How to Insert a Horizontal or Vertical Line in Microsoft Word

Lines, both horizontal and vertical, are essential text formatting components. Let’s have a look at all of the different ways to insert a line in Microsoft Word.

Lines are an important part of every design. A horizontal or vertical line in Microsoft Word can be used to divide a document and control the text flow. In Word, you can insert a line and format it in a variety of ways to transform a plain line into something more beautiful.

You are aware of how to insert a line in Word. After all, it’s so simple. This primer is for you if you’re not sure how to accomplish it all,

Now, let’s look at how to make a horizontal and vertical line in Word, as well as how to insert them.

The Quick Way: How to Insert a Line in Word With the Keyboard

You might know that typing a few characters in Word may instantly add a line. Word’s AutoFormat feature automatically formats your text as you type it. You may have already seen it in action when it generates bulleted lists automatically.

Not only can you enter a line, but you can also add lines with various designs.
The following will show you how it works:

Next, for any of the line styles shown in the screenshot below, type three characters. Tap Enter.

To draw a dotted line, for example, type *** and tap Enter.

As you can see, there are six different versions 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 (~~~)

You know that the line occupies the entire page’s width. When a line is inserted inside a column, it is sized to fit the column’s width. Put your cursor where you want the text to appear above or below the line and start typing.

A tiny AutoCorrect Options button will also appear next to the line. This is a shortcut that allows you to undo, stop, or join the AutoFormat options dialog when you don’t need the automatic line.

The AutoFormat options dialog allows you to permanently disable these lines.

Launch AutoFormat As You Type select > Apply as you type section > uncheck Border lines.

Insert a Horizontal Line From the Ribbon

If you’ve deactivated AutoCorrect because you find it annoying, there’s another easy way to create a horizontal line.

1. Put your cursor where you want the line to display.

2. Open the Home tab, choose the dropdown arrow next to the Borders option in the Paragraph group

3. On the menu, choose Horizontal Line.

4. Double-click the horizontal line to change its appearance. You can change the line’s width, height, color, and alignment using the Format Horizontal Line dialog box.

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

6. Pick the line and tap Delete on your keyboard to delete it.

Use Borders to Add Horizontal and Vertical Lines

You can also use the Borders option in the Paragraph group to insert a top or bottom border in the document that looks like a horizontal line.

1. Select the paragraph of text where you want the line to appear by tapping on it.

2. Open Home and the Paragraph group. Select the Border icon. The default border is usually the bottom one. This adds a line below the text you’ve chosen on the page, or the paragraph if no text has been chosen.

3. To access a list of other options (such as a vertical border), tap the tiny dropdown arrow on the Borders icon.

4. Press on Borders and Shading to change the appearance of any border. Adjust the border’s style, color, and width using the dialog.

5. It may not be obvious how to delete this horizontal line in your Word document, but it is simple enough.

Use Shapes to Insert a Horizontal or Vertical Line in Word

There are several line options in the Shapes menu. These line shapes differ in one important way: they can be drawn at various angles. You can then customize the color and appearance of the line to make decorative horizontal or vertical lines anywhere in the document after you’ve drawn it.

1. Put the cursor where you’d like to insert a line.

2. Launch Insert > Illustrations group > Shapes dropdown arrow.

3. Select the shape of the line in the Lines group.

4. With the cursor pressed, click and drag across the document until you reach the endpoint. (Tip: Hold down the Shift key to insert a horizontal or vertical straight line.)

5. Use the Shape Format tab on the Ribbon to alter the appearance of the line while it is chosen.

6. Change the color, use a different line style, or apply effects in the Shape Styles tab.

7. You can also right-click on the line and select Format Shape from the context menu to access further styling options.

How to Add a Vertical Line and Separate Text into Columns

A simple layout method is to organize text into columns. Any block of text can be divided into many columns and insert a vertical line between them as well.

1. Choose the text.

2. Launch Ribbon > Layout > (Page Setup group) Columns. Tap on the desired number of columns from the dropdown menu.

3. The text has been divided into columns. Tap any column and launch  Layout > Columns > More Columns.

4. Check the Line Between box in the Columns dialog box and tap OK.

This dialog also allows you to modify the number of columns and the spacing between them.

Use a Bar Tab to Add a Vertical Line

In Word, tab stops are used to align lines and paragraphs. The bar tab, on the other hand, has no effect on the tab stop. It adds a vertical line to your paragraph and divides it into columns.

1. Choose the paragraph where you want the vertical line to appear.

2. Open Ribbon > Home. Tap the tiny arrow in the Paragraph group to open the Paragraph Settings.

3.  Tap the Tabs icon at the bottom of the dialog.

4. Enter the place where you want to add the vertical line in the Tab stop position box. To gauge a value to enter, use the ruler at the top of the screen.

5. In the Alignment section, tap the Bar icon. Press on Set and OK.

I’ve set it to “-0.2” to make it appear just to the left of the first paragraph, as you can see. Delete the bar tab to remove the vertical line.

In addition, do you want to leave some blank lines for the reader to fill in? In Microsoft Word, tabs can be used to quickly create empty lines in forms.

Draw a Line in Your Word Document

Horizontal lines are more visible and prevalent than vertical lines. Adding vertical lines in the right places, on the other hand, can improve the visual appeal of your text. Lines aren’t only for adornment; when used subtly, they can bring your eye to the most significant area of a page.

Consider lines and use these tips the next time you use Microsoft Word to prepare a professional report.