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If you want to highlight portions of text in your certificate, y'all can insert text boxes. But what y'all might not know is that you can link these boxes in Microsoft Word and have the text within them flow continuously.

Peradventure you have a brochure that uses text boxes to telephone call out features of a product or service. Or perchance y'all have a document and use text boxes for helpful tips or pull quotes. By linking the text boxes together, you can type in ane text box and have the overflow of text move to the next one.

RELATED: How to Add Sideheads and Pull Quotes to Microsoft Word Documents

Link Text Boxes in Microsoft Give-and-take

Y'all can employ a preformatted text box or draw and format your ain. Head to the Insert tab, click the Text Box drib-down pointer, and choose or draw your first text box. You can offset typing your text in the first box or await until you add and link the 2nd one.

Insert or draw a text box in Word

Follow the aforementioned steps to insert your 2d text box. If you choose a preformatted text box, you'll need to remove the sample text inside. A requirement for linking one text box to some other is that the second text box must be empty. Only select all of the text in the preformatted box and printing Delete.

Select text in a reformatted text box and delete it

Click to select your beginning text box. Then become to the Shape Format tab and click "Create Link" in the text section of the ribbon.

You'll run across your cursor change to a pitcher. Move your pitcher to the second text box and click within of information technology. This creates the link between the two.

Now when you blazon inside the first text box and attain the bottom of the shape, the text will proceed within the second text box automatically.

Linked text boxes in Word

You tin can keep to add text boxes and link those besides. And so, if you desire to add a 3rd, select the 2nd text box and create a link the same fashion to the tertiary text box.

Link a third text box

You can movement text boxes to different pages or rotate the boxes without it affecting the linked ones.

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Resize and Format Linked Text Boxes

If you resize a text box by dragging a corner or edge, the text within adjusts betwixt the linked boxes. Every bit you can see in the screenshot below, we fabricated the get-go text box smaller, so the overflow of text automatically moved to the second text box.

Resize linked text boxes

If you lot format the font inside of a text box, it does not affect the text in the linked text box. This allows you to apply italics, bold, or a different font color in the various boxes.

Format the font in a text box

Keep in mind, even so: if the size of a text box changes and the text flows into the linked box, information technology volition bring with information technology the formatting you applied every bit shown below.

Formatted overflow of text

Intermission a Text Box Link

If you decide after you want to unlink the text boxes, this is easy to exercise. Select the first text box, go to the Shape Format tab, and click "Break Link" in the Text section of the ribbon. Follow the aforementioned process to unlink your remaining text boxes if necessary.

When you lot break the link, all of the text in the second text box appears in the offset. You may need to resize the first text box to meet information technology all.

Resize a text box to view all text

Linking text boxes in Microsoft Word is a good manner to display a continuous brusk story, listing of tips, set of instructions, or something similar without affecting the main part of your content. And to keep those boxes safe from editing, you can lock text boxes in Discussion as well.