Rotate text in Word

Word for Microsoft 365 Outlook for Microsoft 365 Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac Outlook for Microsoft 365 for Mac Word for the web Word 2021 Outlook 2021 Word 2021 for Mac Outlook 2021 for Mac Word 2019 Outlook 2019 Word 2019 for Mac Outlook 2019 for Mac Word 2016 Outlook 2016 Word 2016 for Mac Word 2013 Outlook 2013 Word 2010 More. Less

Note: To rotate text in Word, you must first place the text in a text box, and then rotate the text box.

Insert and rotate a text box

1. Select where on the page to put the text box.
2. On the Insert tab, select

Rotate objects button" />

Text Box and choose a style.
For more info, see Add, copy, or remove a text box in Word. Select the text box and do one of the following:

On the Shape Format tab, select

Rotate. and choose a direction or angle to rotate. Grab the

Note: A text box will appear horizontally when you select it to make editing the text easier.

Mirror text in a text box

This will reverse a line or paragraph of text in a text box.

1. Select the text box and choose the Shape Format tab.
2. Select

Text Effects and hover over

3D Rotation and choose

3D Rotation Options. Under 3-D Rotation, set X Rotation to 180°.

Remove the text box border

1. Select the text box and choose the Shape Format tab
2. Select

Shape Outline, and then choose No Outline.

Change the border

1. Select the text box and choose the Shape Format tab.
2. Select

Shape Outline to change the outline color, to change the line weight, or to change the line to dashes. Select

Note: To rotate text in Word for Mac, you must first place the text in a text box, and then rotate the text box.

1. Select a text box to rotate. For more info on inserting a text box, see Add, copy, or remove a text box in Word
2. Select the

• To constrain the rotation to 15-degree angles, press and hold Shift while you drag the rotation handle.
• When you rotate multiple shapes, they do not rotate as a group, but instead each shape rotates around its own center.
• Alternatively you can select the object, hold down ⌥ option and press the left or right arrow keys to rotate.

Mirror text in a text box

1. Select the text box and choose the Shape Format tab.
2. Select

3D Rotation and choose

Rotate to an exact angles

Rotate objects button" />

1. Select the text box you want to rotate. and choose the Shape Format tab.
2. Select

Rotate objects button" />

Rotate in the Arrange group.

• If you don't see the Shape Format tab, make sure that you selected a text box.
• The

Rotate objects button" />

Rotate button could be hidden if your screen size is reduced. If you don't see the

Rotate button, select

• Rotate Right 90° to rotate the object 90 degrees to the right.
• Rotate Left 90° to rotate the object 90 degrees to the left.
• Flip Vertical; flips the text box vertically.
• Flip Horizontal; flips the text box horizontally.
• More Rotation Options: Enter the amount that you want to rotate the object in the Rotation box. You can also use the arrows to rotate the object exactly where you want.

Group objects

When you group text boxes, you are combining them so that you can format, move, or copy them as a group.

1. Hold down Shift, select the text boxes that you want to group together, and then choose the Shape Format tab.
2. Under Arrange, select

Group and then choose

Tip: If Group appears dimmed or unavailable that's usually because you haven't already selected two, or more text boxes to be grouped together.

Word for the web displays documents that contain rotated text boxes, but Inserting or rotating a text box isn't currently possible in Word for the web. You can, however, insert or rotate a text box in the Word desktop app.

Open in Desktop App command" />

To open the desktop app, at the top of the ribbon, select Editing and choose Open in Desktop App.

Don't have the Word desktop app? Try or buy Microsoft 365.