How to group and ungroup shapes and objects in Microsoft Word
When working with shapes and objects in Microsoft Word, one of the most useful features is grouping. By grouping these types of elements, they become one. This makes them easier to move, resize, and format.
In this section:
How to group objects in Word
Maybe you are creating a flowchart or creating instructions using arrows in Word. You can group them together to control them at the same time.
Select all the shapes or objects that you want to group together. You can do this by holding Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) and clicking each one. If you want to group everything in your document together, you can use Ctrl + A (Windows) or Command + A (Mac) to speed things up.
When you have selected the shapes or objects, you will see a border indicator for each. This is a good way to make sure you've selected them all.
Go to the Layout tab and the Layout section of the ribbon. Click on "Group" and select "Group". You can also right click, move your cursor over Grouping and choose “Group”.
You will then see all of these shapes or objects in a border area. It is now a unique element.
Then you can drag to move the group, resize it using one of the corners, add color to the items, or perform the action you need.
In the screenshot below, we are moving the group up. You can see the outline of each element in the group, but they stay together.
How to ungroup objects in Word
Once you've grouped your shapes or objects together, they don't have to stay that way forever. You can group them together just to perform a few actions, and then use them individually again.
Select the group and return to the Layout tab. Click on “Group” and select “Ungroup”.
Alternatively, you can right-click, move your cursor over Grouping and choose “Ungroup”.
You will then see all the elements of the group in their own borders as before you had initially grouped them.
How to group objects
A super handy tip after you've grouped and then ungrouped your objects is that you can easily group them. The best part is you don't have to click on each one.
Just select one of the objects that were in the group and go to the Layout tab again. Click on “Group” and select “Group”.
Or, you can right click, go to Grouping and choose “Group”.
Like magic, Word remembers the shapes and objects that were in the group and groups them together for you!
For more tips, see our tutorial on Using Shapes, Pictures, and Other Graphics in Microsoft Word.
