Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 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: Adding Diagonal Borders.

Adding Diagonal Borders

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 13, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

Word allows you to add all sorts of borders to paragraphs, text boxes, and tables. You can place borders on the left, right, top, and bottom of these items. Many people don't realize that when it comes to table cells, you can also place diagonal borders. This means that a border can appear from the top-left to the lower-right corners of a cell, or from the top-right to the lower-left. To take advantage of diagonal borders, follow these steps if you are using Word 2007 or Word 2010:

Create your table as you normally would.
Select the cell you want to have the diagonal border.
Display the Design tab of the ribbon. (This tab is only visible if you've done step 2.)
In the Table Styles group, click the down-arrow next to the Borders tool. Word displays a series of border types from which you can choose.
Choose Diagonal Down Border or Diagonal Up Border, as desired.

If you are using Word 2013 or a later version, the steps are essentially the same, but the Borders tool is found in the Borders group and the down-arrow is at the bottom of the Borders tool.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12722) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Adding Diagonal 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

Calculating Expressions

Word can do some simple calculations for you, if you add a little-known tool to your toolbar. Here's how to add and use ...

Discover More

Easily Extending Selections

The F8 key is a shortcut that allows you to turn on Word's extend mode. This mode is used to "extend" the text being ...

Discover More

Precision in Excel

The best way to understand why Excel provides the answers it does is to examine how it handles precision. This tip ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Shading Table Rows

Need to format the rows of a table so that your data is showcased better? Here are a few ways you can get the shading you ...

Discover More

Distributing Table Rows Evenly

If you've adjusted the height of your table and the rows within the table, you might want to later return all those rows ...

Discover More

Headings On Your Printout

If you've got a table that spans multiple printed pages, you probably want to repeat a row or two of that table as a ...

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 0 + 7?

2021-07-12 16:28:39

Carol

Nice tip, but if someone wants to do a diagonal border (like for a table), he/she probably wants diagonal text as well. Your tip doesn't include how to do that...

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.