When writing guides or, in any case, creating documents rich in images, the use of captions must be seriously considered : those short texts that can be placed above or below the images present in the texts to describe their content or create points reference (e.g. “figure 1”, “figure 2”, etc.) useful for understanding it.
Word , the very popular word processing program included in the Microsoft Office package, allows you to create them with a certain ease and to insert them in all documents in which images, tables or other objects are included. Did not you know? Well, then let’s fix it right away with this guide on how to caption images in Word . You will see that it will be child’s play!
Just a small clarification before starting: for this guide I used the version of Word included in Microsoft 365 which, as I explained to you in this other guide , always includes the most recent version of the Microsoft suite (for both Windows and macOS ). The indications in the following paragraphs, however, are also valid for the other less recent versions of the software (from 2007 onwards). I will also mention the steps to take in Office 2003 and, of course, those to be done from Word Online and mobile. Having made these dutiful clarifications, I would say that we can start in earnest! I wish you happy reading and have fun!
Index
- How to caption images on word desktop
- Add images to your document
- Add captions to images
- How to caption images in word 2003
- How to caption images in word online
- How to caption images in word mobile
How to caption images on word desktop
To caption images in Word , the first step you need to take is, of course, to open the document you want to edit or, alternatively, create a new one.
After opening Word, then select the name of the file to edit (if you don’t see it on the main screen of the program, use the File > Open menu at the top left to select it “manually) or press on the item Empty document if you intend to create a new one Then follow the instructions below.
Add images to your document
If you intend to add images and captions to a document that does not yet have graphic content, fix it immediately by selecting the Insert tab in Word, clicking on the Images item and then selecting the image (or images) from the window that opens. you want to import into the document, by clicking on the relative preview .
Add captions to images
Now you can take action and add a caption to one of the images inserted in the document. To do this, click on the first image to which you want to apply a text description, so as to select it, then press the References tab located in the Word toolbar and click on the Insert caption button (the folded sheet icon on a flap containing a photo with caption ).
In the window that opens, make sure that the Figure option is selected in the Label drop-down menu , type the caption to insert under the image, in the Caption text field , and press the OK button to apply the description to the image.
By default, Word prefixes Figure 1 , Figure 2 … Figure [ N ] , to any captions you add in your document. To remove this wording and leave only the caption number, remember to tick the box Exclude label from caption which is always present in the Caption window .
Additionally, you can make captions appear not below but above selected images by choosing Above Selected Item from the Position pop-up menu .
The texts of the captions inserted in Word can be modified easily, as if they were any textual part of the document: to do this, simply select them with the mouse cursor and use the buttons for text formatting (alignment, bold, italic , color, etc.) present in the Home tab of Word.
When adding captions to images in Word, be aware that the caption does not follow the image. At the time of writing, in fact, Word does not have an ad hoc function to anchor the image to the caption. The only thing that could be done to solve the problem is to create a table or a text box in which to insert the image and its caption, so as to move everything together. Better than nothing, right?
When you are satisfied with the work done, press the File button located in the upper left corner of the screen, click on the Save As item and select the path and format of the output file you want to save.
How to caption images in word 2003
Still using a version of Office 2003 or lower? Don’t worry: the procedure for adding a caption to images on the version of Word included in Office 2003 or earlier is quite similar to that seen for the most up-to-date versions of the Microsoft suite, only that the menus are set up differently.
Since there is no tabbed toolbar, in fact, to insert a caption you need to click on the image to add the description, go to the Insert menu in Word and select the item Reference > Caption from the menu that appears.
At this point, you will find yourself in front of the same caption creation window seen in the previous lines. Since it wasn’t as hard as you thought?
How to caption images in word online
Did you come to this tutorial because you want to caption images in Word Online ? I’m sorry but, at the time of writing, this is not feasible, as indicated on this support page of the Microsoft site (in English).
The most you can do in this case is to open the Word Online document in the Word desktop application , add the caption there, save the document, and resume editing in Word Online. I understand that this is a rather uncomfortable “road” to take but, at the moment, you cannot do otherwise.
To open your Word Online document on Word desktop, first go to the Word Online main page and sign in to your Microsoft account (if you haven’t already). Now, move the mouse cursor over the file of your interest, click on the button (…) that appears in its correspondence and select the item Open in desktop application in the menu that appeared on the screen and possibly confirm the operation by clicking on the Open button Microsoft Word appeared in the browser . If you’re asked to provide your Microsoft account credentials again, do so.
Now, add captions to the images in the document (if you haven’t inserted them, you can do it now) by following the instructions I have already provided you in the previous chapters and click on File > Save to save the changes made to the document. You just have to resume editing the document online: if you left it open in the browser, remember to refresh the window by clicking on the twisted arrow icon (usually found near the address bar) to see the changes made.
Alternatively, if you really want to use Word Online without “going through” the desktop version of the famous word processing program, you can insert a text box to use as a caption . To do this, after having opened the document, click on the item Insert , click on the item Drawing and, in the screen that opens, select the item Text box .
Then draw the text box in the appropriate area (by dragging the cursor while holding down the left mouse button) and click on the Save and Close button (top right). Then drag the text box to the image of your interest and that’s it.
How to caption images in word mobile
As for the Word app for mobile devices , know that the latter also lacks the function by which to insert captions.
What you can do, also in this case, is to edit the document on Word for PC (where the function is available) or add text boxes to be used as captions.
To insert the text box from your smartphone , press the Home tab (bottom left), select the Insert item in the menu that opens, tap the Text box item , resize it as you wish using the appropriate indicators and drag it into the desired area (presumably under the picture to describe). Finally, double tap on it and write the text to use as a caption.
To do this from a tablet , tap the Insert tab (top), press the square icon with the three lines (be careful not to confuse it with the “Page” button) and use the text box using the instructions I have already given you provided in the previous point to resize it and position it correctly in the document.
