How to Add a Drop-Cap to a Paragraph in Microsoft Word

A Drop-Cap (short for “dropped capital”) is a large, decorative capital letter at the beginning of a paragraph that drops down to span several lines of text. This typographic technique is commonly seen in classic novels, magazine articles, and fairy tales to draw the reader’s eye to the start of a new chapter or section. While you could attempt to create one manually by significantly increasing the font size of the first letter, this completely breaks the line spacing of the surrounding text. Fortunately, Microsoft Word includes a dedicated tool to insert perfect drop-caps instantly.

How to Insert a Drop-Cap

The Drop-Cap tool is located in the Insert ribbon, as it is treated as a specialized text element rather than a standard font style.

1. Open your document in Microsoft Word.
2. Click anywhere inside the paragraph where you want the drop-cap to appear. (You do not need to highlight the first letter; Word will automatically grab it).
3. Look at the main ribbon menu across the top of the screen and click on the Insert tab.
4. Look towards the far right side of the ribbon, in the “Text” group.
5. Click on the Drop Cap button. (The icon looks like a large ‘A’ next to several lines of text).
6. A drop-down menu will appear with three options:
   • None: Removes an existing drop-cap.
   • Dropped: The standard style. The large letter sits inside the paragraph margin, and the text wraps around it.
   • In margin: The large letter sits completely outside the paragraph in the left-hand margin, keeping the text block perfectly aligned.
7. Click Dropped.

How to Customise the Drop-Cap

By default, Word usually makes the drop-cap span three lines of text using your current font. You can easily adjust this.

1. Click the Drop Cap button again and select Drop Cap Options… at the very bottom of the menu.
2. A dialogue box will appear. Here, you can change the Font of the drop-cap specifically (using a script or serif font for the drop-cap while keeping the body text in Arial looks highly professional).
3. You can also adjust the Lines to drop (making it larger or smaller) and the Distance from text (adding a little breathing room between the giant letter and the surrounding words).
4. Click OK to apply your customisations.