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:

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

Figure 1. The Layout tab of the Format Text Box dialog box.

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

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

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

Figure 2. The Frame dialog box.

Select a method of text wrapping in the Text Wrapping area of the dialog box.
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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Controlling the Outline in the Document Map

When you display the Document Map, you are essentially looking at an outline of the document at the same time as you ...

Discover More

Applying Styles

Styles are a powerful formatting tool for the text in your documents. Once you've created styles that describe how you ...

Discover More

Changing Shortcut Properties

Want to change how a shortcut behaves when you double-click it? Just display the Properties dialog box for the shortcut ...

Discover More

Discover the Power of Microsoft Office This beginner-friendly guide reveals the expert tips and strategies you need to skyrocket your productivity and use Office 365 like a pro. Mastering software like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is essential to be more efficient and advance your career. Simple lessons guide you through every step, providing the knowledge you need to get started. Check out Microsoft Office 365 For Beginners today!

More WordTips (menu)

No-border Text Boxes by Default

Text boxes can be a great design element when laying out your documents. If you want those text boxes to have no borders ...

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

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

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 five minus 1?

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.