Making Resize to Fit Text the Default

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 17, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

Steve routinely adds a good number of text boxes to his documents. Every time he does, he needs to display the Format Shape pane and choose the Resize Shape to Fit Text check box. Steve wonders if there is a way to make this setting the default. He can't imagine why anyone would not want to have text boxes automatically resize to fit whatever text they contain.

An easy way to handle this is to change how you actually create your text box. If you create an empty text box, Word automatically clears the Resize Shape to Fit Text check box and you will need to change it. (This is what Steve is seeing.) Instead, follow these simple steps:

Type the text you want in your text box.
Select the text you just typed.
Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
Click the Text Box tool. Word displays a few options.
Choose the Draw Text Box option.

Since you had text selected (step 2), Word places a text box around the selected text and, in the Format Shape pane, you'll note that the Resize Shape to Fit Text check box is selected. Thus, even if you edit the text in the text box, the text box will resize to fit whatever text it contains.

This presents an interesting variation—if you don't know, immediately, what text you want in the text box, you could (in step 1) type a single word or even a single character. Then, when you decide what you want in the text box, you can edit the contents and, since the Resize Shape to Fit Text check box is selected, the text box resizes to accommodate your text.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13883) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021.

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

Hyperlinks to Charts

You can create hyperlinks to all sorts of worksheets in a workbook, but you cannot create a hyperlink to a chart sheet. ...

Discover More

Viewing Formulas in Table Cells

Word allows you to insert simple formulas, using fields, in table cells. If you want to see these formulas in their ...

Discover More

Getting Rid of 8-Bit ASCII Characters

When working with data created outside of Excel, you may need to check that data to make sure it contains no unwanted ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Extracting Text Box Contents

If your document has quite a few text boxes within it, you may want to extract the contents of those text boxes to a new ...

Discover More

Changing Orientation of a Text Box

Want to change how a text box is oriented on the page? You can't do it, but you can adjust the dimensions of the box ...

Discover More

Making Text Boxes Appear in a Printout

Add some text boxes to your document, and you might be surprised if they don't appear when you print the document. If ...

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 seven more than 2?

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.