How to Insert a Horizontal Line in Google Docs

To insert a horizontal line in Google Docs on a computer, click where you want the divider and choose Insert > Horizontal line. For a line you can color, thicken, or attach to a heading, use a bottom paragraph border from Format > Paragraph styles > Borders and shading instead.

These steps cover Google Docs in a web browser on Windows, Mac, or a Chromebook, plus the Google Docs app for Android, iPhone, and iPad. You need edit access to the document.

Insert a standard horizontal line

1. Open the document in Google Docs and click at the end of the paragraph that should sit above the line. Press Enter if you want the line on its own empty line.
2. Click Insert in the menu bar, then click Horizontal line. A thin line appears at the cursor and runs from the left margin to the right margin.
3. Click below the line and keep typing. The cursor moves to a new paragraph under the divider.

To check that it worked, scroll past the line and add a few words above it. The line moves down with the text, because Docs treats it as part of the document flow rather than a floating shape.

Use the keyboard instead of the menu

Google Docs has no dedicated shortcut for a horizontal line. The fastest keyboard route is the menu search, which Google now calls Tool finder. Press Alt + / on Windows or a Chromebook, or Option + / on a Mac, type horizontal line, and press Enter. Google lists the Tool finder keys on its Google Docs keyboard shortcuts page.

Typing three hyphens and pressing Enter does not create a line in Docs the way it can in Microsoft Word. Google’s Markdown option only converts text formatting, headings, and links.

Make a colored, thicker, or dashed line with a paragraph border

The built-in line has one look. You can’t change its color, thickness, style, or length. When you need any of those, add a border to a paragraph. The border belongs to that paragraph, so a line under a heading stays with the heading when you add or delete text above it.

1. Click anywhere in the paragraph that should have the line. For a section heading, click in the heading. You don’t need to select the text.
2. Click Format > Paragraph styles > Borders and shading. A dialog opens with border-position buttons and appearance settings.
3. Under Position, select the bottom border for a line below the text, or the top border for a line above it.
4. Set Border width for thickness, Border color for the color, and Border dash for a solid, dotted, or dashed line.
5. Optional: raise Paragraph padding to add space between the text and the line.
6. Click Apply. The line appears under or over the paragraph.

If you select several paragraphs and choose the between-paragraphs position, Docs draws a line between each of them, which works well for a list of resume entries. To remove a border, click in the paragraph, open Borders and shading again, click Reset, and click Apply. Google’s paragraph borders and shading help covers these settings.

Draw a line for full control over length and angle

A drawing works when the line needs a custom length, an arrow at one end, or a vertical or diagonal angle.

1. Click Insert > Drawing > New. The drawing canvas opens over your document.
2. Click the Line tool in the canvas toolbar, choose Line, and drag across the canvas.
3. Use the toolbar to change the line color, weight, and dash style.
4. Click Save and close. Docs adds the line to your document as a drawing.

To change it later, click the drawing and choose Edit. Because a drawing is an object rather than text, it doesn’t adjust when you edit nearby paragraphs, so check its position after big edits. Google covers the drawing editor in its drawings help page.

Insert a horizontal line in the Google Docs app

1. Open the document in the Google Docs app on Android, iPhone, or iPad.
2. Tap Edit (the pencil icon).
3. Tap the spot where the line should go.
4. Tap Insert (the plus icon) at the top of the screen.
5. Tap Horizontal line. The line appears at the cursor.

The app doesn’t offer the paragraph border controls. Add colored or thick lines on a computer, and they’ll show in the app.

In Microsoft Word, the same border idea can fill a whole page to create a lined document.

Which kind of line should you use?

Need	Best method
A quick break between sections	Insert > Horizontal line
A line that stays under a heading	Bottom paragraph border
A colored, thick, or dashed line	Paragraph border
A short, vertical, or arrow line	Insert > Drawing
A vertical line between text columns	Line between columns in Format > Columns > More options

A row of typed underscores or equal signs looks like a line but is ordinary text. It can wrap onto two lines or fall short when you change the font or margins, so it’s a poor choice for a polished document. A one-cell table with only a bottom border also works, but it adds table editing for something a paragraph border does more cleanly. For the vertical option, follow the steps for making two columns in Google Docs.

If you need lines in a grid rather than one divider, create a table in Google Docs instead.

Remove a horizontal line

1. Click at the start of the paragraph directly below the line.
2. Press Backspace (Delete on a Mac keyboard). The line disappears and the text moves up.

If that removes text instead, press Ctrl + Z (Command + Z on a Mac) to undo it. Then click at the end of the paragraph just above the line and press the forward Delete key (Fn + Delete on a Mac). The line can be hard to select by dragging, so these cursor positions are more reliable.

If the line won’t go away with either key, it’s probably a paragraph border, not an inserted line. Click in the paragraph above it, open Format > Paragraph styles > Borders and shading, click Reset, and click Apply. If it’s a drawing, click it once and press Delete.

Troubleshooting

Horizontal line is missing or grayed out in the Insert menu: the document is open in viewing mode or you only have view or comment access. Switch to Editing with the mode button near the top right, or ask the owner for edit access.

The line appears inside a table: the cursor was in a table cell. Undo, click in a normal paragraph outside the table, and insert the line again. Meant to get rid of the table itself? Delete the table in Google Docs instead.

The line is too close to the text: add space with Format > Line & paragraph spacing on the paragraphs above and below, rather than pressing Enter several times.

You need a new page, not a divider: a horizontal line doesn’t push text to the next page. Use a page break in Google Docs for that.

Frequently asked questions