Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Changing Orientation of a Text Box.
Once a text box has been added to your document, you may want to rotate it and thereby change its orientation. Unfortunately, Word does not allow you to rotate a text box. Instead, you must resize the text box to achieve the desired effect. You can do that by using the handles that appear on the text box when you select it, but a more precise way is by following these steps:
Figure 1. The Size tab of the Format Text Box dialog box.
Notice that the rotation (resizing) of the text box does not result in the rotation of text within the text box. Instead, the text is simply reformatted to the new text box dimensions.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (965) 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: Changing Orientation of a Text Box.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: 
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