One of the questions I get most often is, “How do I move a picture in Word?“ If you’ve ever tried dragging a picture around a page, only to have it jump somewhere unexpected, refuse to move, or send your text into complete chaos, you’re definitely not alone. Sometimes it makes it feel harder than it should be. The good news is that I’m going to explain why this happens and how to make it much easier in the future.
The first time I saw this video by Jess and Quinn, I laughed hard! It’s so accurate so I thought it only fitting to include it in this post.
Why can’t I move a picture in Word?
The first thing you want to understand is that objects you insert into a Word document, such as text boxes, shapes and icons are generally set so they appear to “float” on the page. This “floating” effect is technically a text wrapping setting called Wrap Text. If the Wrap Text option is set to In Front of Text, Square or Tight, it allows the object to be moved freely around the page.
When inserting objects such as pictures, you will often find the Wrap Text setting is set to In line with Text. This means the object is positioned directly within the paragraph and so is affected by anything added to the paragraph and cannot be freely moved around the page.
Change the Text Wrap setting
Now that you know the Text Wrap setting will dictate whether an object is sitting within a paragraph or not, you can easily change this setting when needed to give you more freedom to move pictures around a page or the document.
To change the Text Wrap setting:
- Open Microsoft Word.
- Open an existing document from your Recent documents list or create a new blank document preferably with some text.
- Place your cursor anywhere within the document.
- Select the Insert tab on the ribbon.
- Click the Pictures button and choose a source to insert an image from.
- Once you have chosen a picture, it will appear in the document.
- Resize the picture so that it does not take up the full width of the page. E.g. set it to 6cm wide.
- At the moment, you cannot drag and drop the picture to a different location on the page:
- Make sure the picture is selected.
- Select the Picture Format tab.
- Click the Wrap Text button:
- You will notice it is currently set to In Line with Text. Change it to In Front of Text.
- You will notice any paragraphs of text below the picture will now move up and behind the picture.
- The In Front of Text option will make the text wrap behind the picture.
- Go back to the Wrap Text button and choose Square. If you want the text to be closer to the edge of the picture, use the Tight option. The Tight option is also great if you have a picture or shape that is not a square/rectangle as the Tight option will pull the text in to wrap it around the shape.
- Now the paragraphs will wrap around the outside of the image in a square shape:
- Click and drag the picture to a new location on the page, it will now “float” on the page and any text it is near will wrap nicely around the outside edge.
If you’ve been wondering how to move a picture in Word, the answer usually comes down to the Wrap Text setting. Once you change a picture from In Line with Text to a floating layout such as Square, Tight, or In Front of Text, you’ll have much more control over where it sits on the page. It’s a simple change, but one that can save a lot of frustration when working with images in Word.
Don’t forget to leave any questions below in the comments or check out more Word tips and tricks.