How to Remove a Line in a Word Document

Lines in Microsoft Word can be surprisingly stubborn. Whether you're dealing with a thin border that appeared out of nowhere, a paragraph divider you didn't intentionally create, or a drawn shape that refuses to select, the fix depends entirely on what type of line you're actually looking at. They may all look similar on screen, but Word treats them very differently under the hood.

Why There Are Multiple Types of Lines in Word

Word generates and stores lines in at least three distinct ways, and each requires a different removal method:

• AutoFormat horizontal rules — created automatically when you type ---, ===, ***, or similar patterns and press Enter
• Paragraph border lines — applied through the Borders and Shading formatting menu
• Drawn or inserted lines — shapes inserted manually via the Insert > Shapes menu

Knowing which one you have saves a lot of frustration.

How to Tell Which Type of Line You Have

Before removing anything, try clicking directly on the line.

• If the line selects with handles (small squares or circles appear at the ends), it's a drawn shape — a line object.
• If the line doesn't select when you click it, but your cursor jumps to the paragraph just above or below it, it's likely an AutoFormat rule or a paragraph border.
• If you see the line only in Print Layout view but not in the paragraph formatting, it may be a header or footer border.

This one test narrows down your path significantly.

Removing an AutoFormat Horizontal Rule

When you type three or more hyphens (---), underscores (___), equal signs (===), or asterisks (***) on a blank line and press Enter, Word's AutoCorrect feature converts them into a full-width horizontal line. This line is actually applied as a bottom border on the paragraph above it — not a separate object.

To remove it:

1. Click on the paragraph directly above the line (where your cursor was when it appeared).
2. Go to Home → Paragraph section → click the dropdown arrow next to the Borders button (it looks like a square divided into four).
3. Select No Border.

The line disappears immediately.

Removing a Paragraph Border Line

Borders can be applied to any paragraph through formatting — either manually or via a style. These lines can appear above, below, or on the sides of a paragraph.

To remove a paragraph border:

1. Select the paragraph (or all paragraphs) affected by the border.
2. Go to Home → Paragraph → Borders dropdown → choose No Border.

Alternatively, go to Design (or Format, depending on your Word version) → Page Borders → Borders and Shading → Borders tab → select None, then confirm the setting applies to "Paragraph."

Watch out for styles. If the line keeps coming back after you remove it, the paragraph style itself may have a border built in. Check the style definition under Home → Styles → Modify to see if border formatting is embedded there.

Removing a Drawn Line (Shape Object) 🖱️

If the line selects when you click it — showing handles — it's a shape object. This is the simplest case.

1. Click the line to select it.
2. Press Delete or Backspace.

Done. If the line is difficult to click precisely, try using Home → Editing → Select → Select Objects, which switches your cursor into object-selection mode.

Multiple drawn lines can be selected at once by holding Shift while clicking each one, then deleting them together.

Removing Lines in Headers and Footers

A line appearing at the top or bottom of every page is often a border on the header or footer paragraph, not a line on the main body of the document.

1. Double-click the header or footer area to enter editing mode.
2. Click in the header or footer text area.
3. Go to Home → Borders dropdown → No Border.

This removes the border from that section. If the document uses multiple sections with different headers, you may need to repeat this in each section.

When the Line Is Part of a Table

Sometimes what looks like a horizontal divider is actually the border of a single-row, single-cell table that spans the page width — especially in documents created by others or imported from other formats.

Click on the line. If a table selector icon (a small square with arrows) appears in the upper-left corner, you're dealing with a table. To remove it:

• Select the table and press Delete (not Backspace, which only clears content).
• Or right-click → Delete Table.

A Quick Reference by Line Type

Variables That Affect Which Method Works for You

The right approach shifts depending on a few factors that only you can assess:

• Word version — The menu layout differs between Word 2016, 2019, Microsoft 365, and Word for Mac. Some options live under different tabs depending on your version.
• Document origin — Files created in Google Docs, LibreOffice, or older .doc formats sometimes carry formatting that behaves unexpectedly when opened in Word.
• Applied styles — If your document uses custom or template-based styles, borders may be baked into the style definition rather than applied directly to text.
• Protection settings — Some shared or template documents have editing restrictions that prevent formatting changes. If the Borders option is greyed out, check Review → Restrict Editing.

The type of line you're seeing, combined with how your specific document was created and what version of Word you're running, determines which of these methods will actually work — and occasionally, more than one approach needs to be tried.