The Borders tab of the Borders and Shading dialog box. If you select what you want to place a border on and then display the dialog box (click the down-arrow next to the Borders tool and choose Borders and Shading), Word indicates on the Borders tab exactly what it will apply the border to. If you simply place the insertion point somewhere within the paragraph and then use the Border tool to apply an outside border, Word assumes you want it applied to the entire paragraph.įinally, you should note that if you really, really want to make sure that your border applies to the entire paragraph, you can use the Borders and Shading dialog box. Interestingly enough, you don't really need to select the entire paragraph before adding the border. (The easiest way to do this is to simply triple click your mouse within the paragraph's text.) When you apply the border again, it should appear around the outside of the entire paragraph. Then, reselect the paragraph, but this time make sure that you include the end-of-paragraph marker. Press Ctrl+Z to undo the adding of the border. It looks like each line is bordered because the borders between characters and words are automatically suppressed by Word. In reality you've instructed Word to add the border to the text selection, and Word does that-it applies the border to the individual characters and words in the paragraph. Word borders the individual characters and words in the paragraph. Instead, the border appears around individual lines in the paragraph. When you use the Borders tool (in the Paragraph group on the Home tab of the ribbon) to apply a border to the outside of the selection, Word dutifully applies the border, but it won't be to the entire paragraph because you haven't selected the entire paragraph. Everything is selected except the marker. Select everything in the paragraph except the end-of-paragraph marker. The non-printing characters visible in a document.
(The tool looks like a backwards P, or pilcrow.) You should see the non-printing characters appear throughout your document. Display the Home tab of the ribbon and click the Show/Hide tool in the Paragraph group. The easiest way to see this effect is to make sure that you have non-printing characters displayed in your document. If it is selected, then Word puts the border around the entire paragraph. If it is not selected, then Word puts borders around the individual lines of the paragraph. The key here is whether the end-of-paragraph marker is selected when the borders are applied. Word behaves differently in how it adds borders based on what you've selected when you apply the borders. Alexis wonders why Word behaves like this. It's as if Word reads each line as a different paragraph, so to speak. Instead of placing the borders around the whole paragraph, Word places borders around each line of the paragraph. Alexis has this problem with placing borders around a paragraph.