Breaking up your document will make it easier to read and better for your readers. A good way to do this is by adding vertical lines, and there are a number of ways you can do this in Google Docs. Here’s how to insert a vertical line in Google Docs.

How to Insert a Vertical Line in Google Docs Using the Drawing Tool

The drawing tool in Google Docs allows you to insert lines, shapes, text boxes, and images. You can use it to draw a vertical line that you can insert into your document. To insert a vertical line using the Google Docs drawing tool:

Open your document.Open the Insert menu. Hover over Drawing and select New. Select the Line tool. If it’s currently displaying one of the other line options such as arrows or curves, click on the downwards arrow next to the tool icon and select the Line option. Select where you want the line to start.Hold down Shift and drag straight down. This snaps your line to 15-degree increments which makes it easier to draw a completely vertical line. Let go of your mouse to insert your line.Select the Line Color tool to choose a different color for your line. Select the Line Weight tool to change the thickness of your line. The Line Style tool lets you create a dashed line if you wish. You can also use the Line Start and Line End tools to change the style of the ends of your line. When you’re happy with your line, click Save and Close.Your line will appear before or after your text. If you want it to appear within your text, you’ll need to change the text wrapping—click on your line and a menu will appear. Select Wrap Text to have the text wrap around your line. Press Break Text to have your line break the text up. Choose Behind Text or In Front of Text to have the line appear through the text. You can reposition your line by clicking on it and dragging it around.

Insert a Vertical Line in Google Docs Using Columns

If you want the text in your document to be in columns, you may want to insert a vertical line in Google Docs between two text columns. To insert a vertical line using columns in Google Docs:

Open your Google Docs document.Select the text you want to put into columns.Open the Format menu. Press Columns > More Options. Choose the number of columns you want and ensure that Line Between Columns is checked. Click Apply—your text will appear in columns with a vertical line between them.

Insert a Vertical Line in Google Docs Using Tables

Another way to achieve a similar effect is to use table borders to create a vertical line. The benefit of this method is that as you type more text, the vertical line will extend to match the amount of text. To insert a vertical line in Google Docs using tables:

Open the Insert menu. Hover over Table and drag out the number of rows and columns that you want. Click on any of the table borders except the one you want to leave in place.Hold down Shift and click on all the other borders except the one you want to appear in your document. Select the Border Width icon and choose 0 pt.

As you type in the cells of your table, the vertical line will grow as the cell increases in height. You can also click on the line and drag it to reposition the cell border.

Get Creative with Google Docs

Knowing how to insert a vertical line in Google Docs will break up your document text and allow you to write more creative documents. There are other ways to make your documents stand out in Google Docs, however. For instance, you can add a border in Google Docs to frame your page. You can layer images in Google Docs to create complex visual elements. It’s even possible to combine your skills and make a book in Google Docs. Comment

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