Put 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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Insert Lines in Microsoft Word Documents

by Avantix Learning Team | Updated October 9, 2021

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

You can insert a line in Word using the Ribbon or by using keyboard shortcuts. It’s best to avoid drawing lines and instead insert border lines in Microsoft Word (normally paragraph borders) so the line or lines will move as you edit the document.

In this article, we’ll focus on inserting lines using borders attached to paragraphs. In Microsoft Word, anything with a hard return after it is a paragraph. If you use border lines, you can customize the type of border, line thickness and color. You can also include paragraph border lines in styles so they will appear throughout your document. If you draw lines using Insert Shapes, you’ll have to worry about the line being inline or floating.

You can insert a line in Word in 3 ways using borders:

1. Use the Borders command on the Home tab in the Ribbon
2. Select and apply different types of lines using the Borders and Shading dialog box
3. Insert different types of lines using keyboard shortcuts (which add lines using AutoCorrect)

Recommended article: How to Keep Text Together in Microsoft Word

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

Inserting a line using the Borders button

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.

Below is the Borders command in the Ribbon in Word:

Removing lines using the Borders command

To remove a border line or lines from one or more paragraphs:

1. Select the paragraph(s) with the border lines you want to remove.
2. Click the Home tab in the Ribbon and then click Borders. A drop-down menu appears.
3. Choose No Border from the drop-down menu.

Inserting a line using the Borders and Shading dialog box

You can apply a line or custom border lines to one or more paragraphs using the Borders and Shading dialog box.

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

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 Borders and Shading. A dialog box appears.
5. Select a border style, color and width.
6. Click between the guides in the sample area on the right (above or below the sample).
7. Click Options (if required), enter any offset amounts to control the distance between the line and the paragraph and click OK.
8. In Apply to, ensure Paragraph is selected.
9. Click OK.

Below is the Borders and Shading dialog box where you can add a line or lines to paragraphs:

Removing lines using the Borders and Shading dialog box

To remove lines from one or more paragraphs using the Borders and Shading dialog box:

1. Select the paragraph(s) with the lines you want to remove.
2. Click the Home tab in the Ribbon and click Borders. A drop-down menu appears.
3. Select Borders and Shading. A dialog box appears.
4. Click None in the Setting area.
5. In Apply to, ensure Paragraph is selected.
6. Click OK.

Inserting a line using keyboard shortcuts

You can also insert a horizontal line using keyboard shortcuts (which insert border lines as AutoCorrect entries).

Type the following characters and then press Enter or Return to insert lines:

• To insert a plain single line, type three hyphens (—).
• To insert a plain double line, type three equal signs (===).
• To insert a dotted line, type three asterisks (***).
• To insert a bold single line, type three underlines (___).
• To insert a wavy line, type three tildes (~~~).
• To insert a triple line, type three number signs or hash tags (###).

To remove these lines, select the paragraph with the line, click the Borders button on the Home tab and select No Border.

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There are at least five six ways to add a vertical line in Word. Vertical lines can help accentuate a piece of text in Word, but knowing how to add them is not as intuitive as adding a horizontal line.

1. Adding a border
2. Or a Page Border
3. Using the shape tool
4. Adding a bar tab
5. Adding lines to columns
6. Add lines either side of text

These are most common options available.  With all the features in Word there are other more complicated choices. We thought of four more vertical formatting tricks in Word

Adding a Border

Add a vertical line next to a paragraph is to simply add a side border to the paragraph.

Highlight the paragraph you wish to add a line to, go to Home | Paragraph, and click the Borders dropdown.

This gives you options to insert borders in various locations. To insert a vertical line to the left or right of the text, select Left Border or Right Border.

The Left or Right border options insert a plain black line next to the text. If you want to have more control over the color or style of your line, instead select Borders and Shading at the bottom of the list.

Custom Borders

Click Custom on the left-hand side of the dialog box, to enable you to choose individual borders to add. In the middle section, you can select the style, color and width of the line. On the right-hand side, click the box to indicate where you want the border to appear (top, bottom, left or right). The preview will give you an indication of how your line will appear.

Note that the boxes for the border positions are toggle keys, so if a border that you don’t want is appearing in the preview, just click the appropriate box to remove it.

A line inserted by this method is anchored to the paragraph(s) it is applied to and will move if you move a paragraph.

Add a Page Border

The same thing can be done at the page level.

Design | Page Background } Page Borders | Page Border.

Like a paragraph border, select the style of border you want then click the Preview sides.  Remove the top and bottom borders, leaving left or right depending on your needs.

To add a vertical line using the shape tool, go to Insert | Shapes and select the Line tool.

Place the cursor where you want the line to start, and drag to where you want the other end of the line to be. Holding the Shift key while you drag will ensure that the line is straight.

Once you have finished creating the line, the Format tab becomes live on the ribbon, where you can change the color, shape and style of the line.

Click the Layout button next to the line to see options regarding how you want the line to interact with your text.

To move or resize the line, grab one of the end points and move it. If you hold the Control key while you move, both ends of the line will move as if around a fulcrum.

Adding a Bar Tab

Another way to add a vertical line to text is to use the Tab feature, but instead of inserting a tab, you will add a ‘bar’ or vertical line.   Bar tabs are the lesser known Tab formatting option which separate tabbed items with a visible bar like this:

The shape tool can be used to add a line in any location and of any length, a bar tab can only be applied to whole paragraphs.

Make the ruler is visible at the top of your document, to help you find the correct position for the bar tab. If you cannot see the ruler, go to View | Show, and tick the Ruler box.

To insert a bar tab, select the paragraphs that you want the bar to appear beside, go to Home | Paragraph and open the Paragraph dialog box.  Then click the Tabs button at the bottom of the dialog box.

Tab Stop Positions

In the Tab Stop Position box, enter the position where you want the line to appear. You can use the ruler at the top of the screen to work out what value to enter. In the example pictured, the text starts at 0 on the ruler, so if you want the line to appear to the left of the existing text, you may enter “-0.5”. If you want it to appear to the right of the text, you may enter “17”.

Then select Bar under Alignment and click OK.

With the values entered in the above figure, the text would then look like this:

Note that a line inserted by this method is anchored to the paragraph(s) it is applied to. If you move a paragraph around, the line will go with the paragraph to its new location.

If you wish to later delete the line, highlight the paragraph, open the tab dialog again and click Clear.

Adding Lines to Columns

If you are arranging your text into columns, you can insert a vertical line between the columns.

To arrange your text into columns, select the text, go to Layout | Columns and select the number of columns you want.

Now that your text is arranged into columns, click anywhere within the columns, and go to Layout | Columns again, but this time select More Columns at the bottom of the list. In the dialog box, simply tick the Line Between box, and click OK.

Vertical lines either side of text

One way to put vertical lines on both sides of text is to add empty columns either side using Layout | Breaks | Column Break. Three column breaks will do the job, two to make empty columns plus one at the bottom of the middle text column.

Note that if you wish to add a line to the left or right of the columns, this can be done using any of the other methods described above.

See Color the Column dividing line in Word

Four more vertical formatting tricks in Word