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: Wrapping Text Around a Graphic.

Wrapping Text Around a Graphic

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 9, 2026)

After you have inserted a picture 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 image. To control text wrapping for a graphic, follow these steps:

Insert your graphic as you normally would.
Right-click your mouse on the graphic. Word displays a Context menu.
Choose the Format Picture option from the Context menu. Word displays the Format Picture dialog box.
Click on the Layout tab (or, in Word 97, the Wrapping tab). (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Layout tab of the Format Picture dialog box.

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

Once you have selected a wrapping method, you can modify the wrapping points using the techniques described in other WordTips. (Modifying the wrapping points allows you to get text very close to your image, including on top of it, if desired.)

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (3518) 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: Wrapping Text Around a Graphic.

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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