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: Adding Borders to Cell Contents.

Adding Borders to Cell Contents

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 25, 2018)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


You may already know how to add a border to a cell in a Word table. You may not know that you can go beyond such a border and add a border to the contents of a cell. You can add such a border by following these steps:

  1. Position the insertion point within the cell whose contents you wish to border. (You don't need to select the text or the cell.)
  2. Choose Borders and Shading from the Format menu. Word displays the Borders and Shading dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Borders and Shading dialog box.

  4. Use the controls in the dialog box to add the borders you desire.
  5. Using the Apply To drop-down list, select Paragraph.
  6. Click on OK.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1914) 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: Adding Borders to Cell Contents.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Printing Comments from a Macro

Need to print the comments you've added to a document? You can do it manually or you can have your macro do the printing. ...

Discover More

Getting Rid of Blank Labels in a Filtered Merge

If you are filtering a mail merge in Excel, and you get blank labels in the printout in Word, chances are good that ...

Discover More

Resizing a Text Box

Text boxes allow you to "segment" information in your document and lay it out differently. You can easily resize these ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Indenting a Table

Insert a table into your document, and it normally appears aligned with the left margin. Word allows you to indent the ...

Discover More

Selecting Individual Cells in a Table

Many times before applying formatting or doing another operation, you need to select an individual cell in a table. ...

Discover More

Selecting a Table

There are several different ways you can select an entire table in Word. The various methods and shortcuts are described ...

Discover More
Subscribe

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.

What is 8 - 6?

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.

Videos
Subscribe

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

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.