How to Insert a Text Box in Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word excels at flowing text in standard paragraphs, but many documents require more flexible positioning. When designing newsletters, reports, flyers, or academic papers, you often need to place text in a specific location on the page — such as a pull quote in a magazine-style layout, a sidebar containing supplementary information, or a callout box highlighting an important notice.

Text boxes solve this problem. Unlike standard paragraphs that flow sequentially from top to bottom, a text box acts as an independent container that you can drag, drop, resize, and position anywhere on the page without affecting the surrounding document layout.

How to Insert a Pre-Designed Text Box

Microsoft Word includes several professionally designed text box templates that you can insert with a few clicks:

1. Open your document in Microsoft Word.
2. Click on the Insert tab in the ribbon menu at the top of the window.
3. In the “Text” group (on the right side of the ribbon), click on the Text Box button.
4. A drop-down gallery will appear showing several pre-designed templates with different styles, such as “Simple Text Box,” “Austin Quote,” “Whisp Sidebar,” and others.
5. Click on the template that best matches your design needs.

A formatted text box will appear in your document with placeholder text already highlighted. You can immediately start typing to replace the placeholder with your own content.

How to Draw a Custom Text Box

If you prefer to control the exact size and placement from the beginning rather than using a pre-designed template:

1. Click on the Insert tab.
2. Click on Text Box.
3. At the bottom of the drop-down menu, click on Draw Text Box.
4. Your mouse cursor will turn into a small crosshair (+).
5. Click and hold your left mouse button at the position where you want the top-left corner of the box, then drag diagonally to create a rectangle of your desired size.
6. Release the mouse button. A blank text box will appear.
7. Click inside the box and start typing.

How to Move and Resize the Text Box

Once your text box is on the page, adjusting its position and dimensions is straightforward:

Moving the Text Box

• Hover your mouse over the outer edge (border) of the text box until the cursor changes to a four-directional arrow icon.
• Click and hold the border, then drag the entire box to a new position on the page.
• Release the mouse button to drop it in place.

Resizing the Text Box

• Click the text box to select it. Small circles (sizing handles) will appear on the corners and midpoints of each side.
• Click and drag any corner handle to resize the box proportionally (maintaining the width-to-height ratio).
• Click and drag a side handle to change only the width or only the height.

Tip: Hold the Shift key whilst dragging a corner handle to maintain the exact aspect ratio.

How to Format the Text Box Appearance

You can extensively customise the visual appearance of any text box:

Changing the Border

1. Click the text box to select it.
2. The Shape Format tab (or Drawing Tools – Format in older versions) will appear on the ribbon.
3. Click Shape Outline to change the border colour, weight (thickness), or style (solid, dashed, dotted).
4. To remove the border entirely, click Shape Outline > No Outline.

Changing the Background Fill

1. Select the text box.
2. Click Shape Fill on the Shape Format tab.
3. Choose a solid colour, gradient, texture, or pattern. Select No Fill for a transparent background.

Adding a Shadow or 3D Effect

1. Select the text box.
2. Click Shape Effects on the Shape Format tab.
3. Choose from shadow, reflection, glow, soft edges, bevel, or 3D rotation effects.

Controlling Text Wrapping

Text wrapping determines how the text box interacts with the surrounding document content:

1. Click the text box to select it.
2. Click the small Layout Options icon that appears next to the text box (it looks like a small arc with lines), or right-click the text box border and select Wrap Text.
3. Choose one of the following options:

Wrapping Option	Behaviour
In Line with Text	The text box behaves like a character within the text, moving with the paragraph
Square	Document text wraps around all four sides of the text box in a rectangular pattern
Tight	Text wraps closely around the actual shape of the text box
Through	Text flows through any open areas within the text box boundary
Top and Bottom	Text appears above and below the text box but not alongside it
Behind Text	The text box sits behind the document text as a background element
In Front of Text	The text box floats on top of document text, covering content beneath it

For most use cases, Square or Top and Bottom produce the cleanest layouts.

Formatting Text Inside the Box

Text inside a text box can be formatted using all the same tools available for regular document text:

• Font, size, and colour: Select the text inside the box and use the formatting options on the Home tab.
• Alignment: Use left, centre, right, or justified alignment from the Home tab.
• Vertical alignment: Right-click the text box border, select Format Shape, then click Text Options > Text Box. Under “Vertical alignment,” choose Top, Middle, or Bottom to control where text sits within the box.
• Margins: In the same Format Shape panel, adjust the internal margins (top, bottom, left, right) to control the spacing between the text and the box edges.

Linking Text Boxes Together

If you are creating a newsletter or magazine-style layout where text needs to flow from one box to another, you can link text boxes:

1. Create two or more text boxes.
2. Click on the first text box to select it.
3. On the Shape Format tab, click Create Link in the “Text” group.
4. Your cursor will change to a small pitcher icon. Click on the second (empty) text box.

When the first text box fills up, any overflow text will automatically continue in the linked text box. This is particularly useful for multi-column layouts.

How to Delete a Text Box

To remove a text box completely:

1. Click on the border of the text box (not inside it) so that the entire box is selected rather than the text cursor being inside it.
2. Press the Delete or Backspace key.

The text box and all its contents will be removed from the document.