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To freely move a picture in Word, select it, open Layout Options, and choose a wrapping style other than In Line with Text. Then drag the picture. Use the Position controls for precise placement or to decide whether it moves with text or stays at a fixed page location.
Make a picture movable
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Select the picture. If another object is covering it, go to Home > Select > Selection Pane and choose the picture in the pane.
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Click the Layout Options icon beside the picture.
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Choose a wrapping style other than In Line with Text. Choose Square if you want the picture to float while text wraps around it.
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Drag the picture to the location you want. For more exact placement, select See more and use the Position tab to set its placement relative to the page, margins, or columns.
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These controls are documented for Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2024, Word 2021, and Word 2019 in Microsoft’s guide to wrapping text around a picture.
Choose whether it moves with text or stays put
| What you want | Setting | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Keep the picture associated with nearby text | Choose Square under With Text Wrapping, then select Move with text. | The picture can move up or down when text is added or deleted. |
| Keep the picture at a page location | Choose In Front of Text, then select Fix position on page. | The picture stays fixed on the page rather than following the text flow. |
To make small adjustments, select the picture, hold Ctrl, and press an arrow key. If pictures should overlap, enable Allow overlap in Position options for each picture that needs to overlap.
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Why won’t my picture move?
It is set to In Line with Text
Word commonly inserts or pastes pictures as In Line with Text. In that layout, the picture behaves like a character in a paragraph, so it follows the text flow instead of moving as a floating object. Change its wrapping style to make it draggable.
You cannot select it
An overlapping object may be blocking the picture. Open Home > Select > Selection Pane and select the picture by name in the pane.
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You are editing in Word for the web
Word for the web has fewer wrapping controls than desktop Word. A picture given text wrapping or a fixed position in desktop Word may not be movable in the web app. Open the document in desktop Word to change its layout, as Microsoft’s picture-wrapping guidance explains.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Change Word’s default picture wrapping
If you regularly need pictures to float, desktop Word lets you change the default used for inserted or pasted images. Go to File > Options > Advanced, then choose a preferred setting under Insert/paste pictures as. Microsoft describes this setting in Change default text wrap setting for images in Word.
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