3 Easy Ways to Delete a Horizontal Line in a Word Document

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Quick ways to get rid of an unwanted horizontal line in Microsoft Word

Written by Rain Kengly

Last Updated: April 3, 2024 Fact Checked

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Highlighting and Deleting

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Using the Borders Menu

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Using the Page Borders Menu

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Disabling Text Boundaries

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Disabling Intense Quote

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Video

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Q&A

If you've ever typed three hyphens and pressed "Enter" in Microsoft Word, you may notice a new line in your document. This is due to Word's AutoFormat feature. You can usually delete this line by highlighting it and pressing the Backspace button on your keyboard. If it won't delete, it may be a border, which requires a different method to be removed. This wikiHow will show you how to remove a horizontal line in Microsoft Word using your Windows or Mac computer.

Quick Guide to Deleting a Horizontal Line

Click the space directly above the line.
Open the "Borders and Shading" menu and click "No Border".
Highlight the unwanted line.
Click "Design" → "Page Borders" → "Borders" → "None" → "OK".

Method 1

Method 1 of 5:

Highlighting and Deleting

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1
Click in the row above the unwanted line. If there is any text immediately above the line, select the entire row above the line.
- Use this method if you want to get rid of a line you inserted.
- You can also turn off AutoCorrect if you don't want word to create lines from symbols.
You can select a few extra lines if they're empty. The left end of the line will be highlighted.

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3
Press ← Backspace. This key may look like a left-facing arrow. The line should be deleted.^{[1]
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- If it doesn't delete, try to highlight more lines above and below the line, and then press Backspace again.
- If the line remains, it may be a border. Continue to the next step to remove it.

Method 2

Method 2 of 5:

Using the Borders Menu

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1
Click the row immediately above the horizontal line. Use this method if you're unable to delete a horizontal line with the Backspace key.
- If you aren't already on the Home tab, click it to navigate there now.
2
Click the arrow next to "Borders and Shading". This looks like a box with dotted lines.
- A drop-down menu will open.
3
Click No Border. This should be underneath Right Border. When you click it, the line will disappear immediately.
- Be sure to save your document when you're finished.

Method 3

Method 3 of 5:

Using the Page Borders Menu

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Click the space immediately above the unwanted line, and then drag it to the row below.
This will be in the top toolbar, between Draw and Layout.
3
Click Page Borders. This will be on the right side of the top toolbar, next to Page Color.
- This is how you can edit or add page borders to Word.
This will be at the top of the dialog box.
This will be in the left panel.
6
Click OK. The border line will disappear.
- If needed, you can also remove a blank page.

Method 4

Method 4 of 5:

Disabling Text Boundaries

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1
Click File. This will be in the top-left corner, next to Home.
- Use this method to remove text boundaries, which are the dotted lines above and below paragraphs.^{[2]
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  Technical support and product information from Microsoft.
  
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You can find this on the very bottom of the left panel.
This will be in the left panel, underneath Accessibility.
You may need to scroll down to find this option; it will be underneath the Show document content header.
The dotted lines should disappear.

Method 5

Method 5 of 5:

Disabling Intense Quote

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1
Select the affected text. Click the space above the line and drag it below.
- If there's a horizontal line above and below your text, you may have added Word's default style, Intense Quote, to your text.
2
Click the diagonal arrow in the "Styles" section. You'll see previews of the default Styles; the arrow will be at the bottom-right corner of this section.
- A pop-up menu will open.
3
Click Clear All. This will clear any style formatting added to your text. The lines should disappear.
- Alternatively, you can select a different style for your text.

Community Q&A

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Question

I typed a couple of underscores and then pressed enter and it won't go away. How do I get rid of them?

Community Answer

First, select part of your text which contains "Border Lines," then go to the "Home" tab and select the "Paragraph" ribbon, click on "Borders" command and finally choose "No Border."

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Question

How do I identify an unwanted line on a page?

Community Answer

Press the backspace key. It is the one with an arrow going left on most keyboards. You can tell which way left is by making your hands into letters - the L is the left hand.

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Question

What do I do if the print of a section I was trying to cut and paste became small, and I need it to be big again?

Community Answer

Press Control + Z (which is undo) and right-click on the passage to find Undo.

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