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How to insert a horizontal line in Word

To insert a horizontal line in Word:

  • Place the insertion pointer at where you want to insert the line.
  • Locate the Borders icon under the Home tab, in the Paragraph group
How to inser a line in Word
  • Click on the small drop-down arrow beside the Borders icon.
Click on the drop down arrow beside the borders icon
  • A menu with Border options will appear, look to the bottom and select Horizontal Line.
Select Horiontal line

As soon as you select the Horizontal Line option, Word will insert it at exactly where you place the insertion pointer.

More easy ways to insert a Horizontal Line in Word

Aside from using the above steps to insert a horizontal line into word, there are some other ways you could use. This is even simpler.

Word has a feature called AutoFormat which automatically format certain words and characters as you type.

These AutoFormat feature can also be used to insert horizontal lines into Word.

Here’s how it works:

First of all, you type a certain character three times, then press the enter key to convert that characters into a horizontal line. very simple!

Using this approach, you can insert single lines, double lines, triple lines, dotted lines, and even wavy or zigzag lines into Word.

Below are the ways you can insert the horizontal lines mentioned above into your Word document.

  • To insert a single line in Word: type three hyphens (—) on a new line, then press the enter key. The three hyphens will convert into a single line.
Press hyphens three times then hit Enter for a single line
  • To make double lines in Word: type three equal signs (===) on a new line, then press the enter key. The three equal signs will insert double lines into your document.
Press the Equal sign three times then press enter for a double line
  • To insert a Triple line in Word: Type three hash signs (###) on a new line then hit the Enter key. These hash signs will make a triple line automatically.
Type the number signs three times then hit enter for a tripple line
  • To insert a dotted line in MS Word: type three asterisks (***) on a new line, then press the Enter key. These three asterisks will change into a dotted line.
type three asterisks then press enter for a dotted line
  • To insert a wavy or zigzag line in Word: Type three tildes (~~~) on a new line then hit the Enter key. These tildes will get converted into a wavy line automatically.
Type the Tilde sign three times then hit the Enter key

To insert a bolded single line in Word: type three underline symbols (___) on a new line, then hit the Enter key to convert these symbols into a bolded line.

These are the various ways to use the AutoFormat feature to add horizontal lines into Word.

How to insert a horizontal line using borders

Using paragraph borders, you can also insert a horizontal line in word.

Just obey the instructions below:

  • Place the insertion pointer at where you want to insert the horizontal line.
  • Locate the Borders icon under the Home tab in the Paragraphs group
How to inser a line in Word
  • Click on the drop-down arrow beside the Borders icon.
Click on the drop down arrow beside the borders icon
  • Now, click on Either Bottom Border or Top Border, either way, a horizontal line will be inserted into your Word document.

How to insert a horizontal line in Word using shapes

There’s yet, another way you can insert a horizontal line into Word.

This time around, it involved using shapes

Using shapes to insert lines in Word can be very flexible as it allows you to edit the length at any time the need arise.

To insert a horizontal line using shapes:

  • Go to Insert>Illustrations>Shapes
Go to Insert>Shapes
  • A library of shapes will show up. Look for the line shape and then click on It.
Click on the Line Shape
  • It’s now time to draw the line. So, Click and drag horizontally to draw a horizontal line at any location within the Word document.
How to insert a horizontal line in Word
  • If you couldn’t drag the shape well, you may not get a perfect horizontal line. In such a case, click on the edges of the line to re-position it well. You can also drag to move the line to a different location in your Word document.
How to insert a horizontal line in Word

This is how you may insert a horizontal line in Word using the insert shapes option.