OmniDocHow to add and delete horizontal lines in Word
Adding decorative horizontal lines in Word and deleting the extra horizontal lines after typesetting are two different methods. This article explains several sources of horizontal lines, gives specific operations for insertion and deletion, and explains how to check the results.
Key points of this article
- Enter three hyphens and press Enter, Word will usually generate a whole line of horizontal lines, which is a quick way to decorate lines.
- Most of the extra horizontal lines after typesetting are the lower borders of paragraphs. Just select the paragraph and clear the borders. You don't have to delete it word by word.
- Horizontal lines may also come from table borders, section breaks or text boxes. Determine the source first before taking action to avoid repeated deletions.
- Open the edit mark to view paragraph symbols, and you can quickly tell which paragraph or section break the horizontal line belongs to.
When writing a document in Word, many people want a horizontal line to separate chapters, or they just press Enter one more time when typesetting. As a result, a horizontal line that no one has set appears on the page. It cannot be deleted, and pressing Delete has no effect. These two types of problems look similar, but the causes and solutions are different.
This article is written for people who need to make dividers in Word, or who are struggling with horizontal lines that suddenly appear. After reading, you can determine where the horizontal line comes from, know how to add or remove it, and check whether the result affects other parts of the page.
Let’s give the conclusion first, and then follow the steps. The method in this article is based on common Word operations and does not rely on a fixed version of the menu position.
Do you want to add a horizontal line or delete the extra line? One sentence conclusion
If you want to add decorative lines, just use hyphens to quickly generate them; if you want to delete the extra lines after typesetting, first find which paragraph or table it belongs to, and then delete it from the source, instead of repeatedly pressing the delete key against the line.
| your situation | Recommended practices | reason |
|---|---|---|
| Want to add a full line separator between chapters | Enter three hyphens on a blank line and press Enter | This is Word's automatic formatting function, which will generate a horizontal line that follows the width of the page and does not occupy character space. |
| Just want a short line or a specific style of line | Set a lower border for a paragraph or insert a line shape | Adjustable border style and thickness, suitable for decorative lines under the title |
| A horizontal line appears after typesetting and cannot be deleted. | Select the paragraph where the line is located and clear the lower border of the paragraph | Most of these lines are paragraph borders. Deleting text will have no effect. You need to change the paragraph format. |
| Horizontal lines appear in or near tables | Check table borders and modify table lines individually | Table lines belong to table properties and are set separately from paragraph borders. |
| Horizontal lines appear at the top of the page or at page breaks | Open the edit mark and see if there are any section breaks or header lines | Section breaks and header underlines will appear as horizontal lines on the page. You need to change the header or delete the section breaks. |
Before you start: Confirm these points first
Determine the source of the horizontal lines before taking action, otherwise it is very likely that one line will be deleted and another one will appear. The following things can be confirmed in a minute.
- Which row is the horizontal line on? It may be above or below a paragraph, or it may span the entire width of the page. If the line is close to a paragraph of text, it is usually a paragraph border; if it occupies a line by itself, it may be a horizontal line or section break generated by entering a hyphen.
- Whether is in the table. The border line of the table also looks like a horizontal line, but it belongs to the table, and modifying the paragraph format is invalid. Click into the table to see the border settings and direct positioning.
- Whether to display edit marks. When editing markers are turned on (in the Paragraph ribbon, usually next to the Paragraph Alignment button), paragraph symbols, section breaks, and page breaks are displayed. If there are obvious symbols near the horizontal line, you can know which section it belongs to.
- Whether it will affect other pages. The same paragraph format may be shared by multiple paragraphs. If you modify the style directly, paragraphs with the same style in the entire document will change, so you must first confirm the scope of the modification.
After confirming this information, you can proceed to the specific operation, which will save you a lot of detours when deleting.
Steps to insert a horizontal line in a Word document
The following method applies to the common desktop version of Word, and also applies to most editors that can open .docx files.
- Place the cursor on the blank line where you want to insert a horizontal line. The line will be generated at the paragraph position where the cursor is located, so confirm the position first to avoid the line falling in the middle of the text.
- Enter three hyphens "---". This is a shortcut method for inputting horizontal lines. The three characters should be entered closely without any spaces in between.
- Press the Enter key. Word will automatically convert three hyphens into a horizontal line that runs the width of the page, and the cursor will move to the next paragraph. If it does not become a horizontal line, check whether the automatic formatting function is turned off.
- When other styles are needed, use borders instead. If you want double lines, dashed lines or lines of different colors, you can select the paragraph and select the line style and thickness in the paragraph border settings. This line only affects this paragraph and does not affect subsequent content.
Delete the extra horizontal line
- Open the edit mark. First check whether there are paragraph symbols, section breaks or table marks near the horizontal line to determine which paragraph it belongs to.
- Confirm whether the horizontal line is a paragraph border. Select the paragraph above or below the line. If the line is selected along with the paragraph, it means it is the lower or upper border of the paragraph.
- Clear paragraph borders. Change the border to no border in the paragraph border settings, and the line will disappear immediately. This will only affect the selected paragraph and will not delete the text.
- Handle lines that are not paragraph borders. If the line is generated by three hyphens, select that line and delete it together with the paragraph symbol; if it is a section break, place the cursor before and after the section break, check whether it needs to be retained, and then decide to delete it.
If the same horizontal line appears again after deletion, it is probably because a border is set in the paragraph style, and you need to modify the style itself, or check it paragraph by paragraph.
Check each item after completion
After adding or deleting lines, don't just look at the current page. The position and format of horizontal lines will affect pagination and subsequent layout. It is recommended to check the following items.
| Check items | How to see | What to do if there is a problem |
|---|---|---|
| Are the horizontal lines as expected? | Scroll through the entire document to make sure that only the lines you want appear | If the deletion is not complete, reopen the edit mark and find the paragraph or section break where the line is located. |
| Whether the main text has been deleted by mistake | Compare the content of the paragraph before deletion to check whether the adjacent paragraphs are complete | Use the undo command to restore, and then only clear the border, do not delete the entire paragraph directly |
| Whether pagination changes | Check the starting and ending position of each page, especially the beginning of the chapter | Adjust the page break position, or set a page break before the corresponding paragraph to prevent the title from remaining at the end of the page. |
| Are the table lines normal? | Click on the table to see if the borders are only where needed | Adjust it separately in the table border settings. Do not use paragraph borders instead of table lines. |
| Are there any extra lines in the header or footer? | Double-click the header area to view the header offline | In the header editing state, clear the lower border of the header paragraph |
If the document has many identical horizontal lines, it is recommended to modify one place first, confirm the effect, and then copy the format to other locations to avoid affecting too much content with one change.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. Why does it not turn into a horizontal line after entering three hyphens?
In most cases, the automatic formatting function is turned off, or there are spaces between three characters. After checking these two points, re-enter "---" and press Enter. If it still doesn't work, you can directly use paragraph borders to make horizontal lines.
2. After deleting the horizontal line, why did the following paragraph also change?
This is usually because the two paragraphs share the same paragraph format, or you deleted a section break, and the section break will affect the page layout before and after it. Undo this operation, open the edit mark, confirm whether you want to delete paragraph borders or section breaks, and then choose the corresponding method.
3. If the desktop version of Word is not installed, can this type of horizontal lines be processed?
Can. Web page editors that support conversion with Word, such as UniDoc Web Editor (app.unidoc.top), can open and edit .docx files. The operation ideas are the same as the above steps. No matter which software you use, you should check it according to the checklist after making changes.
4. How to delete horizontal lines in documents opened with PDF?
The horizontal lines in PDF are part of the page, not the paragraph format of Word. The borders cannot be cleared in the PDF reader like Word. The usual approach is to go back to the original .docx file, modify it, and then re-export the PDF.
📝 Summary
To add horizontal lines in Word, use three hyphens and a carriage return; delete the extra horizontal lines after typesetting, first determine whether they come from paragraph borders, tables, or section breaks, and then eliminate them from the source. If you do it in this order, you can delete it completely without accidentally damaging the main text.
