Excel > Working with graphics > Adding pictures, shapes, WordArt, or clip art

Add, change, or delete shapes

You can add one shape to your Microsoft Office 2010 file or combine multiple shapes to make a drawing or a

more complex shape. Available shapes include lines, basic geometric shapes, arrows, equation shapes,

flowchart shapes, stars, banners, and callouts.

After you add one or more shapes, you can add text, bullets, numbering, and Quick Styles to them.

NOTE For more information about using charts or SmartArt in your document, see When should I use a

SmartArt graphic and when should I use a chart?.

What do you want to do?

Add a shape to your file

Add multiple shapes to your file

Add text to a shape

Add a bulleted or numbered list to a shape

Add a Quick Style to a shape

Change from one shape to another shape

Delete a shape from your file

Add a shape to your file

Which Microsoft Office 2010 program are you using?

Excel

PowerPoint

Word

EXCEL
1. On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click Shapes.

2. Click the shape that you want, click anywhere in the workbook, and then drag to place the shape.

To create a perfect square or circle (or constrain the dimensions of other shapes), press and hold

SHIFT while you drag.

TIP You can add individual shapes to a chart or add shapes on top of a SmartArt graphic to customize the

chart or SmartArt graphic.

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POWERPOINT

1. On the Home tab, in the Drawing group, click Shapes.

2. Click the shape that you want, click anywhere on the slide, and then drag to place the shape.

To create a perfect square or circle (or constrain the dimensions of other shapes), press and hold

SHIFT while you drag.

TIP You can add individual shapes to a chart or add shapes on top of a SmartArt graphic to customize the

chart or SmartArt graphic.

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WORD

1. On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click Shapes.

2. Click the shape that you want, click anywhere in the document, and then drag to place the shape.

To create a perfect square or circle (or constrain the dimensions of other shapes), press and hold

SHIFT while you drag.

TIP You can add individual shapes to a chart or add shapes on top of a SmartArt graphic to customize the

chart or SmartArt graphic.

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Add multiple shapes to your file

Instead of adding individual shapes to create a drawing, you might want to create a SmartArt graphic. In a

SmartArt graphic, the arrangement of the shapes and the font size in those shapes is updated automatically as

you add or remove shapes and edit your text.

Which Microsoft Office 2010 program are you using?

Excel

PowerPoint

Word

EXCEL

1. On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click Shapes.

2. Right-click the shape that you want to add, and then click Lock Drawing Mode.

3. Click anywhere in the workbook, and then drag to place the shape. Repeat this for each shape that

you want to add.

 TIP To create a perfect square or circle (or constrain the dimensions of other shapes), press and hold

SHIFT while you drag.

4. After you add all the shapes that you want, press ESC.

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POWERPOINT

1. On the Home tab, in the Drawing group, click Shapes.

2. Right-click the shape that you want to add, and then click Lock Drawing Mode.

3. Click anywhere in the on the slide, and then drag to place the shape. Repeat this for each shape that

you want to add.

TIP To create a perfect square or circle (or constrain the dimensions of other shapes), press and hold

SHIFT while you drag.

4. After you add all the shapes that you want, press ESC.

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WORD

1. On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click Shapes. .

2. Right-click the shape that you want to add, and then click Lock Drawing Mode.

3. Click anywhere in the document, and then drag to place the shape. Repeat this for each shape that

you want to add.

TIP To create a perfect square or circle (or constrain the dimensions of other shapes), press and hold

SHIFT while you drag.

4. After you add all the shapes that you want, press ESC.

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Add text to a shape

Click the shape that you want to add text to, and then type your text.

NOTES

The text that you add becomes part of the shape — if you rotate or flip the shape, the text rotates or

flips also.

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Add a bulleted or numbered list to a shape

Which Microsoft Office 2010 program are you using?

Excel

PowerPoint

Word

EXCEL

1. Select the text in the shape that you want to add bullets or numbering to.

2. Right-click the selected text, and on the shortcut menu, point to Bullets, and then click Bullets and

Numbering.

3. Do one of the following:

 To add bullets, click the Bulleted tab, and then choose the options that you want.

 To add numbering, click the Numbered tab, and then choose the options that you want.

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POWERPOINT

1. Select the text in the shape that you want to add bullets or numbering to.

2. Right-click the selected text, and on the shortcut menu, do one of the following:

3.

o To add bullets, point to Bullets, and then choose the options that you want.

o To add numbering, point to Numbering, and then choose the options that you want.

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WORD

1. Select the text in the shape that you want to add bullets or numbering to.

2. Right-click the selected text, and on the shortcut menu, do one of the following:

3.

 To add bullets, point to Bullets, and then choose the options that you want.

 To add numbering, point to Numbering, and then choose the options that you want.

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Add a Quick Style to a shape

Quick Styles are combinations of different formatting options that are displayed in a thumbnail in the Quick

Style gallery in the Shape Styles group. When you rest your pointer over a Quick Style thumbnail, you can see

how the Shape Style (or Quick Style) affects your shape.

1. Click the shape that you want to apply a new or different Quick Style to.

2. Under Drawing Tools, on the Format tab, in the Shape Styles group, click the Quick Style that you

want.
 The Format tab under Drawing Tools.

To see more Quick Styles, click the More button .

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Change from one shape to another shape

1. Click the shape that you want to change to a different shape.

To change multiple shapes, press CTRL while you click the shapes that you want to change.

2. Under Drawing Tools, on the Format tab, in the Insert Shapes group, click Edit Shape , point

to Change Shape, and then click the new shape that you want.

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Delete a shape from your file

Click the shape that you want to delete, and then press DELETE.

To delete multiple shapes, press CTRL while you click the shapes that you want to delete, and then

press DELETE.

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See Also

Add a gradient fill to a shape

Change the color, style, or weight of a line
Learn more about SmartArt graphics
When should I use a SmartArt graphic and when should I use a chart?