How to Automatically Add Borders to Printed Pages in Microsoft Word

When drafting formal certificates, title pages, menus, or official invitations in Microsoft Word, a plain white background can look unfinished and unprofessional. Adding a page border is a simple yet highly effective way to frame your content and elevate the overall presentation of the document.

Fortunately, you do not need to manually draw shapes or insert massive images to create a border. Microsoft Word includes a dedicated Page Border tool that automatically applies scalable, printable borders to your document, ensuring they align perfectly with the page margins when you finally print the file.

Applying a Standard Page Border

Word allows you to apply borders to the entire document or restrict them to a specific section, such as the title page.

1. Open your document in Microsoft Word.
2. Navigate to the Design tab in the ribbon menu at the top of the window.
3. Look to the far right side of the ribbon and click the Page Borders button.
4. The “Borders and Shading” dialog box will appear. By default, it will open to the Page Border tab.
5. On the left side of the window, under “Setting”, select the type of border you want (such as Box, Shadow, or 3-D).
6. In the middle section, choose the line Style (solid, dashed, double-line), Color, and Width (thickness) for your border.
7. Check the Preview section on the right to see how your border will look.
8. In the bottom-right corner, ensure the “Apply to” dropdown is set to Whole document (or “This section – First page only” if you only want the border on the title page).
9. Click OK to apply the border.

Ensuring the Border Prints Correctly

A common issue when printing documents with page borders is that the bottom edge of the border gets cut off by the printer. Most consumer printers have a non-printable area at the bottom margin where the paper feed rollers grip the sheet. If Word places the border too close to the edge of the paper, the printer simply cannot reach it.

To fix this and ensure the entire border prints successfully, you must adjust how Word measures the border’s position.

1. Return to the Design tab and click Page Borders again.
2. In the “Borders and Shading” dialog box, look under the Preview pane and click the Options button.
3. A new “Border and Shading Options” window will open. Look for the dropdown menu labelled Measure from.
4. Change this setting from “Edge of page” to Text.
5. This forces Word to draw the border around your paragraphs rather than the physical edge of the paper, pulling it safely inward and away from the printer’s non-printable zone.
6. Click OK on the options menu, then click OK again to apply the changes.