Most of you already know that you can quickly add a horizontal line to a Word document by typing three hyphens and pressing Enter—but there’s more. There are several line keyboard shortcuts and a built-in feature that lets you add predefined but artistic (fancy) lines.
From the keyboard, basic lines
As I mentioned, there are several ways to enter a quick horizontal line by entering other characters, as sampled below.
If you don’t like this feature, turn it off as follows:
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2003 |
2007 |
2010 |
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1. Select AutoCorrect from the Tools menu.
2. On the AutoFormat As You Type tab, uncheck Border Lines in the Apply As You Type section. |
1. In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options.
2. Click AutoCorrect Options in the AutoCorrect Options section. 3. On the AutoFormat As You Type tab, uncheck Border Lines in the Apply As You Type section. |
1. In Word 2010, click the File tab, click Options (under Help) and then click Proofing in the left pane.
2. Click AutoCorrect Options in the AutoCorrect Options section. 3. On the AutoFormat As You Type tab, uncheck Border Lines in the Apply As You Type section. |
Horizontal Line feature, artistic lines
Those lines are certainly functional, but Word can draw lines that are a step (or two or three) up from the basic lines shown above. Choose Borders and Shading from the Format menu and click the Horizontal Line button at the bottom of the resulting dialog box. (It might take a few seconds for all the lines to load.) Just double-click a line to insert it—that’s all there is to it. You can choose from several. This feature’s a bit harder to find in 2007 and 2010. On the Home tab, click the Borders and Shading drop down (in the Paragraph group) and select Borders and Shading.
