How to Center Text Vertically in Word (Page, Table or Text Box)

A title page with the heading floating neatly halfway down looks polished. Pressing Enter twenty times to push it there doesn't, and it falls apart the moment you change a font size. Word has a setting that does this cleanly, but it's hidden in the Page Setup dialog rather than on the Home tab with the other alignment buttons.

I'll show you how to centre text vertically on a page, in a table cell and inside a text box, because each uses a different control. Microsoft's help spells them Center, so that's the label you'll look for.

Vertical versus horizontal centring in Word

The Center button on the Home tab only works side to side. It moves text between the left and right margins. Vertical centring moves text between the top and bottom margins, and that's a page setting, not a paragraph one.

What you want to centre	Where the setting lives
Text left to right on a line	Home, Paragraph group, Center
Text top to bottom on a page	The Page Setup dialog (Layout tab, Vertical alignment)
Text inside a table cell	Table Properties, Cell tab
Text inside a text box or shape	Format Shape pane, Vertical alignment

Centring text vertically on a Word page

Microsoft's steps for Word on the desktop:

1. Select the text you want to centre, such as the lines of a cover page.
2. Go to the Layout tab (Page Layout in some versions).
3. Select the small Dialog Box Launcher arrow in the corner of the Page Setup group.
4. In the dialog, open the Layout tab.
5. In the Vertical alignment box, choose Center.
6. In the Apply to box, choose Selected text.
7. Select OK.

The selected text now sits in the middle of the page, between the top and bottom margins. Add or remove a line and Word keeps it centred, which is exactly why this beats pressing Enter.

Apply to: centring one page or the whole Word document

The Apply to box is the part people skip, and it's why the whole document sometimes ends up floating in the middle of every page. Choosing Selected text keeps the change to the text you highlighted. If you leave it on another option, the centring can spread well beyond your title page.

Microsoft's Page Setup guide explains that the vertical alignment setting decides whether new paragraphs start at the top, middle or bottom of the page. So for a normal report, everything after the cover should stay on Top.

The other vertical alignment options in Page Setup

• Top is the normal setting, with text starting at the top margin.
• Center places text in the middle of the page.
• Bottom pushes text down to the bottom margin, handy for a copyright or disclaimer page.
• Justified spaces paragraphs evenly down the page, according to Microsoft.

Centring text vertically in a Word table cell

Tables have their own setting. Microsoft's steps:

1. Click in the cell, or select several cells.
2. Right-click and choose Table Properties.
3. Open the Cell tab.
4. Choose Center under vertical alignment. Top is the default.
5. Select OK.

This is great for comparison grids, timetables and forms where the rows are taller than the text, because it stops the words clinging to the top edge of each box.

Centring text vertically inside a Word text box or shape

On Windows, Microsoft says to right-click the border of the text box or shape and select Format Shape. In the pane that opens, choose Size/Layout & Properties, then pick the option you want from the Vertical alignment list. Microsoft's page doesn't give separate Mac steps for this, so on a Mac look in the shape's format options, as menus vary by version.

If Word won't centre your text vertically

• You opened Page Setup from the Print screen. Microsoft suggests cancelling and using the Layout tab route instead.
• The text looks off-centre because of empty paragraphs above or below it. Select Show/Hide on the Home tab and delete any extra paragraph marks.
• The whole document moved. Reopen Page Setup and check the Apply to box.
• Text in a table won't budge. Use Table Properties, not Page Setup, for cells.

Building a centred cover page in Word, step by step

Here's the order I'd work in for a proposal or report cover. Type the title, a short subtitle, your business name and the date, each on its own line. Use the Center button on the Home tab to centre them side to side first. Then select those lines and follow the Page Setup steps above to centre them top to bottom, with Apply to set to Selected text. Finally, check the next page still starts at the top. If it doesn't, open Page Setup there and set Vertical alignment back to Top.

Where vertical centring helps in business documents

Cover pages for proposals, title slides printed as handouts, menu cards, certificates and single-page event flyers all look better with text centred top to bottom. If you design those in Canva rather than Word, you might also like my guides on curving text in Canva and adding an outline to text in Canva for headings that stand out.

Frequently asked questions

How do I centre text vertically on a page in Word?

Select the text, open the Page Setup dialog launcher on the Layout tab, go to its Layout tab, choose Center under Vertical alignment, set Apply to as Selected text and select OK.

Why isn't the Center button on the Home tab centring my text vertically?

That button only centres text left to right. Vertical centring is in the Page Setup dialog under Vertical alignment.

How do I centre text vertically in a Word table?

Right-click the cell, choose Table Properties, open the Cell tab and choose Center. Microsoft says Top is the default.

Can I centre just the cover page vertically?

Yes. Select the cover page text and choose Selected text in the Apply to box before selecting OK, so the rest of the document stays at the top.

How do I centre text inside a text box in Word?

On Windows, right-click the text box border, select Format Shape, then Size/Layout & Properties, and choose from the Vertical alignment list.