How To Underline In Microsoft Word

To underline in Microsoft Word, select the text, open the Home tab and click the Underline button in the Font group. On Windows, you can also press Ctrl+U. Use the Font dialogue box to choose a different underline style or colour. To remove a single.

Underline existing text using the Home tab

The Underline button is shown as a U with a line beneath it. Start by selecting exactly the words you want to format; include the spaces between words if you want one continuous underline.

1. Click and drag across the text you want to underline.
2. Open the Home tab on the ribbon.
3. In the Font group, click Underline.
4. Click outside the selection to check the result.

You can select a single word, a phrase or several paragraphs. If only part of a sentence needs emphasis, select that part rather than applying the formatting to the whole sentence.

These ribbon and dialogue box instructions describe desktop Word for Windows. The location of some controls can differ in other editions.

Use Ctrl+U or underline as you type

For a quick keyboard method, select your text and press Ctrl+U. This applies underline formatting without opening a menu. With a single underline already applied to the selection, the same shortcut switches it off.

You can also turn underlining on before entering new text:

1. Place the cursor where the underlined text should begin.
2. Press Ctrl+U, or click the Underline button on the Home tab.
3. Type the words you want to underline.
4. Press Ctrl+U again to switch underlining off before continuing.

If the next words are unexpectedly underlined, check whether the Underline button is still active at the cursor position. Turning it off affects what you type next; select existing text separately if you also need to remove its underline.

Change the underline style and colour

Use the Font dialogue box when you need a double, dotted or another available underline style. Choose the line style from the options provided rather than looking for a separate thickness control.

1. Select the text you want to change.
2. On the Home tab, click the small dialogue box launcher in the bottom-right corner of the Font group. Alternatively, press Ctrl+D.
3. Open the Underline style list and choose the line you want.
4. Use Underline colour to change the line's colour, if needed.
5. Check the preview, then click OK.

The underline colour setting changes the line beneath the text. You do not need to change the text colour to give the underline a different colour.

For a double underline, choose the double-line option in Underline style. Keep the same treatment for equivalent items throughout your document so readers can recognise the intended emphasis.

Underline words without underlining the spaces

A standard underline runs beneath both words and the spaces between them. To leave gaps between underlined words, use the Words only setting:

1. Select the phrase or passage.
2. Press Ctrl+D to open the Font dialogue box.
3. Choose Words only from the Underline style list.
4. Click OK.

Use this option when each word needs its own underline. For a continuous line beneath a phrase, select a standard single underline instead. Microsoft's guide to underlining text and spaces also explains these settings.

Remove underlining from selected text

For text with a single underline, select it and click the active Underline button, or press Ctrl+U. To explicitly remove a custom underline style, use the Font dialogue box:

1. Select the text whose underline you want to remove.
2. Press Ctrl+D.
3. Set Underline style to None.
4. Click OK.

This lets you remove the underline while keeping other font settings, such as bold or italics. If your selection contains several underline styles, choosing None gives the selected text a consistent result.

Select a paragraph rather than the whole document

To underline one paragraph, drag across that paragraph before applying the formatting. Ctrl+A selects the whole document in the main document body; it does not select only the paragraph containing the cursor.

Create a blank underline for a printed form

For a blank answer space, underline a tab character rather than typing a row of underscores. On the Home tab, turn on Show/Hide to see formatting marks, press Tab where you need the space, select its arrow-shaped mark and press Ctrl+U.

If people will type into the form, a table cell with only its bottom border visible provides a line that stays in place as text is entered.

Keep formatting consistent and resolve editing barriers

Use underlining selectively so the marked words remain easy to spot. For headings, use Word's heading styles to organise the document, then adjust their appearance if your formatting requirements call for underlining.

For other Office tasks, browse the Microsoft Office guides. If you are dealing with activation rather than formatting, see the guide to activating Microsoft Office using Command Prompt. If you need to locate licence information, there is also a guide to finding an Office product key using Command Prompt.

Select a short phrase in your document, apply the underline you need, then check that underlining is switched off before typing the next sentence.