How to Add Paragraph Borders in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac)

This tutorial shows how to add paragraph borders in Microsoft Word. We will also look at how to delete paragraph borders.

You can use paragraph borders to emphasize important text or to add visual interest to your document. This technique is particularly effective when paired with paragraph shading and newspaper-style columns.

Do you want to add a border to an entire page? Please see “How to Insert and Remove Page Borders in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac).”

Table of Contents

How to Add Paragraph Borders
How to Delete Paragraph Borders

Watch all the steps shown here in real time!

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The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365. These steps also apply to Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac (a.k.a., Word for Mac), Word 2021, Word 2019, and Word 2016. In addition, the steps will be similar in older versions of the software.

How to Add Paragraph Borders

Select the paragraph or paragraphs to which you want to add the border.

Selected paragraph in Word 365 — Figure 1. Selected paragraph

Select the Home tab in the ribbon.

Home tab in Word 365 — Figure 2. Home tab

Select the Borders menu arrow in the Paragraph group. (Avoid selecting the Borders button itself because it will automatically apply the last used border to your selected paragraph.)

Borders menu arrow in the Home tab in Word 365 — Figure 3. Borders menu arrow

(Basic option) Select an option from the drop-down menu.

Pro Tip: Hover over these options for a live preview. Not all the options can be applied to paragraphs. In addition, the results will differ according to the number of paragraphs you have selected.

Basic options in the Borders menu in Word 365 — Figure 4. Basic border options

(Advanced Option) Select Borders and Shading from the drop-down menu.

Borders and Shading option in the Borders menu in Word 365 — Figure 5. Borders and Shading option

Select Box, Shadow, 3-D, or Custom in the Borders and Shading dialog box.

Pro Tip: Word’s application of these options will depend on the other border options you choose in this dialog box. Therefore, you may need to experiment with a variety of options to achieve the desired results.

Box, Shadow, 3-D, and Custom options in the Borders and Shading dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 6. Box, Shadow, 3-D, and Custom options

Select a border style.

Style options in the Borders and Shading dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 7. Style menu

Select a color.

Color menu in the Borders and Shading dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 8. Color menu

Select a width.

Width menu in the Borders and Shading dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 9. Width menu

(Optional) Select or deselect the top, bottom, left, or right buttons in the Preview section to toggle the border on or off on specific sides of the paragraph.

Top, bottom, left, and right buttons in the Border and Shading dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 10. Top, bottom, left, and right buttons

(Optional) Select the Options button.

Options button in the Borders and Shading dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 11. Options button

11.a. Adjust the distance between the border and the text in the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right text boxes in the Border and Shading Options dialog box.