Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 23, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
For some documents you may have a need to insert vertical lines. There are actually three or four different ways you can do this in Word. The actual method you choose depends on your document needs and which appeals to you the most. The first method involves using the Drawing toolbar:
You can continue to draw more lines using this same technique, or you can simply close the drawing toolbar by again clicking on the Drawing tool on the regular toolbar.
The second method involves using bar tab stops. You can see how these appear by following these steps:
Figure 1. The Tabs dialog box.
If you have multiple columns in your document and you want vertical lines between the columns, you can follow these steps:
Figure 2. The Columns dialog box.
The final way to create vertical lines is to use tables. While this may seem a bit convoluted, it will work great for small sections of text. To use this method, follow these general steps:
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1061) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Vertical Lines in Word.
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