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: Resizing a Text Box.

Resizing a Text Box

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 30, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Text boxes, regardless of what they contain, can be easily sized in Word. To change the size of an existing text box, follow these steps:

Click once on the information within the text box. A box appears for the object (this is designated by eight squares, or handles, around the perimeter).
Use the mouse to point to one of the handles. The pointer will change to a double-headed arrow. Click on the left mouse button.
Drag the handle to resize the text box.
Release the mouse button when the text box is the size you want. The information it contains is reformatted to fit within the newly resized text box.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1054) 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: Resizing a Text Box.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Extracting Proper Words

If you've got a list of potential words, and you want to know which of those potential words are real, you'll appreciate ...

Discover More

Showing Print Preview for the Current Page

The Print Preview feature in Excel can be quite helpful. You might think it would be more helpful, though, if it ...

Discover More

Setting a Standard Column Width

If you have a bunch of tables in your document, you may want to adjust the column widths of all of those tables. Here are ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Finding Text Boxes

Need to search for various text boxes in your document? It's easy to do with the handy macro provided in this tip.

Discover More

Creating Usable Figure Captions

Many people add both images and figure captions within text boxes so they can be easily positioned within a document. ...

Discover More

Wrapping Text around a Graphic in a Text Box

Word allows you to wrap text around a graphic or around a text box, but it won't allow you to wrap text in a text box ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is two minus 0?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.