How to Delete Horizontal Lines in Microsoft Word

How To Delete A Horizontal Line In Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word automatically formats items such as quotes, bulleted list items, numbered lists, and horizontal lines. When you enter in at least three dash symbols, underscores, or equal signs in a paragraph by themselves and click on “Enter”, the characters would be automatically converted to a single, thick (bold) single, or double horizontal lines, respectively.

This feature of Microsoft Word can be a timesaver, except on the occasions where you want the actual characters in your document and not have Microsoft Word convert them into a horizontal line that would increase the width of your document. There are a few methods for either undoing or taking away the horizontal line or preventing Word from automatically creating the lines.

Horizontal lines in Microsoft Word do not count as characters, so taking them away can be sometines challenging. Unless you use the tip we would show you below.

If you want to split up a Microsoft Word document with some simple dividers for readability, all you have to do is to type three hyphens and press Enter for a long horizontal line to come up.

However, once it is there, getting rid of it can start proving challenging. You would think that using the Delete or Backspace keys would work, but they do not and you would seem to be stuck with that line. Do not worry, though.

Here's how to remove a line in Microsoft Word.

While you cannot use the Backspace or Delete keys to get rid of it, you can still take away that line to do that:

1. Click directly above the line that you want to remove.
2. Go to the Home tab in the Ribbon section.
3. Within the Paragraph section, click on the the dropdown arrow that is next to the Borders icon and select No Border.

How To Stop Word Automatically Creating A Horizontal Line

You might not want Microsoft Word to automatically create a horizontal line when you type any three dashes. If that is the case, here is how to disable that feature:

1. Go to File > Options > Proofing > AutoCorrect Options > AutoFormat As You Type.
2. Below the Apply as you type, remove the tick that are in the Border lines.
3. Click OK.

How To Insert A Horizontal Line In Your Microsoft Word Document

If you want an alternative method to insert a horizontal line in Word, and one that is more obvious to delete, here's how:

1. Click where you want to place the line.
2. Go to the Home tab in the Ribbon.
3. Within the Paragraph section, click the dropdown arrow next to the Borders icon and select Horizontal Line.
4. Double click the newly inserted line to format it, like adjusting width, height, and color.

If you ever need to remove the line, all you need to do is click on it and press the Delete or Backspace key.

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