Learn how to add a border in Google Docs in this easy-to-follow walk through. There are a few ways to add borders in Google Docs, and we'll take a look at these options.
In this tutorial, we'll walk through different methods you can use, including adding borders to existing designs, like this professionally designed Google Docs template.
Whether you're starting from scratch or changing up an existing design, these techniques will show you how to add borders in Google Docs (and how to remove them too!)
Ready to learn all about borders for Google Docs? Then let's begin.
Let's begin with a walkthrough of how to add a border in Google Docs with Tables. It's a quick and simple way to add a Google Doc border. In fact, if you're looking for simple borders for Google Docs, Tables might be the perfect choice for you.
Let's begin a new Google Docs document. Then, go to Insert > Table. From the resulting visual options, we'll choose a 1x1 table.
You'll notice that our table has a thin border, by default. The table extends as you add content to it. So, for example, if you repeatedly press Return or Enter on your keyboard to add hard returns, it would expand.
This means you could paste content any content you like into this table, and it would have this border around it.
There are also several ways to customize this border around our table. Begin by making your cursor active within your table. Then, go to Format > Table > Table properties.
With your Table properties open, we can toggle the Color options. This is where we'll customize what our table's border looks like.
Let's start with the Table border color. This is the color of your border. Clicking on the colored square opens up a color picker. You can choose from a variety of preset colors, or you can choose Custom color at the bottom of this window.
Then, we've got our Table border Size. This is set to 1pt by default, which is quite thin. You can go even thinner, or you can go really thick. Clicking on this value gives us a number of different values to choose from.
Finally, we've got our Cell background color, which is the background color inside of the table. Use this if you don't necessarily want the color inside to match the color of the rest of your document's page.
If you want to know how to put decorative borders on Google Docs, images are likely your best bet. As we just observed, it's easy to figure out how to make borders on Google Docs with Tables, but they aren't particularly decorative.
In this demonstration, I'm going to use these hand drawn borders from Envato Elements. You could use any image-based border designs you prefer.
Again, I'm starting with a new, black document in Google Docs for this demonstration. Begin by going to Insert > Drawing > + New.
From the Drawing space, click on the Image Icon. This gives us the opportunity to upload an image from our computer.
Here's what the preview looks like, once I've selected and uploaded my image. To proceed, click on Save and Close.
Now, our image has been inserted, but it's not really acting like borders in Google Docs yet. We'll need to change some settings first.
Let's begin by clicking on our image to select it. This brings up a popup with some image options. The visual icons here are for our Text Wrapping. We want to select Text Behind. This puts our image behind any text in our document.
Looking at these image options, click on the three dots on the right and select All Image Options. This opens the Image Options panel, where we can see all the options we can work with here.
One of the important options here is Position. I like to set the X value to zero and the Y value to zero, just to get started—but you could choose any values that you prefer. You can also adjust these values later. I'm going for a full-page looking border, so I want this image aligned right at the top.
Under Position, I also like to select Fix position on page. This means the image's positioning will be fixed and won't move around with the text.
But you may have noticed something here. Even when we set these values to zero, our image doesn't go flush up against the page. Why? Well, that's because the Google Doc has margins here by default. We can change them by going to File > Page Setup.
The best values for your margins depend on your project. In my case, I went with 0 for both my top and bottom margins, but 0.5 for my left and right margins. I felt like this worked well for my border imagery.
Now, with my image selected, I can click and drag on the visible resize handles to resize my image. I made it the full height of my document. You can also click and drag to make minor alignment adjustments. Google Docs makes it quite user friendly.
Now, I can type in my document, and the imagery stays behind the copy. To make things easier, I like to adjust my Left Indent and Right Indent. This way, as I make returns, I'm staying within the boundaries of my custom Google Docs border.
So, let's say you've got an existing Microsoft Word or Google Docs resume. We can take these ideas to add custom border elements to any design! Let's try this out with this professionally designed DOCX resume template.
It's a beautiful design—but maybe you just want to add something to it to further express your style or branding. We'll use the image method in this demonstration.
Begin by opening your document in Google Docs. You can do so via File > Open. Google Docs can open and edit Microsoft Word documents. If you're unfamiliar, check out this free walkthrough:
With our document open, let's go to Insert > Drawing > New +, just like we did earlier. I'm going to use one of these beautiful floral borders from Envato Elements. Unlike the other example, it's a partial border, just for the top of the page.
Click on Image to insert an image from your computer.
But we've got a slight problem here. This image has more content than I want to use. Luckily, Google Docs has a crop feature. It's really handy if you're working out how to make borders on Google Docs, because you might not want to use the whole image.
Click on Crop and then we can click and drag on the visible resize handles to crop our image. Now, things are looking much better for our document. Click on Save and Close, once you're happy with your image.
But our image still needs adjustment. Click on the image and choose Behind Text so all the text content is layered on top of the image.
Next, let's position our image. Open the image options again and go to the Position section. We'll do some familiar steps here again.
Choose Fixed Position on Page.
Then, adjust the X and Y coordinates. You can even go in negative values here, which I opted to do. This crops some of the border off of the page.
Remember, you can also click and drag on the image's resize handles to easily resize the image.
And here's what our new Google Docs border looks like! It's a classy extra touch—not too much, but just a little extra.
Now that we've looked at multiple ways how to add borders to Google Docs and some use cases, let's cover a few common questions.
But what if you're using an existing Google Doc that's got borders and you want to make changes? Let's troubleshoot how to change borders in Google Docs too.
Maybe you've got a really fun idea for a border design. How do you create your own borders for Google Docs?
You'll want to use an image. This means you could use any image editing software of your choice. Here are a few key tips to keep in mind, when designing your own border elements:
If you're not sure where to start, you can check out all the amazing images on Envato Elements. Not only are they available for commercial use (so no worrying about copyright) but there's thousands of options to choose from!
It's fun to explore how to put decorative borders on Google Docs and all the fun things you could do. However, keep in mind that overly decorative borders can be distracting and overwhelming. In our earlier demonstration, we just added a top border, for example. If it had been every side, it may have been way too much.
Find a happy medium when adding a Google Doc border to your work.
Envato Elements is an amazing resource for creative professionals. Everything from Google Docs templates to stock photos, illustrations, fonts, and more are all available on Envato Elements. The best part is, the entire library is included for one, low price. It's an amazing deal.
Having unlimited access to so many professional assets is a huge time saver and an amazing resource.
So, make sure to check out Envato Elements. It's absolutely worth the look.
Looking for Google Docs templates? Check out these inspiring collections, right here at Envato Tuts+. From free Google Docs template to professionally designed premium templates, there's lots of content to see and download today.
