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: Moving Object Anchors.

Moving Object Anchors

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 27, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

An object anchor is an indicator that shows the document paragraph with which a floating object is associated. You can see where object anchors are located by following these steps:

Make sure you are viewing your document in Print Layout view. (This view is called Page Layout view in Word 97.)
Choose Options from Tools menu. Word displays the Options dialog box.
Make sure the View tab is displayed.
Make sure the Object Anchors check box is selected.
Click on OK.

Once you place a picture or other object in your document, you may want to change the paragraph to which it is anchored. To move the object anchor, follow these steps:

Click once on the object whose anchor you want to move. You should be able to see the object anchor icon as well.
Click on the object anchor icon and drag it either up (towards the beginning of the document) or down (towards the end of the document).
Release the mouse button when the mouse pointer is next to the paragraph where you want the object anchored.

Moving an object anchor doesn't necessarily move the object associated with the anchor. Instead, Word adjusts the paragraph with which the object is associated, which doesn't mean that the object itself has to move. (It only moves if the object anchor is associated with a paragraph on a different page.) If you want to actually move the object's position, you need to displays the object's Format dialog box and change the settings on the Position tab. Remember, as well, that object anchors only apply floating objects, as mentioned in the first paragraph of this tip. There are many types of objects that Word understands, but if you are working specifically with graphics, they can be either inline or floating. If they are inline (or if you convert a floating graphic to an inline graphic), then there is no object anchor associated with it.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1440) 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: Moving Object Anchors.

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...

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