Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Setting the Distance between Text and Borders.

Setting the Distance between Text and Borders

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 25, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021

One common formatting effect within Word is the application of borders around a paragraph. Word allows you to apply borders to all four sides of a paragraph—you can even have the borders be different from each other, if desired.

After applying border formatting, you may decide that you need some more room between the actual border lines and the text within the paragraph. You can easily adjust this distance by following these steps:

Select the paragraphs you want to affect. (If you only need to format a single paragraph, just make sure the insertion point is within that paragraph.)
Display the Home tab of the ribbon.
In the Paragraph group, click the down-arrow to the right of the Borders tool. Word displays a series of choices, including a number of different borders you could add.
Select Borders and Shading. Word displays the Borders and Shading dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Borders tab of the Borders and Shading dialog box.

If you had not previously done so, make sure you select the borders you want to appear around the paragraph.
Click on the Options button. Word displays the Border and Shading Options dialog box. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. The Border and Shading Options dialog box.

Use the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right controls to specify, in points, the distance between the respective border and the paragraph text.
Click the OK button two times.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7121) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Setting the Distance between Text and Borders.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Getting the Name of the Parent Workbook

If you need to insert into a cell the name of the workbook in which a worksheet is contained, you can use the CELL ...

Discover More

Automatically Capitalizing Day Names

When you enter a day name into a cell, Excel automatically capitalizes it. If you want to modify this behavior, follow ...

Discover More

Easily Entering Dispersed Data

Need to enter information into a bunch of cells that aren't anywhere near each other in the worksheet? Here's a handy way ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Locking a Field

When you use fields in your document, you may want them to not change from a particular displayed result. You can lock ...

Discover More

Creating a Full-Page Border

Borders are easy to add around text or entire paragraphs. It may be surprising to you to learn that Word can just as ...

Discover More

Aligning Borders with the Page Margins

Add a border to a paragraph and you may find that it extends to the left and right of the regular text margins. To pull ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is four minus 0?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.