How to Insert WordArt in Word

To insert WordArt in Microsoft Word, go to the Insert tab, select WordArt, pick a style, and type over the placeholder text. This works in the desktop Word app for Windows and Mac. Word for the web doesn’t give you the same WordArt tools, so open the file in the desktop app if you need to add or style WordArt.

WordArt is text placed inside its own box, so you can style it with fills, outlines, shadows, and shapes, and move it anywhere on the page.

Add new WordArt to a document

1. Click in the document near the spot where you want the WordArt to appear.
2. Select the Insert tab on the ribbon.
3. In the Text group, select WordArt. A gallery of letter styles opens.
4. Choose a style. A box appears with the words Your text here already selected.
5. Type your own words. They replace the placeholder and take on the style you picked.
6. Click outside the box to finish. The WordArt stays selected until you click elsewhere.

On a small screen, the Text group may be collapsed into one button. If you don’t see WordArt right away, select Text on the Insert tab and look for it there.

Turn text you already typed into WordArt

You don’t have to retype a heading to make it WordArt.

1. Select the words you want to change.
2. Go to Insert > WordArt.
3. Pick a style. Word moves the selected text into a new WordArt box with that style.

The text leaves the normal flow of your paragraph, so check the surrounding lines afterward and remove any empty line it leaves behind.

Change the color, outline, and effects

All WordArt styling lives on the Shape Format tab, which appears only while the WordArt is selected. In some older versions, it’s called Drawing Tools Format.

1. Select the WordArt box, or highlight just the letters you want to change.
2. Open the Shape Format tab.
3. Select Text Fill to change the color inside the letters.
4. Select Text Outline to change or remove the line around each letter.
5. Select Text Effects to add a shadow, reflection, glow, bevel, or 3-D rotation.

To bend the words into an arch, circle, or wave, use Text Effects > Transform. Our guide on curving text in Word with WordArt walks through the curve options and how to fine-tune them.

Want a different style altogether? With the WordArt selected, open the WordArt Styles gallery on the Shape Format tab and pick a new one.

Change the font and size

WordArt uses regular text formatting, so the usual font controls still work.

1. Highlight the text inside the WordArt box.
2. Go to the Home tab.
3. In the Font group, choose a new font and font size.

If the font you want isn’t in the list, you can add new fonts to Word first. If the letters get cut off after you make them bigger, drag a corner handle of the box outward.

Move, rotate, and wrap text around WordArt

• Move it: point at the border of the box until the pointer turns into a four-way arrow, then drag.
• Rotate it: drag the circular arrow handle at the top of the box. For exact 90-degree turns or flips, use Rotate in the Arrange group on the Shape Format tab.
• Control text wrapping: select the WordArt, then choose Wrap Text on the Shape Format tab. Square or Top and Bottom keeps body text from running into it. In Front of Text lets you place it freely.

For more on turning a text box, see how to rotate a text box in Word. The same handles and options apply to WordArt. If you want the letters reversed like a mirror image, see how to mirror text in Word.

Remove WordArt

To delete WordArt completely, click the border of the box so the whole box is selected, not the text inside it. Then press Delete. If you only see a blinking cursor in the text, click the border again.

To keep the words but lose the WordArt look, highlight the text inside the box and copy it. Delete the WordArt box, click where you want the words, and paste with Keep Text Only from the Paste Options button. The text returns as a plain paragraph.

If WordArt isn’t working

• The WordArt button is grayed out or missing. You may be in Word for the web or in a file opened as read-only. In Word for the web, use the Open in Desktop App option to switch to the full app. For a read-only file, save a copy and edit that copy.
• The Shape Format tab disappeared. It only shows while WordArt is selected. Click the WordArt text or its border to bring it back.
• WordArt looks like a gray box in the browser. Word for the web keeps WordArt in the file but may show it as a placeholder you can’t edit. Microsoft lists this in its page on differences between Word in the browser and the desktop app.
• The WordArt jumps to another page when you type. It’s attached to a nearby paragraph. Change Wrap Text to In Front of Text or Square, then drag it back into place.

Microsoft’s own Insert WordArt help page covers the same tools for Word, PowerPoint, and Excel if you use WordArt across Office apps.

Matt Wilmont

Matt has been writing about Microsoft Windows and other Microsoft products since the days of Windows XP. He spends much of his time writing for sites like WindowBrain.com