How to Add a Border in Google Docs: An Easy Trick!

Mar 1, 2021

Adding a border to a Google Doc will help focus a reader on the text in the center of the page. It's not immediately obvious, however, how to add a border to a Google Doc you're working on.

The good news is that we've found a simple trick for you to add a nice, simple border to a Google Doc document that doesn't require you to leave Google Docs or some other kind of software like some other guides we've seen.

Make a great, simple border right in Google Docs with our guide!

Google Workspace

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Here's the trick. You don't look to add a "border" in Google Docs; instead, you add a 1x1 table, which serves as your border.

Go to Insert.
Select Table.
Choose the 1x1 option (top-left).

What you get doesn't look like a border yet, but just you wait.

Extend the border's lines

Now, you want to click on the bottom line of your new border and drag it until it reaches close to the bottom of the page.

Change the page's margins to adjust the border

A good rule of thumb is to make a border that's about 1/2 inch from all sides of the paper. But you should feel free to experiment with different margins, depending on the look you're going for in your Google Doc.

In order to change the margins in Google Docs to 1/2 inch on all sides:

Go to File.
Select Page Setup.
Change ALL the margins to 0.5.

Now that you're margins are set, you'll likely need to adjust the bottom line of your border with the new 1/2 inch margins.

If you're using standard page sizing, then simply drag the bottom line of your border until you get to 9 1/2 inches on the left ruler, which will be right at the 1/2 inch margin mark.

You aren't stuck with a just thin, black line as your new Google Docs border; you can choose a few different border types, colors, and thicknesses.

Click on a line of your border to highlight it.
Select one of the options from the tool menu above (color, thickness, type).
Repeat for the different lines of your border.

While the options are limited, you can make a nice border in Google Docs using this trick. If you want something more expansive maybe, then you'll need to save the Google Doc as a PDF, which you can edit in a photo editing program.

If you want to use the border on multiple pages of your Google Docs, then you'll need to copy and paste it.

Click and highlight anywhere inside the border, then press cmd + C to copy it.
Click again where you want your next border to start, and press cmd + V to paste it.