How to Wrap Text Tightly Around Images in Microsoft Word

When you insert a photograph or a chart into a Microsoft Word document, the default formatting behaviour is often frustrating. Word typically inserts images “In Line with Text,” meaning the image acts like a giant, single letter of text sitting on the baseline of a paragraph. This creates massive, ugly white gaps above and below the image, disrupting the flow of your document. To create a professional, magazine-style layout where paragraphs flow elegantly around the borders of your graphics, you must change the image’s “Wrap Text” settings.

Changing the Text Wrapping Style

Microsoft Word offers several different text wrapping algorithms, allowing you to control exactly how the text interacts with the bounding box of your image.

1. Click once on the image you have inserted into your document to select it. A border with resizing handles will appear around the image.
2. Look for a small icon that appears floating near the top-right corner of the image (it looks like a small arch spanning over a few horizontal lines). This is the Layout Options button. Click it.
3. A small menu will pop up showing the “With Text Wrapping” options.
4. Select Square. This is the most common setting. It forces the text to form a clean, rectangular border around all four sides of the image, regardless of where you drag the image on the page.

Advanced Wrapping: Tight and Through

If you have inserted an image that has a transparent background (like a PNG file of a company logo) or a subject isolated on a pure white background, the “Square” wrap will still treat the image as a solid rectangle, leaving empty space around the subject. You can use advanced wrapping to pull the text closer.

1. Select the image and click the Layout Options button again.
2. Select the Tight wrapping option.
3. If the image has a transparent background, the text will ignore the rectangular bounding box and flow directly up against the edges of the visible subject inside the image.

Note: If you have a solid background image but still want a Tight wrap, you must first use Word’s “Remove Background” tool (found on the Picture Format tab) to isolate the subject before applying the Tight wrap setting.

Fixing the Image Position on the Page

One of the most common complaints about Word is that images unexpectedly jump to different pages when text is added or deleted above them. This happens because the image is still anchored to the surrounding text.

To lock an image in a specific location on the physical page (for example, pinned to the top-right corner, regardless of what text is written around it):

1. Select the image.
2. Click the Layout Options button.
3. Look at the bottom of the popup menu. By default, “Move with text” is selected.
4. Click the radio button for Fix position on page.

Now, you can type, delete, or paste paragraphs of text, and the text will simply flow around the stationary image without dragging it down the document.