How to Make a Horizontal Line in Google Docs — Full Tutorial

Wow! I love looking at your resume as it’s neat and organized!

Plus, the horizontal lines you added helped in organizing your resume’s content. 

How did you add those horizontal lines in Google Docs? 

If you’re a newbie and you’re unfamiliar with how to add a horizontal line in Google Docs, keep reading!

 

How to Make a Horizontal Line in Google Docs

One way to create a horizontal line in Google Docs is to add one from the “Insert” tab in the menu bar. Another way is to use the “Drawing” tool to make a horizontal line. Third, you can add paragraph borders from the “Format” tab. Lastly, you can press “Shift + _” simultaneously on the keyboard.

 

Horizontal Lines in Google Docs — Steps and Methods to Create Them

Those who are new to Google Docs feel overwhelmed even with activating its most common functionalities.

Even replacing a word in Google Docs feels so foreign to them that they resort to skimming the document to change it.

Hence, if you also want to know how to make horizontal lines like adding vertical lines in Google Docs, learn the 4 basic methods below.

 

Method 1: Insert Horizontal Line from “Insert” Tab

Step 1: Granting that you’ve already opened a document file, head to the menu bar and click the “Insert” tab.

You’ll then see a dropdown menu appear.

Step 2: In the dropdown menu, keep scrolling until you see the “Horizontal line” option. Click it.

And, just like that, you’ve added a horizontal line in Google Docs.

Step 3: However, unlike the other options, there’s not much customization that you can do other than changing the line’s color.

To change the horizontal line’s color (this is an optional step), just choose the “Highlight color” button in the toolbar after highlighting the said line. 

Then, just select what hue you want your horizontal line to have.

Now, if you prefer a much more flexible method of adding horizontal lines, then the second method is your best option.

 

Method 2: Use the “Drawing” Tool to Add a Horizontal Line

Step 1: After opening a Google Docs file, head to the “Insert” tab on the menu bar and click it.

Step 2: In the dropdown menu that appears, scroll down to the “Drawing” button and click it.

A second dropdown menu will appear beside “Drawing.”

Step 3: After selecting “Drawing,” you’ll then see two options available: New and From Drive.

Choose the “New” option to make the “Drawing” pop-out window appear.

Step 4: Once you’re in the “Drawing” tool, click the “Select” button (the small arrow icon beside the “Line” button) to view the entire options available.

Step 5: Then, choose “Line” from the “Line” button. Just click the “v” icon to select from the line styles available.

Since we want a horizontal line, choose “Line” in the line styles available.

Step 6: Now, click and drag the arrow across on the drawing tool to form a horizontal line. 

If you want to ensure you’re making a perfectly straight horizontal line, press “Shift” while dragging the cursor.

Step 7: If you want to adjust the horizontal line’s appearance, you can do so by selecting from the “Line Editing” options available.

• Line Weight (adjusts the horizontal line’s thickness)
• Line Color
• Line Dash (otherwise known as the Line Style button; allows your line to have dashed, dotted, or other forms of styles)
• Line End and Line Start (gives you options to add squares, arrows, circles, etc. at the corner of the line you created)

Step 8: If you’re satisfied with how your horizontal line looks, click “Save and Close” to insert the new line into the document.

Just make sure that the cursor’s placed in the correct area as Google Docs will place the line in the same area where that cursor is.

Simple, right? Wait until you read the next method below.

 

Method 3: Adding Horizontal Paragraph Borders

Step 1: After opening a Google Docs document, head to the menu bar and select “Format.” 

You’ll then see a dropdown menu appear after clicking “Format.”

Step 2: Keep scrolling the “Format” dropdown menu until you see “Paragraph Styles.” Select the “>” icon to make the next dropdown menu appear beside it.

Step 3: In the second dropdown menu, click “Borders and shading.”

Step 4: In the “Borders and shading” dialog box, choose where you want to position your border on the page.

Among the five border position options available, only 3 allow you to add a horizontal line: between, bottom, or top. 

Select from these 3 by clicking one of them.

Step 5: Then, head to the other border features in the pop-out window to edit the look of your horizontal paragraph borders.

These border features that you can edit include the following:

• Background color
• Border dash
• Border width
• Paragraph padding (changes the spacing around the paragraph)
• Border color

Step 6: Once you’re all set with your border features, click the blue “Apply” button.

This move will then insert the horizontal paragraph border you created based on the border position you selected.

But, if you don’t want to go through any of those dropdown menus and pop-out windows to add a horizontal line, try the last method below.

 

Method 4: Use “Shift + _” Keyboard Shortcut

Step 1: Place the blinking cursor on the part of the Google Docs document you want to add a horizontal line into.

Step 2: On your keyboard, press the “Shift” and underscore (_) keys together. 

Continue pressing these keys together until you have the size of horizontal line you want.

Pretty cool and simple, right?

So, which among these four methods of making horizontal lines in Google Docs do you prefer using? 

 

Frequently Asked Questions about How to Make a Horizontal Line in Google Docs

 

Can you remove the horizontal line you made in Google Docs?

You definitely can remove a horizontal line you created in Google Docs. Drag the cursor over the line to highlight it, then press either “Delete” or “Backspace” to remove it. Another way is to highlight on the horizontal line and right-click it before choosing “Delete.”

 

How do you adjust the spacing between the text and the horizontal line you added in Google Docs?

To adjust the distance or spacing between the horizontal line and the text, double-click the line to highlight it. Then, head to the “Font Size” box and encode “1” in it before pressing “Enter.” This move will automatically bring the horizontal line closer to the text.