words only’ effect, without you having to manually do it yourself. You can also change the color of your underlines as you will see in the next section.

Note: This Words Only underline option does not exist in PowerPoint or Excel. If you want to create the same effect in these programs, you will need to underline your words individually, or take a screenshot of your text in Word and use it in the other programs.

How to Change the Color of Your Underlined Text

In Word and PowerPoint, you can also choose an underline color that is different from your text. This does not work in Microsoft Excel.

In Word and PowerPoint you can use the font dialog box to change the color of your underlined text

To change the color of your underlined text, simply:

  1. Select your text
  2. Open the Font dialog box (Ctrl+Shift+F)
  3. Open the Underline color options
  4. Choose an underline color (I picked red)
  5. Click OK

When picking an underline color that is different than your font color, it is best not to pick colors that are hard to read. See some examples below.

Examples of clashing colors that are hard to read

If your font is black, you can use almost any color for your underline. To make your document look more professional, I recommend picking an underline color that complements your logo or other design elements within your document.

Conclusion

Those are the different ways to underline text in the Microsoft Office Suite.

For most of your underlining text needs, I recommend learning and using the Ctrl+U keyboard shortcut. It’s faster than the other methods discussed above but does not provide the extra options like changing the underline color or underlining words only.

If you enjoyed the depth of this guide and want to learn more about our speed training courses and resources, visit us here.

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 25, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365


Loriann underlines a fair amount of text in some of her documents. She wonders if there is a way to move the stroke of the underline down, vertically, so the underline doesn’t touch the bottoms of any character descenders.

Word allows you to choose a style of underlining (single, double, dotted, wavy, etc.), but the position of the underline is hard coded into the program, as far as I can tell. You can, however, «trick» Word into changing the underline position. Try these steps:

  1. Type the text you want to underline, but make sure there is a space just before the text. For instance, I might type » Allen Wyatt» with the leading space.
  2. Select all of the text you just typed, including the leading space. Don’t select anything after the text, including a paragraph mark that may be there.
  3. Underline the text. Now the leading space and your text should all be underlined, like normal.
  4. Select all of the text you just underlined, but don’t include the leading space in the selection. In my example, I would choose just «Allen Wyatt» without the leading space.
  5. Press Ctrl+D. Word displays the Font dialog box.
  6. Make sure the Advanced tab of the dialog box is displayed. (See Figure 1.)
  7. Figure 1. The Advanced tab of the Font dialog box.

  8. Using the Position drop-down list, choose Raised.
  9. In the By field, just to the right of the Position drop-down list, choose how much you want the text raised vertically. (Something like 5 or 6 points works well, but it really is going to depend on the size of the font you are using for your text. So, some trial and error may be needed with this setting.)
  10. Click OK.

That’s it; the underline should now completely clear the descenders on the text. This works because the underline is «keyed» to the leading space, which did not get raised. All you did was to raise the other text higher, away from the baseline. If you had selected the anchoring space in step 4, then this approach would not have worked.

What to do about the leading space, then? You can make it virtually disappear if you follow these steps:

  1. Select the leading, underlined space.
  2. Display the Home tab of the ribbon.
  3. In the Font Size control, specify a size of 2 points.

Your leading space should now «disappear,» though it is still really there. (You just can’t see it because it is too small.)

Obviously, the acceptability of this approach will depend on how your text appears in your document. It works great if the text you are underlining is the only text in the paragraph. If, however, there is text before or after it, then it will look strange. (Like I said, it won’t work for all uses.)

If you have a need to add underlines like this a lot, you might consider just adding a graphic line under your text. That way you could change not only the position of the line, but also its weight and other characteristics. It wouldn’t be satisfactory to add the underline while you are still editing (adding and deleting) text, but it could be a final touch you add to your document.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training.
(Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.)
This tip (7457) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365.

Author Bio

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen…

MORE FROM ALLEN

Showing Text when a Cell is Empty

Wouldn’t it be great if you could have Excel display some text in a cell only when that cell is empty? Unfortuantely, …

Discover More

Don’t Allow Empty Cells

Data Validation is a great way to limit what a user can enter into a worksheet cell. It may not stop a cell from being …

Discover More

Occurrences of a Text String within a Document

You may have a need to find out how many times a certain text string occurs within a document. You can find out manually …

Discover More

Text that you copy from other locations, like a Web page or another document, will usually have some formatting applied to it.

As you are finalizing your document you will find that you need to remove that formatting to give the entire piece of work its own cohesive appearance.

Many of the formatting options in Word documents can be removed using specific settings found within the various menus of the application.

Our tutorial below will show you how to remove underline in Word by selecting the underlined text and changing the formatting style applied to it.

How to Remove Underlining in Word

  1. Open your document.
  2. Select the text with underline formatting.
  3. Click the Home tab.
  4. Click the Underline button.

Our guide continues below with additional information on how to remove an underline from a Word document, including pictures of these steps.

if you need to remove other types of lines from your document as well, then read our how to remove table borders in Word article.

When you start writing a document in Microsoft Word you will be typing unformatted text into the body of the document. This is going to use the default font, font size, spacing, and other options that are defined by the normal template.

But as you start to apply formatting options to your document you might change your mind and want to get rid of some of it. If you previously applied underlining and have changed your mind, then you might want to clear that underline formatting from a selection in your Word document.

Fortunately, you can accomplish this by using the same process of selecting the text and clicking the underline button that you had likely used initially to apply that underlining. Our guide below will provide you with additional guidance on accomplishing this task.

Read our guide on how to delete Word documents if the folder where you store your documents is becoming too full or disorganized.

How to Get Rid of Underline Formatting in a Microsoft Word Document (Guide with Pictures)

The steps in this article were performed in the Microsoft Word for Office 365 version of the application but will work in other versions of Microsoft Word as well.

Step 1: Open your Microsoft Word document.

Step 2: Use your mouse to select the text that contains the underline formatting that you would like to remove.

if your entire document is underlined you can press Ctrl + A to quickly select the entire document.

select the underlined text

Step 3: Click the Home tab at the top of the window.

click the Home tab

Step 4: Click the Underline button (the one that looks like a capital U) in the Font group of the ribbon to remove the underline.

how to remove underline in Word for Office 365

Our article continues below with more on removing a horizontal line from your document, as well as steps on how to remove an underline if it’s part of a hyperlink.

Is Word typing over existing content in your document? Our why does Word delete letters when I type guide can help you fix that problem.

How to Delete a Horizontal Line in Word 2016

Sometimes you may have a horizontal line in your document that either you or someone else used as either a stylistic choice or a visual separator of sections in the document.

You can remove a line like this by clicking at the start of the line below it, then pressing the Backspace key on your keyboard a couple of times.

If the horizontal line was added by typing three dashes, then you may also need to delete those dashes.

if you can’t delete the line with the Backspace key then it might be a paragraph border. If so you will need to click inside the paragraph above the border. You can then click the Home tab, click the down arrow next to the Borders button in the Paragraph group of the ribbon, then select the Borders and Shading option.

You can then click the None option under Setting at the left side of the Borders and Shading window, then click the OK button.

Related: This how to double underline in Excel article will show you how to use an interesting formatting option in the spreadsheet application.

How to Remove the Underline from a Hyperlink in Word

If you have a hyperlink in your document and you want to remove the entire hyperlink, then you simply need to right-click on the link and choose the Remove Hyperlink option.

However, if you want to keep the hyperlinked part of the selection, and just remove the underline aspect of the hyperlink, then you might be running into some issues.

Depending on how to hyperlink was applied and how your text is selected, you may be able to remove the underline from the hyperlink by clicking the Underline button or pressing Ctrl + U a couple of times until the underline is gone. But if you have a lot of hyperlinks this can be a little tedious, so there’s another option.

Microsoft Word applies hyperlink formatting as a style, so removing the underline from it with the steps that we incorporated above may not achieve the result for which you are looking.

Instead, you are going to click the small button at the bottom-right corner of the Styles section in the ribbon of the Home tab. This opens a Styles column at the right side of the window.

Click on a hyperlink in your document, which will make a Hyperlink option appear in the Styles column.

You can then click on the arrow to the right of the Hyperlink option, then select Modify. This opens another window called “Modify Style.” You can then click the Underline button to remove the underline from hyperlinks in your document. Click OK when you’re finished.

More Information on Removing Lines in Microsoft Word

Our guide above has shown you ways to get rid of a line that appears under words (underlining), horizontal lines that appear between paragraphs in your document, and how to delete the underline that is part of a hyperlink.

If one of these options hasn’t helped you to get rid of whatever link you are trying to remove from your document, then it’s possible that it is some other type of formatting. You can clear all formatting from a selection by selecting the Home tab at the top of the window then clicking the Clear All Formatting button in the Font group of the ribbon. It’s the button that looks like a capital A with an eraser next to tit.

Another way that you can remove underlines from a selection is with a keyboard shortcut. You will need to select the text that contains the underline that you want to remove, then press Ctrl + U on your keyboard. You can also use this same process to apply an underline to text that doesn’t have underlining yet.

If you want to use underlining in your document but don’t like the thickness or color of the default underline option in Microsoft Word then you can click the down arrow to the right of the Underline button in the Font group of the ribbon, then choose one of the options there. You could also click the More Underlines option, which opens a Font dialog box. There you will see some different font customization options that you may have been searching for previously.

Conclusion

Hopefully one of the options in the article above has helped you to remove the underline formatting or a non-formatting line from your document.

As we mentioned in the section above, you can always use the “Clear All Formatting” option in Microsoft Word if you are having trouble getting rid of something in a Word document.

The section below provides additional articles about Microsoft Word that can help you to resolve issues that you might be experiencing while attempting to accomplish other tasks in the Microsoft Office word processing application.

Additional Sources

Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read over 50 million times.

After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.

His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.

Read his full bio here.

Like this post? Please share to your friends:
  • Make a scrabble word with the letters
  • Lower text in word
  • Made up word problems
  • Make a rule by choosing the correct word
  • Lower letter in word