How to Insert Lines in Word

Draw straight lines on Windows

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 1

Open Word. Click or double-click the Word program that resembles a white "W" on a blue background.

If you want to draw a straight line in an existing Word document, simply open the document by double-clicking and skip the next step.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 2

Click Blank document . It's the option in the top left corner of the page.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 3

Click the Insert tab . This is the card in the blue section at the top of the Word window.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 4

Click Shapes . This option is available in the Insert toolbar . A menu will appear here.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 5

Choose a straight line. Under the "Lines" heading, you'll click one of the available lines.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 6

Draw straight lines. Click and drag the mouse over the part where you want to insert a straight line in the Word document to do this.

You can move the line by clicking and dragging it. Additionally, you can also adjust the length and direction of the line by clicking and dragging the circle at one end (or in the middle) of the line.

Draw straight lines on Mac

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 7

Open Word. Click or double-click the Word program with the white "W" icon on a blue background.

If you want to draw a straight line in an existing Word document, just open the document by double-clicking and skip the next step.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 8

Click Blank document . It's the option in the top left corner of the page.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 9

Click the Insert menu. This button appears in the gray toolbar at the top of your Mac screen. A menu immediately appears here.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 10

Click Shape… (Shape). This is an option in the Insert menu . You will see a window displayed on the screen after this operation.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 11

Click on the selection box. This selection is at the top of the currently displayed menu. A list of options immediately appears here.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 12

Click Lines and Connectors . This is the selection in the displayed list.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 13

Select sample path. Click one of the selections (such as a line) in the window that appears.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 14

Draw straight lines. Click and drag over the part where you want to insert a line in the Word document to do this.

You can move the line by clicking and dragging it. Additionally, you can also adjust the length and direction of the line by clicking and dragging the circle at one end (or in the middle) of the line.

Use keyboard shortcuts

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 15

Find out how. You can use key combinations to create many other types of lines extending from the left margin to the right margin of a Word document.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 16

Open Word. Click or double-click the Word program that resembles a white "W" on a blue background.

If you want to draw a straight line in an existing Word document, simply open the document by double-clicking and skip the next step.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 17

Click Blank document . This is the option in the top left corner of the page.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 18

Place the cursor where you want to insert the line. You need to place the cursor on a blank line, because this won't work if there's content before or after the cursor on the same line.

You will create a horizontal line extending from the left margin to the right margin of the text. This straight line will lie within the predefined margin limits.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 19

Type three dashes consecutively. Use the dash key on the number row at the top of the keyboard, or on the numeric keypad.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 20

Press ↵ Enterto convert dashes into straight lines. This automatically creates a straight line right below the content line.

Note, the line does not overlap the text lines but only appears between the text lines.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 21

Use a few more characters to create a different line style. Besides dashes, you can use a number of other characters to create more line styles:

Enter ***and press ↵ Enterto create a dotted line.

Enter ___(three underlined lines) and press ↵ Enterto create a bolder line.

Enter ===and press ↵ Enterto create two parallel lines.

Enter ###and press ↵ Enterto create a style of three parallel lines with a bold middle line.

Enter ~~~and press ↵ Enterto create a wavy line.

How to Insert Lines in Word Picture 22

Move the line by entering text directly above the line. You can move the line down by entering the text just above and pressing ↵ Enter.

Deleting the text above the line will move the line up.

Samuel Daniel

Update 11 November 2023