How to Group Shapes and Objects Together in Microsoft Word

When designing flowcharts, architectural block diagrams, product callouts, or decorative banners in Microsoft Word, diagrams typically consist of multiple individual elements—including rectangles, connecting arrows, text boxes, callout bubbles, and imported icons. If you insert a new paragraph or adjust page margins, unlinked shapes frequently drift across the page, breaking alignment and ruining your visual structure.

Microsoft Word allows you to lock disparate elements together into a single unified object using the Group feature. Once grouped, all constituent shapes can be dragged, scaled, formatted, and copied as one cohesive unit.

Selecting Multiple Shapes and Objects in Word

Before grouping, you must select all target shapes simultaneously:

1. Open your document in Microsoft Word.
2. Click the first shape or text box to select it.
3. Hold down the Ctrl key (Cmd on Mac) or Shift key.
4. While holding the key, click each additional shape, connector line, or text box you want to include in the group. Your mouse pointer will display a small plus (+) icon when hovering over selectable shapes.

Grouping the Selected Shapes

Once all desired elements display active bounding handles:

1. Click the Shape Format tab (or Picture Format tab) that appears on the command ribbon.
2. In the Arrange group, click the Group Objects icon.
3. Select Group from the drop-down menu. Alternatively, right-click any selected shape and choose Group > Group.

A single outer bounding frame will enclose all selected shapes. You can now drag the group anywhere on your page or resize the entire illustration proportionally using corner handles.

Editing an Individual Shape Inside a Group

You do not need to dismantle your entire group to change one label or recolour a single shape:

1. Click the group once to select the overall frame.
2. Click directly on the specific shape inside the group to select it individually.
3. Apply your text edit or fill colour. Word retains the group boundaries automatically.

Ungrouping Objects

If you need to permanently separate elements or reconfigure layout hierarchies, select the grouped object, go to Shape Format > Group, and select Ungroup.