How To Insert a Watermark in a Word Document

Want to watermark a Word document? Here’s how you can add a pre-defined or custom watermark to any Word document in simple steps.

Whether you want to show the document status (Draft, Confidential, etc.), add your company logo, or make it as your own, adding a simple watermark to your Word document gets the job done without a fuss. For example, when sharing a draft document, you can add a “Draft” watermark to indicate that it’s a work in progress and shouldn’t be mistaken for a finished product. The same is true when you don’t want others to redistribute the document without giving proper attribution. You can use your website name, logo, or URL as the watermark.

The good thing is that in Microsoft Word, adding a watermark is as simple as clicking a couple of options. When needed, you can also create custom watermarks for your specific use cases. In this quick and easy guide, I will show you the steps to add a watermark in Word, how to create a custom watermark directly in Word, and how to remove the watermark. Let’s get started.

Quick Navigation:

• Insert text watermark in Word
• Insert image watermark in Word
• Create a watermark in Word
• Remove watermark in Word

How to Add or Insert a Text Watermark in Word

Microsoft Word has several pre-defined text watermarks built in. For example, Draft, Do Not Copy, and Confidential. In most cases, these pre-defined watermarks are what you need. Here’s how you can use them to watermark a Word document.

1. Open the Word document.
2. Go to the “Design” tab.
3. Click the “Watermark” option.
4. Select a watermark you want to add.
5. The watermark is added to the Word document instantly.

Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)

First, open the Word document you want to add a watermark to. You can do it by double-clicking the Word file in the File Explorer. Alternatively, you can also open the Word application from the Start menu, find the document under the “Recent” section, and click on it.

Once the Word document opens, go to the “Design” tab. In this tab, click the “Watermark” option appearing on the rightmost side of the ribbon menu. This option lets you add a watermark in Word.

As I said before, Word has a few predefined watermarks such as confidential, draft, do not copy, sample, asap, and urgent. Depending on your use case, select the watermark you want to add. For example, to add a Confidential watermark, click on it.

As soon as you select it, the predefined watermark is added to your Word document instantly. The default watermark looks pretty good and doesn’t interfere with the document.

That is all. It is that simple to insert a text watermark in Word. Remember that you cannot move the watermark. i.e., it will always be at the center of the document, either horizontally or diagonally. You also cannot change the font-weight or style.

How to Add or Insert an Image Watermark in Word

Apart from regular pre-defined text watermarks, you can also add an image watermark to your Word document. For example, you can use your company logo as the watermark. Here’s how:

Important note: Before proceeding, make sure you have a transparent image or logo saved on your computer. Word doesn’t let you change a watermark’s transparency. So, make sure the watermark is as transparent as you need it to be.

1. Open the Word document.
2. Go to the “Design” tab.
3. Click the “Watermark” option.
4. Click the “Custom Watermark” option.
5. Select the “Picture watermark” option.
6. Click the “Select Picture” button.
7. Select the “From a file” option.
8. Select the image file and click “Insert“.
9. Click “OK“.
10. With that, the image watermark is added to the Word document.

Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)

First, open the Word document you want to add a watermark to. You can do it by double-clicking the Word file in the File Explorer. Alternatively, you can also open the Word application from the Start menu, find the document under the “Recent” section, and click on it.

Once the Word document opens, go to the “Design” tab. In this tab, click the “Watermark” option appearing on the rightmost side of the ribbon menu. Next, click the “Custom Watermark” option from the dropdown menu.

Selecting the option will open the “Printed Watermark” window. To insert an image watermark, select the “Picture Watermark” option. Next, click on the “Select Picture” button.

The above action will open the “Insert Pictures” window. When connected to the internet, the window might take a couple of seconds to load. So, wait a bit if you see a white screen. After loading, Word gives you three options to choose an image. i.e., select from a file, search an image in Bing, and select from OneDrive. To select a local image or picture, click on the “From a file” option.

The above action opens the browse window. Here, find and select the image you want to use as a watermark, then click the “Insert” button.

Unlike the text watermark, the image watermark only has two customization options. That is, you can change the image scale and make it look washed out. If needed, change the scale and Washout options to customize the watermark. Once you are satisfied, click the “OK” button.

As soon as you do that, Word will add the image watermark at the center of the document.

Remember that you cannot change the layout of the image watermark. i.e., you cannot make it look diagonal. If you want that, you’ll need a diagonal image. Also, you cannot change image transparency. That is the reason why I suggested you use a transparent image to start.

How to Create and Add a Custom Text Watermark in Word

If you don’t have an image or are not satisfied with the default text watermark formatting, you can create your own text watermark in Word using the powerful text formatting tools. Here is how to create a watermark in Word.

1. Open the Word application.
2. Create a new empty document.
3. Go to the “Design” tab.
4. Click the “Watermark” option.
5. Click the “Custom Watermark” option.
6. Select the “Text watermark” option.
7. Type the text of your choice in the “Text” field.
8. Select the “Semitransparent” checkbox.
9. Select the “Diagonal” or “Horizontal” layout at the bottom.
10. Click “OK“.
11. This will create and add a custom text watermark to the Word document.
12. Click the “Watermark” option in the “Design” tab.
13. Select the “Save selection to watermark gallery” option.
14. Type a name in the “Name” field.
15. Select “Watermarks” in the “Gallery” dropdown menu.
16. Select “General” in the “Category” dropdown.
17. Click “OK“.
18. This action saves the watermark to the Watermark gallery for future use.

Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)

First, open the Word application by searching for it in the Start menu. Once it opens, create a new blank document by clicking the “Blank document” option.

Once the Word document opens, go to the “Design” tab. In this tab, click the “Watermark” option appearing on the rightmost side of the ribbon menu. Next, click the “Custom Watermark” option from the dropdown menu.

Now, select the “Text Watermark” option, choose the language of the “Language” dropdown, type the text in the “Text” field, and click the “OK” button.

Note: If you want, you can add a picture watermark instead of a text watermark.

As soon as you do that, the text watermark is added to the Word document.

(Optional) Customizing the Watermark

After adding the watermark, we customize it. Here’s how:

Place the mouse cursor near the top edge of the page and double-click to select the Header.

Next, click the newly added watermark to select it. Make sure to place the cursor on the watermark while clicking. Otherwise, you might not be able to select it.

After selecting the watermark, go to the “WordArt” tab. Here, use the available tools to customize the text however you want. For example, I added a text-shadow from the “Shadow Effects” dropdown menu.

Note: If you’ve added a Picture Watermark, you have to go to the “Picture Format” tab.

I’ve also used the “Change Shape” option to make the text watermark look curvy.

Saving the Custom Watermark

Once you are satisfied with the customization, go to the “Design” tab and select the “Watermark” > “Save Select to Watermark Gallery” option. This lets you save the watermark to the watermark gallery.

In the “Create New Building Block” window, type a name in the “Name” field, select “Watermarks” from the “Gallery” dropdown menu, and “General” from the “Category” dropdown menu. Finally, click the “OK” button to save changes.

That is it. With that, you have created a new watermark and saved it. To use it, go to the “Design” tab and click on “Watermark“. Here, find the newly added watermark in the list, then click it.

That is it. It is that simple to create a custom watermark and add it to a Word document.

How to Remove a Watermark in Word

Just as you can add a watermark, you can also remove it. All you have to do is click a single button, and you are done. Here is how.

1. Open the Word document with the watermark.
2. Go to the “Design” tab.
3. Click the “Watermark” option.
4. Click the “Remove Watermark” option.

3. This removes the watermark from all pages in the Word document.
4. Save the document by pressing “Ctrl + S”.

That is all. It is that simple to remove a watermark in Word. Remember that you can only remove a watermark added via Word options. If you have used some other application or web service, you might not be able to do it.

Wrapping Up — Insert a watermark in Word

As you can see, Word has excellent options for inserting a watermark in a document. You can either add a text watermark or a picture watermark. If you don’t like pre-defined watermarks, you can create your own and customize it as needed with just a few clicks. Play with the options and see what works for you.

If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.

Google Docs user? Here is how to insert a watermark in Google Docs.