How to add shapes in Microsoft Word

Learning how to add shapes in Microsoft Word is a simple way to make your documents more professional and visually engaging. Shapes can help you create flowcharts, highlight important information, or add visual elements that support your message. Word includes a wide range of built‑in shapes that can bring your ideas to life with only a few clicks.

Microsoft Word offers an extensive Shapes gallery filled with lines, arrows, banners, callouts, stars, and many types of circles and rectangles. Once you insert a shape, you can personalise it with colours, gradients, patterns, outlines, shadows, reflections and more, giving you plenty of flexibility to match your document style.

Over the years, many people have told me they spend too long trying to get shapes to look right or give up because it feels too fiddly. The good news is that once you learn a few simple techniques, working with shapes in Word becomes easy and enjoyable.

Add a shape to your document

Let’s now look at how to insert a basic shape into a document and some tricks you can use along the way.

To insert a basic shape in Word:

1. Open Microsoft Word and create a new blank document.
2. Select the Insert tab from the Ribbon and click the Shapes button.
3. The Shapes gallery will be displayed:

4. Click on the shape you wish to insert such as the circle, using the left mouse button.
5. Your cursor will now change to a cross on the page – this is not the time to start clicking all over the screen:

6. Move your cursor to an empty spot in the document.
7. There are two ways to create a perfect shape: the first option is to click once on the page.
8. A perfect circle will appear on the page at the default size of 2.54cm x 2.54cm:

Create perfectly proportioned shapes

For shapes that require equal dimensions, such as circles or squares, Word provides a simple method to maintain the correct aspect ratio. Let’s look at a simple keyboard shortcut to help you create larger sized, perfectly proportioned shapes.

1. Select the Insert tab from the Ribbon and click the Shapes button.
2. The Shapes gallery will be displayed.
3. Select the shape you wish to insert such as the circle, rectangle or line.
4. Your cursor will now change to a cross on the page.
5. Hold down the Shift key on your keyboard as you click the left mouse button, then drag down and across to the right to create the shape at the size you want.
6. Release the mouse button & shift key when the shape is at the size you want.
7. The shape will now be displayed at the size you have drawn:

8. Repeat the process and create a perfect square using the rectangle shape, or draw a perfectly straight line using the line shape.

Lock Drawing Mode

Did you know that if you want to insert multiple instances of the one shapes, you can use the Lock Drawing Mode feature and you’ll be able to draw as many shapes as you want without having to go back and select the Shape again?

1. Select the Insert tab from the Ribbon and click the Shapes button.
2. The Shapes gallery will be displayed.
3. Right-mouse click on the shape you wish to insert multiple times.
4. Select Lock Drawing Mode from the menu:

5. Your cursor will now change to a cross on the page.
6. Click with the left-mouse button and draw the first instance of the shape.
7. The cursor remains displaying as a cross.
8. Repeat this to draw a second, third or fourth instance of the shape you chose.

Shapes in Word are a powerful way to add structure, emphasis, and visual appeal to your documents. With a wide variety of shapes and customisation options available, you can create everything from simple highlights to detailed diagrams and flowcharts. By learning a few basic techniques, you’ll be able to enhance your documents with ease.

If you like shapes then be sure to check out how to use SmartArt graphics in Word.

Comment below with any questions.