When creating a document, borders assist in giving documents a professional edge as they clearly define the organization pattern. Word offers a handy option for inserting an automatic border before or after a paragraph. Type three hyphens on a blank line and press Enter. If the option is enabled, Word will replace the hyphens with a horizontal line. To remove the line, press Ctrl Z after Word inserts it.
NOTE: If you try to select the border and delete it, you’ll find yourself unsuccessful. The border is not a line object. Word has applied the Bottom Border format to the paragraph.
To remove a border in Word 2003, click anywhere in the paragraph and choose No Border from the Borders drop-down list on the Formatting menu. In Word 2007/2010, click anywhere in the paragraph, click the Border button in the Paragraph group of the Home tab, and select No Border.
In addition to typing three hyphens to apply an automatic border, you can trigger different border styles using a similar format. Typing:
- Three hyphens (-) will create a solid line.
- Three equal signs (=) will create a double line.
- Three underscore characters (_) will create a 1.5-point line.
- Three asterisks (*) will create a dotted line.
- Three pound signs (#) will produce a “thin thick thin” line.
- Three tilde characters (~) will create a wavy line.
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