How to Insert a Line and Shapes in Word

You can add shapes to your document to illustrate your ideas. By using the Shapes menu, you can choose from dozens of different types of shapes.

Insert a Shape

  1. Click the Insert tab.
  2. Click the Shapes button in the Illustrations group.

    3. The Shapes menu displays all the types of shapes available, organized into groups.

  3. Select a shape.

    4. The mouse cursor changes to a crosshair.

  4. Insert the shape in one of two ways:
    Insert a Shape

    • Click anywhere on the page to insert the shape there.
    • Click and drag anywhere on the page to place the shape while also controlling its size.

    Insert a Shape

Some shapes have prominent features that can be adjusted; these shapes will have a yellow adjustment handle.

Shape Styles

Once you’ve added a shape, you can change its style, fill, outline color, and effects.

  1. Select a shape.

    2. When you select a shape, the Format tab in the Drawing Tools ribbon group becomes available. Double-click a shape to automatically switch to the Format tab.

  2. Use the Shape Styles options on the Format tab to change the style, fill color, outline, or shape effects.

    • Select a style from the Shape Styles gallery or click the gallery’s More button to see all available styles.
    • Select a shape fill color to change the color of the selected shape. You can also fill it with a gradient, picture, or texture pattern.
    • Select a shape outline color, weight, or dash pattern.
    • Apply various shape effects such as shadow, reflection, glow, bevel, and 3D rotation.

    Shape Styles

You can first apply a preset style from the gallery and then adjust the fill, outline, and effects to customize it.

Add Text

You can also add text to shapes. Banners and callouts are best suited for text, but any shape can have text added to it.

  1. Select a shape.
  2. Type some text.
    Add Text

The text appears inside the shape and can be formatted just like any other text.

Apply basic font formatting by using the Font and Paragraph groups on the Home tab or apply WordArt styles using the Format tab in the Drawing Tools ribbon group.

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