Adding a Border around Multiple Paragraphs

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 27, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365


1

Marc is trying to put a border around some text in his document. The text consists of multiple paragraphs, including a lead-in paragraph followed by a bulleted list. Marc doesn't get a nice, simple border around the text, though. It appears that the border is "broken" whenever he changes the indent on the bulleted list paragraphs. Marc wonders if there is a way to simply border all the paragraphs in the text selection.

The reason that this happens is that the borders you add to a paragraph are always added relative to the paragraph margins. (You can see this if you select a paragraph, display the Borders and Shading dialog box, and then click on Options.) When you change the margins for a paragraph—as is done if you have a bulleted or numbered list—then the position of the border on those paragraphs will be different than it is for the surrounding paragraphs.

The best way to handle this situation is to create some sort of object that can possess a border (such as a single-cell table, a text box, a frame, or a shape) and then place the text inside that object. You can easily adjust the position of the object so that the text aligns properly relative to other text in the document. Then you can format the object so that it has the type of border you desire.

The only drawback to this approach is that the text within the object is limited in some respects. For instance, you can't add footnotes or endnotes to the text, nor can the text be referenced by comments. As you are deciding upon the type of object to use, you'll want to pay attention to your page layout, as not all objects flow smoothly when it comes to spanning page breaks. If you think your text might span a page break, you'll want to consider using either the single-cell table approach or use two linked text boxes.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13404) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Inserting a Cross-Reference to an Item in a List

When you create a list using the SEQ field, you may want to create a cross-reference to an item in that field. You can do ...

Discover More

Saving Your Web Page

Want to save your document as a Web page? It's easy to do in Word; almost as easy as saving your document normally.

Discover More

Enabling Filters by Default

Filtering can be a powerful way to work with large amounts of data in a worksheet. If you use filtering quite a bit, you ...

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)

Understanding Leading

Those with a publishing, typographic, or design background may understand what leading is, but not how to adjust the ...

Discover More

Characters in the Margin Next to Paragraphs

Laying out a document can be, at times, a challenge. This is particularly the case when you need some special document ...

Discover More

Mysterious Boxes around Paragraphs

Do you have some mysterious and unwanted boxes showing up around the paragraphs in your document? Here are some ideas on ...

Discover More
Subscribe

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.

What is six minus 5?

2022-11-09 18:03:10

Jo

Great tip! Worked like a charm!


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.

Videos
Subscribe

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

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.