Make writing lines on word

You can add horizontal lines, sometimes called horizontal rules, to a document or email message to help separate sections of text and add visual appeal. 

By default, Word and Outlook have a three-character shortcuts that inserts a full-width horizontal rule in your document or message. The appearance of that rule—thinner, thicker, double-line, dotted, wavy—depends on which shortcut you use, as illustrated in the image below. 

If this automatic line feature doesn’t suit you, you can turn off this feature in Word or turn it off in Outlook.

If you want to draw a line for illustration purposes, see Draw a line in Word or Outlook instead.

Insert a horizontal line by typing a few characters

The fastest way to add a horizontal line or rule is to use the AutoFormat feature. When you type certain characters three times in their own paragraph and then press Enter, those characters instantly become a full-width horizontal line.

1. Place the cursor where you want to insert the horizontal line.

2. Type three of the characters illustrated below, and then press Enter.

   

   The line is inserted for the full width of the page. When inserted into a column, the line is inserted to match the width of the column. To add text above the line, put your cursor where you want the text and begin typing.

Format the horizontal line after you create it

The shortcut described above creates an empty paragraph with a bottom border. You can change the look of that border line by using the Borders options:

1. In Word, on the Home tab of the ribbon, select the down arrow next to Borders.

   In Outlook, on the Format Text tab of the ribbon, select the down arrow next to Borders.

2. At the bottom of the menu, select Borders and Shading.

3. In the dialog, you can change the line’s style (solid, dotted, wavy, double, and so on), color, or width as you see fit. 

4. When you’re done formatting the line, select OK. Then, on the ribbon, select the  Borders button to apply your changes. 

Word: Turn off the automatic line feature

To prevent Word or Outlook from automatically inserting a horizontal line when you type the three shortcut characters, do the following:

1. On the ribbon, select File > Options.

2. In the dialog box, select Proofing > AutoCorrect Options > AutoFormat As You Type. 

3. Clear the Border Lines option.

4. Select OK.

Outlook: Turn off the automatic line feature

1. On the ribbon, select File > Options.

2. In the dialog box, select the Mail tab, then select Editor Options.  

3. On the Proofing tab, select AutoCorrect Options > AutoFormat As You Type. 

4. Under Apply as you type, clear the Border Lines option.

5. Select OK.

Want to draw a line?

See Draw a line in Word or Outlook.

See Also

Add a border to some text

Draw shapes

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Use these three methods to quickly insert a line in your document

Updated on December 4, 2020

What to Know

• AutoFormat: Type the three characters for the desired line style > Enter.
• Horizontal Line tool: In Home tab, select Borders drop-down menu > Horizontal Line.
• Shapes menu: Go to Insert > Shapes. In Lines group, select and drag a line shape across the page.

This article covers three ways to insert horizontal lines in Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, and Word 2010.

Use AutoFormat to Insert a Line in Word

You can quickly insert a line into a Word document with the AutoFormat feature. To create a line, place the cursor in the location that you’d like to insert it, type the three characters for the desired line style, then press Enter.

To create the different types of lines, press the associated keys on the keyboard:

• Plain single line: Three hyphens (—)
• Plain double line: Three equal signs (===)
• Broken or dotted line: Three asterisks (***)
• Bold single line: Three underline symbols (___)
• Wavy line: Three tildes (~~~)
• Triple line with a thick center: Three number signs (###)

Here’s what each of these line types looks like in Word:

Use the Horizontal Line Tool to Insert a Line in Word

To insert a line into a Word document using the built-in Horizontal Line tool:

1. Place the cursor where you want to insert a line.

2. Go to the Home tab.

   By default, the Home tab is selected when you open a new or existing Word document.

3. In the Paragraph group, select the Borders drop-down arrow and choose Horizontal Line.

4. To change the look of the line, double-click the line in the document.

5. In the Format Horizontal Line dialog box, modify the width, height, color, and alignment of the line.

Use the Shapes Menu to Insert a Line in Word

A third way to add a line to a Word document is to draw it on the page. The Shapes menu contains several line options, including lines with arrow points on one or both ends. After you draw the line, customize the color and appearance.

1. Place the cursor in the spot where you want to insert a line.

2. Go to the Insert tab.

3. In the Illustrations group, select the Shapes drop-down arrow.

4. In the Lines group, choose a line shape.

5. In the Word document, drag across the location where you want the line to appear.

6. To change the look of the line, select the line to enable the Shape Format tab. (Some versions of Word call this Format.)

7. Go to the Shape Format tab and change the color, use a different line style, or apply effects.

FAQ

• How do I change line spacing in Word?

  To fix spacing in Word, highlight the text whose spacing you want to change and select the Home tab. Next to Paragraph, select the down arrow to expand the options. In the Spacing section, set the amount of space before and after line breaks or choose a preset line-spacing option.

• How do I add a signature line in Word?

  To insert a signature line in Word, go to the Insert tab and select Signature Line. Selecting few or no options leaves a blank line, and a signature line will appear in the document.

• How do I add line numbers in Word?

  To add line numbers in Word, go to Layout > Page Setup > Line Numbers and choose Continuous, Restart Each Page or Restart Each Section > Line Numbering Options.

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Word has a set of AutoFormat shortcuts that make horizontal lines, here’s how they work, how to change them, color the lines and how to stop lines when they get out of control.

Line shortcuts

There are six horizontal line shortcuts.  For each one type the same character three times at the start of a new line then press Enter.

For example, press the dash key three times on a new line, then enter.

Dashes give you a horizontal line

Underscores give you a bold horizontal line

Equals gives you a double horizontal line

And there’s more …

The three above are the best known but there are others.

Asterisk makes a dotted line

Tilde makes a wavy line

Pound/Hash makes a triple line

Tooltip controls

Whenever you automatically make a line, a small tooltip appears with some options.

Undo Border Line – changes back to the characters you typed.  The usual undo shortcut, Ctrl + Z, will do the same thing.

Stop Automatically Creating Border Lines – will turn off the AutoFormat |  Border Lines option entirely.

Control AutoFormat Options … goes to the settings for AutoFormat as you type.

Autoformat Options

The automatic lines and all other AutoFormat options are controlled from Options | Proofing | AutoCorrect options | AutoFormat As You Type:

Border lines can be turned on/off from there.  There are no options to select just some character/line combinations – it’s all or nothing.

Under the hood

Word isn’t making the lines by adding a lot more characters across the page.  That’s where confusion can begin if you’re trying to stop the lines appearing.

It’s converting your dash/underscore/equals etc. into a paragraph border. Specifically, a bottom border line on the paragraph.

For example, here’s how an automatic double horizontal line appears in Paragraph | Borders and Shading

It’s just the double line style applied to the bottom line of the paragraph.  Strictly, at the bottom of group of paragraphs with the same formatting. Knowing that detail is useful when you’re fixing the extra lines that start appearing.

Color

The automatic lines are always black (actually ‘Automatic’).  Word doesn’t pick up the color of the three characters nor the paragraph as you might expect.

To change the line color, select the line then go to Home | Paragraph | Borders | Borders and Shading.  Select the color you want from the pull-down list and then click on the borders you want the color change to apply.

Other lines

You’re not limited to the lines that Microsoft provides via AutoCorrect.  You can add your own or change the look of a line added with AutoCorrect.

Select the line then go to Home | Paragraph | Borders | Borders and Shading.  That opens up the many options you have:

Styles:  there are over 20 line styles to choose from.

Color:  as mentioned above, the full Word color range is available.

Width:  thin, medium or thick – take your pick from ¼ point to 6pt.

Top, bottom, left, right – click in the preview box to choose which lines to show and the style of each one.

Whatever you choose, remember to click on the line/s in the preview box to apply the look you want.

For consistency, you can have a horizontal line as part of a paragraph style.  For example, a line above or below a heading.

Unwanted horizontal lines

A common problem with the automatic lines is extra lines appearing where you don’t want them.

It happens when you add paragraphs immediately above the horizontal line.  Each of those paragraphs inherits the same (bottom border) formatting that Word made for the horizontal line.

You won’t see a line under each paragraph because Word groups together paras with the same formatting.  Only the last paragraph of a group will have a bottom border line.

The problem usually rises because people try to fix the extra lines by selecting just the paragraphs showing horizontal line and change the formatting.

That doesn’t change the ‘bottom border’ formatting for other lines that have the setting.  So it seems like extra lines keep popping up without reason!

The solution is to make sure you select all the affected paragraphs – not just the ones with horizontal lines.

Choose a paragraph and look carefully at the Home | Paragraph | Borders icon.  That icon changes according to the current border settings.  In this, enlarged, example you can see the bottom line is solid.

To change the border setting, pull-down the borders list and choose ‘No Border’.

To stop the creeping lines in the first place, get into the habit of not adding extra paragraphs from the horizontal line itself.  Instead, go to the paragraph ABOVE the horizontal line and add new paras from there.

Five ways to add vertical lines in Word

Six Word tricks to reduce space between lines

Multi-Line Picture Borders in Word or PowerPoint

Create your own I ♥ Love…. Signs in Word

Lines are an essential design element. In Microsoft Word, a horizontal or vertical line can divide a document and guide the flow of the text. You can insert a line in Word and format it differently to change a humble line into something more appealing.

It’s so simple, after all. But if you don’t know all the ways to do it, then this primer on how to insert a line in Word is for you.

How Do You Insert a Straight Line in Word With the Keyboard?

Did you know that you can quickly add a line in Word by typing a few characters? Word’s AutoFormat feature types stuff for you as you type it. You may have already seen it in action when it creates automatic bulleted lists.

You can insert not only a straight line but also add lines with different designs. Here’s how it works:

1. Place the cursor in the spot where you would like to start your horizontal line.
2. Then, type three characters for any possible line styles you see in the screenshot below—press Enter. For example, to draw a dotted line, type *** and press Enter.

As you will see, you will get six variations of the standard horizontal line.

• Plain single line with three hyphens (—)
• Broken or dotted line with three asterisks (***)
• Plain double line with three equal signs (===)
• Bold single line with three underline symbols (___)
• Triple line with a thick center with Three number signs (###)
• Wavy line with three tildes (~~~)

The line takes up the entire width of the page. When added inside a column, the line is inserted to match the width of the column. If you want to add text above or below the line, put your cursor where you want the text and begin typing.

You will also notice a tiny AutoCorrect Options button pop up next to the line. This is a shortcut that allows you to undo the automatic line when you don’t need it, stop them altogether, or dive into the AutoFormat options dialog.

You can turn off these lines permanently from the AutoFormat options dialog.

Go to AutoFormat As You Type tab > Apply as you type section > uncheck Border lines.

Insert a Horizontal Line From the Ribbon

If you find AutoCorrect annoying and disabled the option, there’s another quick way to add a horizontal line.

1. Place your cursor where you want to insert the line.

2. Go to the Home tab and then click the dropdown arrow for the Borders option in the Paragraph group.

3. Select Horizontal Line from the menu.

4. To tweak the look of this horizontal line, double-click the line. The Format Horizontal Line dialog box enables you to modify the width, height, color, and alignment of the line.

5. To resize a line, select the line with a double click and then drag any of the resizing points to change the length or width.

6. To remove the line, select it and press Delete on your keyboard.

Use Borders to Add Horizontal and Vertical Lines

The Borders option in the Paragraph group also gives you another way to insert a top or bottom border that resembles a horizontal line in the document.

1. Click on the paragraph of text where you want the line to appear.

2. Got to Home and the Paragraph group. Click on the Border button. The Bottom border is usually the default. This places a line below the selected text on the page, or the paragraph if you haven’t selected any text.

3. For other options (like a vertical border), you can click on the tiny dropdown arrow on the Borders button to access a list of options.

4. To change the look of any border, click on Borders and ShadiThen, use Use the dialog to adjust the border’s style, color, and width.

5. Deleting this horizontal line in your Word document may not be obvious but it easy enough.

Use Shapes to Insert a Horizontal or Vertical Line in Word

The Shapes menu contains several line options. These line shapes come with one crucial difference—you can draw them at different angles. Then, after you draw the line, you can customize the color and appearance to make decorative horizontal or vertical lines even in the middle of a Word document.

1. Position the cursor where you want to insert a line.

2. Go to Insert > Illustrations group > Shapes dropdown arrow.

3. In the Lines group, choose the shape of the line.

4. Click and drag across the document with the mouse pressed till the endpoint. (Tip: Hold down the Shift key to insert a straight line that is either horizontal or vertical)

5. Keep the line selected to customize the appearance of the line with the Shape Format tab on the Ribbon.

6. Go to the Shape Styles tab, change the color, use a different line style, or apply effects.

7. You can also right-click on the line and choose Format Shape from the context menu to open more options for changing the look.

How to Add a Vertical Line and Separate Text into Columns

Text arranged into columns is a basic layout technique. For example, you can separate text blocks into multiple columns and insert a vertical line between them.

1. Select the text.

2. Go to Ribbon > Layout > (Page Setup group) Columns. Click on the dropdown and select the number of columns you want.

3. The text is now arranged into columns. Click on any column and go to Layout > Columns > More Columns.

4. In the Columns dialog box, check the Line Between box and click OK.

Note that you can also change the number of columns and the spacing between them from this dialog.

How to Use a Bar Tab to Insert a Vertical Line

Tab stops in Word help align lines and paragraphs. The bar tab, on the other hand, doesn’t set a tab. Instead, it. It inserts a vertical line and demarcates your paragraph into columns.

1. Select the paragraph where you want to add the vertical line.

2. Go to Ribbon > Home. In the Paragraph group click the tiny arrow to open the Paragraph Settings.

3. Click the Tabs button at the bottom of the dialog.

4. In the Tab stop position box, enter the position where you want the vertical line to appear. You can use the ruler at the top of the screen to gauge a value to enter.

5. Click the Bar button in the Alignment section. Click on Set and OK.

As you can see, I have set it to «-0.2» to make it appear just to the left of the first paragraph. To delete the vertical line, delete the bar tab.

Also: Want to make blank lines where the reader can fill in some information? You can use tabs to quickly create empty lines in forms with Microsoft Word.

How to Insert a Graphic for Creative Lines in Word

Using pictures for horizontal and vertical lines can be a creative workaround. But use them with care and avoid overusing them in a document as a stretched or condensed image can end up looking back on paper or the screen.

A graphic can be used as a straight line horizontally and vertically. Here’s how:

1. Go to Ribbon > Insert > Picture.
   
2. Choose one of the image sources from the dropdown. For instance, select This device to upload a line graphic you created in another program.
3. The screenshot below sources an illustration from Stock Images. The anchor points around the image help compress and stretch the image to something that resembles a straight line. Use the rotation handle to flip the graphic for a vertical line.
   

You can use these pseudo-lines as separators or as parts of the header or footer of your document. Use the Graphics Format toolbar on the Ribbon to format this illustration with Graphics Fill, Graphics Outline, and Graphics Effects.

Draw a Line in Your Word Document

Horizontal lines are more obvious and familiar. But adding vertical lines at the right place can boost the visual appeal of your content. Lines aren’t mere decorations… they can lead your eye to the most critical part of a document when used with subtlety.

Think about lines and use these methods the next time you sit down to write a professional report with Microsoft Word.