How to Add a Border to Word

This wikiHow teaches you how to create a border around text, images, or pages in a Microsoft Word document. Open your Word document. Double-click the Word document to which you want to add borders. This will open the document in Microsoft...
Method 1 of 2:

Adding a Border to Content

  1. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 1How to Add a Border to Word Picture 1
    Open your Word document. Double-click the Word document to which you want to add borders. This will open the document in Microsoft Word.
    1. If you haven't yet created your Word document, open Word, click Blank document, and create the document as needed before proceeding.
  2. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 2How to Add a Border to Word Picture 2
    Click the Home tab. It's at the top of the Word window. Doing so will open the correct toolbar here.
  3. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 3How to Add a Border to Word Picture 3
    Select content. Click and drag your mouse across the text or image(s) around which you want to place a border.
  4. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 4How to Add a Border to Word Picture 4
    Find the "Borders" button. This button resembles a square divided into four smaller squares; you'll find it in the "Paragraph" section of options in the toolbar, just right of the paint bucket icon.
    1. Skip this step on a Mac.
  5. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 5How to Add a Border to Word Picture 5
    Click
    How to Add a Border to Word Picture 6How to Add a Border to Word Picture 6
    next to the "Borders" button. This downward-facing arrow is to the right of the "Borders" button. Clicking it prompts a drop-down menu.
    1. On a Mac, click the Format menu item at the top of the screen instead.
  6. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 7How to Add a Border to Word Picture 7
    Click Borders and Shading…. It's at the bottom of the drop-down menu.
    1. On a Mac, you'll find this option in the middle of the Format drop-down menu.
  7. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 8How to Add a Border to Word Picture 8
    Select a border setting. In the left-most column, click the border option that you want to use.
    1. For example, if you want a simple border to go all the way around your text, you would click Box here.
  8. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 9How to Add a Border to Word Picture 9
    Select a border style. In the "Style" column, scroll down until you find the border style you want to use, then click the style.
    1. If needed, you can also change the border's color and width from the "Color" and "Width" drop-down menus, respectively.
  9. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 10How to Add a Border to Word Picture 10
    Click OK. It's at the bottom of the window. Doing so will apply your border to the selected text or picture.
Method 2 of 2:

Adding a Border to a Page

  1. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 11How to Add a Border to Word Picture 11
    Open your Word document. Double-click the Word document to which you want to add borders. This will open the document in Microsoft Word.
    1. If you haven't yet created your Word document, open Word, click Blank document, and create the document as needed before proceeding.
  2. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 12How to Add a Border to Word Picture 12
    Position your cursor to create a new section. If you don't want to add a border to every page in the document, place your mouse cursor at the bottom of the page that comes before the page on which you want to add the border.
    1. If you want to apply the border to every page in the document, skip this step and the next one.
  3. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 13How to Add a Border to Word Picture 13
    Create a new section. This will ensure that your border isn't applied to the whole document:
    1. Click the Layout tab.
    2. Click Breaks in the "Page Setup" section.
    3. Click Next Page in the resulting drop-down menu.
  4. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 14How to Add a Border to Word Picture 14
    Click the Design tab. This option is at the top of the Word window.
  5. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 15How to Add a Border to Word Picture 15
    Click Page Borders. It's on the far-right side of the Design toolbar. Doing so opens a pop-up window.
  6. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 16How to Add a Border to Word Picture 16
    Select a border setting. In the left-most column, click the border option that you want to use.
    1. For example, if you want a simple border to go all the way around your text, you would click Box here.
  7. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 17How to Add a Border to Word Picture 17
    Select a border style. In the "Style" column, scroll down until you find the border style you want to use, then click the style.
    1. If needed, you can also change the border's color and width from the "Color" and "Width" drop-down menus, respectively.
  8. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 18How to Add a Border to Word Picture 18
    Select pages to use. If you created a new section earlier in this method, click the "Apply to" drop-down box, then click the section to which you want to apply the border in the resulting drop-down menu.
    1. To apply the border to the first page of your section, for example, you'd click This section - first page only in the drop-down menu.
  9. How to Add a Border to Word Picture 19How to Add a Border to Word Picture 19
    Click OK. It's at the bottom of the page. This will apply the border to your document's specified page(s).
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