Below are the steps on how to change or move the alignment of text in a word processor and most text editing programs. View the steps for the program you are using by clicking one of the links below.

Align text in Microsoft Word

  • Align text in Microsoft Word.
  • Align text in WordPad.
  • Align text in Google Docs.
  • Align text in OpenOffice Writer.

The steps below are for changing the alignment of text in Microsoft Word. They can also be used to align text in a column or row for Microsoft Excel and most other text programs.

To change the horizontal alignment of text in Word, highlight the text you want to change and click the left, center, or right alignment icons, as shown in the image. In all new versions of Microsoft Word, the alignment options are found under the Home tab.

  • How to highlight or select text.

or

Press one of the shortcut keys to adjust the alignment of any highlighted text. For left alignment, highlight the text and press Ctrl+L to align text to the left margin. For center alignment, highlight the text and press Ctrl+E. For right alignment, highlight the text and press Ctrl+R to align text to the right.

Adjusting the vertical alignment

If you want to change the vertical alignment of text, follow the steps listed below.

  • Open Microsoft Word
  • Click File and then Page Setup
  • Click the Layout tab
  • Under Vertical alignment, click the down arrow and select center, bottom, or the alignment you want to use. If you do not want this setting to affect the whole document, change the “Apply to” to the selected text.

Align text in WordPad

To change the horizontal alignment of text in WordPad, highlight the text and click the left, center, or right alignment icons in the Paragraph section of the menu bar.

Align text in Google Docs

In Google Docs, you can click one of the alignment options (left, center, right) in the top center of the toolbar.

If you’re working with a .txt file or save the file as a .txt file, all formatting is lost, including any alignment. If you want to align text in a .txt file, edit the file, and then use the Save As option to save it as a .rtf, .docx, or .odt.

Press one of the shortcut keys to adjust the alignment of any highlighted text.

  • For left alignment, highlight the text and press Ctrl+Shift+L.

  • For center alignment, highlight the text and press Ctrl+Shift+E.

  • For right alignment, highlight the text and press Ctrl+Shift+R.

  • Open Google Docs

  • Highlight the text you want to align.

  • Click Format, Align, and then choose an alignment.

Align text in OpenOffice Writer

To change the horizontal alignment of the text in OpenOffice Writer, highlight the text you want to change and click the left, center, or right icons on the toolbar. These icons look similar to those shown in the above example picture of the Microsoft Word.

How to change the vertical alignment

OpenOffice Writer does not have a feature like Microsoft Word that lets you vertically align text. However, this can still be done using frames. To do this, follow the steps listed below.

  • Open OpenOffice Writer
  • Click Insert
  • Click Frame
  • In the Frame window under type, change the horizontal and vertical position to center and both to “Entire page.”
  • Because the frame has borders, unless you want to keep these borders, click the borders tab and click None under Style.
  • Once done, you have a frame in the center of your page to enter any text and have it centered.
  • How to align text in Microsoft Excel, Calc, and Google Sheets.
  • How to enable and disable the ruler in WordPad.
  • See the alignment and justify definitions for related information and links.
  • Microsoft Word help and support.