Adding Diagonal Borders

Word allows you to add all sorts of borders to paragraphs, text boxes, and tables. You can place borders on the left, right, top, and bottom of these items. Many people don't realize that when it comes to table cells, you can also place diagonal borders. This means that a border can appear from the top-left to the lower-right corners of a cell, or from the top-right to the lower-left. (Diagonal borders are not available in Word 97.) To take advantage of diagonal borders, follow these steps if you are using a version of Word prior to Word 2007:

1. Create your table as you normally would.
2. Select the cell you want to have the diagonal border.
3. Choose the Borders and Shading option from the Format menu. Word displays the Borders and Shading dialog box.
4. Make sure the Borders tab is selected. (Click here to see a related figure.)
5. At the bottom left and right corners of the Preview area of the dialog box, you should see buttons that have diagonal lines on them. Click the line that represents the type of diagonal border you want to use.
6. Click on OK.

If you are using Word 2007, follow these steps instead:

1. Create your table as you normally would.
2. Select the cell you want to have the diagonal border.
3. Display the Design tab of the ribbon. (This tab is only visible if you've done step 2.)
4. In the Table Styles group, click the down-arrow next to the Borders tool. Word displays a series of border types from which you can choose.
5. Choose Diagonal Down Border or Diagonal Up Border, as desired.