In Office programs, you can quickly align objects (such as pictures, shapes, text boxes, SmartArt graphics, and WordArt.
Important: In Word and Outlook, you first must anchor multiple objects before selecting them. Select one object. Next, press and hold Ctrl while you select more objects.
Align multiple objects
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Select the objects you want to align. Click the first object, and then press and hold Ctrl while you click the other objects.
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Do one of the following:
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To align a picture, under Picture Tools, click the Format tab.
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To align a shape, text box, or WordArt, under Drawing Tools, click the Format tab.
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In the Arrange group, click Align, and then select one of these commands from the menu:
Option
Description
Align Left
Aligns objects along their left edges
Align Center
Aligns objects vertically through their centers.
Align Right
Aligns objects along their right edges
Align Top
Aligns objects along their top edges
Align Middle
Aligns objects horizontally through their middles.
Align Bottom
Aligns objects along their bottom edges
Important: If the Align options are unavailable, you may only have a single item selected. Select one, or more, additional items, and then you should be able to continue.
Arrange objects equal distances from each other
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Select at least three objects that you want to arrange equal distances from each other. To select multiple objects, click the first object, and then press and hold Ctrl while you click the other objects.
To select objects that are hidden, stacked, or behind text, do the following:
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On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Find and Select, click Select Objects, and then draw a box over the objects.
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Do one of the following:
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To arrange pictures equally, under Picture Tools, click the Format tab.
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To arrange a group with shapes, text boxes, or WordArt equally, under Drawing Tools, click the Format tab.
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In the Arrange group, click Align, and then do one of the following:
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To arrange the objects horizontally, click Distribute Horizontally.
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To arrange the objects vertically, click Distribute Vertically.
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Word
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Hold down Shift , click the objects that you want to align, and then click the Shape Format tab.
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Click Arrange > Align > Align Selected Objects.
This is selected by default.
If Align Selected Objects is not available
In the document, select at least two objects. The Align Selected Objects option becomes enabled.
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Click Arrange > Align, and then click the alignment that you want.
Note: In Word, you first must anchor multiple objects before selecting them. Select one object. Next, press and hold Ctrl while you select more objects.
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Hold down Shift , click the objects that you want to align, and then click the Shape Format tab.
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Click Arrange > Align > Align to Page.
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Click Arrange > Align, and then click the alignment that you want.
Important: In Word, you first must anchor multiple objects before selecting them. Select one object. Next, press and hold Ctrl while you select more objects.
To more easily align objects, you can use a grid. Or, you can snap your objects to a grid line that runs through the vertical edges, horizontal edges, and center of other objects. The line becomes visible only when you drag an object near another object.
To use a grid, you have to first turn on the grid option.
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On the Word menu, click Preferences.
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In the Word Preferences box, under Authoring and Proofing Tools, click Edit.
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In the Edit box, click Grid Options.
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In the Grid Options box, select the type of snap-to behavior that you want:
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To snap objects to a grid, under Snap Objects, select To grid in Print Layout View.
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To snap objects to other objects, under Snap Objects, select To other objects.
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(Optional) You can set other grid settings such as spacing.
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To show the gridlines, under Show Grid, select Display gridlines on screen.
Note: You can also toggle the gridlines on and off by selecting or clearing the Gridlines check box on the View tab or View menu.
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Click OK.
After you choose a grid option, align your objects as follows.
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Hold down Shift , click the objects that you want to align, and then click the Shape Format tab.
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Click Arrange > Align, and select an alignment option. If you displayed the gridlines, you will see that the objects are aligned on the grid.
Tip: If you set the preference to align to grid but want to suspend this setting while you move an object, hold down
PowerPoint
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Hold down Shift , click the objects that you want to align, and then click the Shape Format tab.
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Click Align > Align Selected Objects.
This is selected by default.
If Align Selected Objects is not available
In the document, select at least two objects. The Align Selected Objects option becomes enabled.
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Click Align, and then click the alignment that you want.
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Hold down Shift , click the objects that you want to align, and then click the Shape Format tab.
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Click Align > Align to Slide.
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Click Align, and then click the alignment that you want.
To more easily align objects, you can snap your objects to a grid line that runs through the vertical edges, horizontal edges, and centers of other objects. The line becomes visible only when you drag an object near another object.
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Click View > Guides >Snap to Grid.
Dynamic Guides — lines that run through the center of other objects and the center of the slide — appear when you drag an object. You can use dynamic guides to align an object relative to another object. Or, you can align an object relative to the center of a slide.
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Click View > Guides > Dynamic Guides.
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Click the object that you want to align.
Tip: To select multiple objects, hold down Shift , and then click the objects that you want.
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Drag the object near another object that you want to align it with, or drag the object near the center of the page.
Note: To temporarily hide Dynamic Guides, hold down Command while you drag the object.
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Use the grid lines that appear to obtain the alignment that you want.
Excel
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Hold down Shift , click the objects that you want to align, and then click the Shape Format tab.
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Click Align, and then c
Arrange shapes
To arrange a shape or reorder a shape - moving it in front of, or behind, other objects on the slide - follow these steps.
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Select the shape you want to arrange.
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On the Shapes tab, select the Arrange
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On the Arrange menu, select how you'd like to arrange the shape.
Align shapes
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Press and hold CTRL and select each of the shapes you want to arrange.
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On the Shapes tab select the Arrange
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From the Arrange menu select Align, and then what you'd like to do with the shapes.
See also
Move, rotate, or group a picture, text box, or other object
Change the margins between text and the edge of a text box or shape
Change the margins between text and the edge of a text box or shape in Office for macOS
