why cant i draw a straight line or arrow in word 2013?

Anonymous
2014-01-04T08:05:17+00:00

hi

in word 2013 when I want to draw an arrow or a line it cant be straight in 180 degree in page and it is always a bit curve to up or down for example draw a rectangle and on its border line draw an arrow ( the arrow must be exactly on rectangle border line ) and you will see that the arrow is curve and is not on rectangle border.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2014-03-21T15:41:48+00:00

This is easy to recreate, but can be solved by setting the height or width to zero in the ribbon.

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  1. Suzanne S Barnhill 279.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2015-04-22T14:15:51+00:00

    When you select a shape (including lines and arrows), the contextual Drawing Tools | Format tab of the Ribbon is displayed. At the far right is the Size group (shown below). For a horizontal line or arrow, set the height to zero; for a vertical line or arrow, set the width to zero.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-05-29T01:09:54+00:00

    Sorry, it didn't work.

    With alt held down it's even more noticeable when it jumps over the straight line. 

    it happens on the vertical and horizontal, up down or left right.

    Sometimes I can get an ordinary line to work ok, but arrows - once moved - will never be straight again.

    I'm surprised that this happens to so many people, yet nobody talks about it.

    Have you tried selecting the arrow, holding down the SHIFT key (not ALT) and drawing the arrow.  Should produce a Vertical or Horizontal line or a 45 degree angle line  (whichever is closest to your path of alignment / drawing).

    Note :  All lines are "straight"  or they are called curves.  ;-)

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  3. Suzanne S Barnhill 279.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2015-05-29T02:01:15+00:00

    No one is having a problem creating vertical or horizontal lines. The problem is that, if they are disturbed, they cannot be restored to the true vertical or horizontal except by setting the width/height to zero as described.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-08-10T17:16:15+00:00

    PowerPoint is one solution.  Do graphics there, then cut-n-paste into Word.

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