Want to insert a watermark in your Word document. You can do that with just a few clicks using the Watermark option. Here is how.
Watermark is an excellent solution to add some flair to your documents. With a simple watermark, you can show the document’s status, mark the document as your own, add your personal or company logo, personalize the document, etc. If you don’t know, watermarking is the process of subtly superimposing an image or text over a document.
One of the primary use cases for adding a watermark is to show the document’s status or mark it as your own. For example, when sharing a draft document, you can add a simple watermark called “Draft” to say the document is a work in progress explicitly. The same is true when you don’t want others redistributing the document without giving proper attribution. You can use your website name, logo, or URL as the watermark.
The good thing is, Word has a built-in option to insert a watermark. In fact, you can add a text watermark or image watermark. Once added, the watermark can be customized with just a few clicks. Of course, when not needed, you can just as easily remove the watermark from the Word document.
So, without further ado, let me show you how to insert watermark in a Word document, customize it, and remove it when not needed.
Jump to:
- Insert text watermark in Word
- Insert image watermark in Word
- Create a watermark in Word
- Remove watermark in Word
How to insert text watermark in Word
Word gives you the option to add a text watermark. You can either add predefined text watermarks like the confidential, draft, sample, do not copy, asap, and urgent, or a custom text watermark. The predefined watermarks are helpful in most generic cases. The custom watermark option is helpful to add your name, website URL, or some other text. I will show both, follow the one you need. Here is how to insert a text watermark in Word.
1. First, open the Word document in which you want to add the watermark. You can do that from File Explorer. Alternatively, you can also find the document under the recent tab after opening the Word application.
2. After opening the Word document, go to the “Design” tab. In this tab, click on the “Watermark” option. It will be on the rightmost side of the ribbon menu. This is the option that makes it possible to insert a watermark in Word.
3. Word has a few predefined watermarks like confidential, draft, do not copy, sample, asap, and urgent. For generic use cases, these predefined watermarks are perfectly fine. For instance, when submitting a draft document, adding the draft watermark will suffice. If you are satisfied with these predefined watermarks, select the one you want. I chose to add the confidential watermark in Word.
4. As soon as you do that, the predefined watermark is added instantly. The default watermark looks pretty good and doesn’t interfere with the document much. However, if you want to customize how it looks, read the below steps.
5. To add a custom text watermark, click on the “Design > Watermark” option and then click on the “Custom watermark” option appearing at the bottom of the menu.
6. The above action will open the “Printed Watermark” window. Here, select the “Text Watermark” option. After that, choose a language from the “Language” dropdown menu, type the text in the “Watermark” field, and click the “Apply” button. You will instantly see the watermark in action.
7. Word provides basic options to customize the text watermark. You can change the font face, text size, color, text transparency, and layout from the respective dropdown menus and radio options. For example, the font face and size can be changed from the “Font” and “Size” dropdown menus. To change the watermark layout, select between diagonal or horizontal layout options. You can make the watermark transparent by choosing the “Semitransparent” checkbox. Once satisfied, click the “Ok” button.
8. As soon as you click the “Ok” button, the text watermark is added to the document.
It is that simple to insert a text watermark in Word. Remember that you cannot change the position of 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. All in all, Word gives you simple yet practical options to customize the text watermark. In the vast majority of cases, these options are sufficient. If you want more, you might have to use third-party programs or online services.
How to insert image watermark in Word
Word allows you to insert an image watermark. Compared to the regular text watermark, it enables you to customize and stylize the watermark however you want. For example, you can use your company logo as the watermark. Before proceeding, make sure you have a transparent image or logo locally. If the image is not transparent, it might interfere with the document’s readability. Once you have the appropriate image, follow the below steps to insert an image watermark in Word.
1. Open the Word document in which you want to insert the watermark. You can either open it from the File Explorer or Recent tab in the Word application. After opening the document, go to the “Design” tab and select the “Watermark > Custom Watermark” option.
2. Selecting the option will open the “Printed Watermark” window. Since we want to insert an image watermark, select the “Picture Watermark” option. Next, click on the “Select Picture” button.
3. 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 — Browse” option.
4. Selecting the option will open the browse window. Find and select the image you want to insert as a watermark and click the “Insert” button.
5. 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.
6. As soon as you do that, Word will add the image watermark at the center of the document.
That is all. It is that simple to insert a watermark in Word.
Remember that you cannot change the layout of the image watermark. i.e., you cannot make it look diagonal. If you want that, you have to use 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 a watermark in Word
If you don’t have an image or are not satisfied with the default text watermark formatting, you can create your watermark in Word using the powerful text formatting tools. Here is how to create a watermark in Word.
1. From the Start menu, open the Word application. After opening the application, create a new blank document. We will use this document to create a new watermark. After creating a new document, go to the “Design” tab and select the “Watermark > Custom Watermark” option.
2. Now, select the “Text Watermark” option, choose the language of the “Language” tab, type the text in the “Text” field and click the “Ok” button. If you want, you can add a picture watermark instead of a text watermark.
3. As soon as you do that, the text watermark is added to the Word document. After adding the watermark, we can start customizing it. Follow the below steps for that.
4. After adding the watermark, place the mouse cursor on the page header and double-click. This action will select the page header. If you don’t know where the page header is, place the mouse cursor near the top edge of the page and double-click.
5. Now, click on 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.
6. After selecting the watermark, go to the “WordArt” tab. If you’ve added a Picture Watermark, you have to go to the “Picture Format” 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.
7. I’ve also used the “Change Shape” option to make the text watermark look curvy.
8. Once you are satisfied with the customization, go to the “Design” tab and select the “Watermark > Save Select to Watermark Gallery.” This option will allow you to save the watermark to the watermark gallery.
9. 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.
10. That is it. With that, you have created a new watermark. To use it, go to the “Design” tab and click on “Watermark.” Here, find the newly added watermark in the list and click on it. Doing so will add it to the document.
That is it. It is that simple to create a watermark in Word.
How to remove watermark in Word
Just as you can add a watermark, you can 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 and click on the “Watermark” option. From this menu, click the “Remove Watermark” option.
3. As soon as you do that, Word will remove the watermark from all pages in the document. Once done, press “Ctrl + S” to save the document changes.
That is all. It is that simple to remove a watermark in Word. Remember that you can only remove a watermark that is added with the 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 to add a watermark in a document. You can either add a text watermark or a picture watermark. If you don’t like both, you can create your own in the Word application itself. Play with the options and see what works for you.
I hope that helps.
If you need help, comment below. I will do my best to help.
Google Docs user? Here is how to insert a watermark in Google Docs.
