This article explains how to use different orientations in your Microsoft Word 2013 documents. Portrait is a vertical layout and landscape is a horizontal layout. By default, Word opens in portrait orientation, but you may want part of the document to appear in landscape orientation or vice versa.

What to Know

  • Insert a Section Break at the beginning of where you want a different orientation: Go to Page Layout > Breaks > Next Page.Then, go to the Page Setup Launcher, click Portrait or Landscape, then click Apply to > Selected text > OK. Or, let MS Word insert section breaks: Click Page Layout Launcher, select Portrait or Landscape, click Selected Text > OK.

Insert Section Breaks and Set the Orientation

Set the breaks first and then set the orientation. In this method, you don’t let Word decide where the breaks fall. In order to accomplish this, insert a Next Page Section Break at the start and end of the text, table, picture, or another object, and then set the orientation.

Insert a Section Break at the beginning of the area that you want to have a different orientation:

  • Select the Page Layout tab.Click the Breaks drop-down menu in the Page Setup section.Select Next Page in the Section Breaks section.Move to the end of the section and repeat the above steps to set a section break at the end of the material that will appear in an alternate orientation.Click the Page Setup Launcher button on the Page Layout tab in the Page Setup group.Click Portrait or Landscape on the Margins tab in the Orientation section.Select Section in the Apply To drop-down list.Click the OK button.

Let Word Insert Section Breaks and Set the Orientation

By letting Microsoft Word 2013 insert section breaks, you save mouse clicks, but you have no idea where Word is going to place the section breaks.

The main problem with letting Microsoft Word place the section breaks is if you miss-select your text. If you do not highlight the entire paragraph, multiple paragraphs, images, table, or other items, Microsoft Word moves the unselected items onto another page. So if you decide to go this route, be careful when selecting the items you want. Select the text, pages, images, or paragraphs that you want to change to portrait or landscape orientation.

  • Carefully highlight all the material you want to appear on a page or pages with a different orientation from the rest of the document.Click the Page Layout Launcher button on the Page Layout tab in the Page Setup group.Click Portrait or Landscape on the Margins tab in the Orientation section.Select Selected Text in the Apply To drop-down list.Click the OK button.

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