Wrapping Text Around a Text Box or Frame

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 4, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


After you have inserted a text box or a frame in your document, you can control how surrounding text flows around it. You can either turn wrapping off, or you can cause Word to flow text around the frame or text box. If you are using text boxes, you have even more wrapping options. To control text wrapping for a text box, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click on the text box. Word displays a Context menu.
  2. Choose Format Text Box from the Context menu. Word displays the Format Text Box dialog box.
  3. Click on the Layout tab (in Word 97 click on the Wrapping tab). (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The Layout tab of the Format Text Box dialog box.

  5. Select a method of text wrapping in the Wrapping Style area of the dialog box.
  6. Click on OK.

If you are wrapping text around a frame, the process is slightly different:

  1. Right-click on the frame. Word displays a Context menu.
  2. Choose Format Frame from the Context menu. Word displays the Frame dialog box. (See Figure 2.)
  3. Figure 2. The Frame dialog box.

  4. Select a method of text wrapping in the Text Wrapping area of the dialog box.
  5. 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 (3499) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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

Merging Cells to a Single Sum

One way to make your worksheets less complex is to get rid of detail and keep only the summary of that detail. Here's how ...

Discover More

Comments in Headers and Footers

Comments can be a necessity when developing documents in conjunction with other people. They can be used to help document ...

Discover More

Can't Save Edited Document

Each day of using Word is filled with opening documents, editing them, and then saving those changes to disk. It can be ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

Changing Orientation of a Text Box

Want to change how a text box is oriented on the page? You can't do it, but you can adjust the dimensions of the box ...

Discover More

Creating Sideheads

A sidehead can be used as a layout element for a document. You can create sideheads in a document by using text boxes, as ...

Discover More

Columns in a Text Box

Want to divide a text box into columns? Word doesn't allow you to do this, but there are ways to work around the limitation.

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 3 + 2?

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.