Applying a Border to Part of Your Document

To highlight a portion of your document, you can apply a border to it. This is particularly handy if you’re working on newsletters or marketing documents.

First, select the portion of your document you would like to highlight with a border. Then, click Format and select Borders and Shading.

On the Borders tab, select a line style in the Style section. Simply scroll through the options and select one of the line styles.

Next, use the Color drop-down box to specify the border line color. Click the More Line Colors button at the bottom of the list for a greater range of options. It also allows you to create a custom color to use.

After you’ve selected a color, select a line weight in the Width drop-down box. Finally, click in the Preview area to apply the border to specific sides of the selected text or paragraph. Or, you can select from a preset in the Settings section.

To specify the distance between the text and border, click the Options button. In the Borders and Shading Options dialog box, you have a number of options for border spacing.

Word will apply borders in one of two ways. First, you can opt to apply the shading at the text level by select Text in the Preview section. This does not apply the border to spaces at the end of lines. Also, you will see the border between lines of text.

For a cleaner look, apply the border at the paragraph level by selecting Paragraph in the Preview section. The border will enclose the entire selected area with one clean rectangle.