Start typing anywhere on a sheet

Question

Would anyone know if it is possible to 'preformat' a Word doc so that I can click and start to type anywhere on the sheet (within the margin limits), rather than at the (default) top left.

If feature is not available in Word, is there any freeware to do this ?

Answer 1

When you start typing in an arbitrary location, it leaves the question of where the text should wrap. To solve the wrapping issue, you should contain the text in a text box.

Instructions for Word 365 (2016) follow. Other versions of Word may have slightly different menus but the functionality should exist back to 2003, perhaps earlier.

1. Go to the Insert tab on the ribbon.
2. Select Text Box => Simple Text Box
3. While on the Format tab (default), select Shape Outline => No Outline
4. Position and size the text box as desired, and type in it.

If you want to simplify this process for frequent use, you can:

• Select the text box and go Insert => Text Box => Save Selection to Text Box Gallery so you can skip the outline adjustment next time.

or

• Save the document with a single no-outline text box as a template, so you can open a new document with a borderless text box from the start.