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How to Insert Vertical Line in Word for Resume (Step-by-Step)

Crafting a standout resume is an art, and every detail matters. A subtle touch like a vertical line can make all the difference. In this step-by-step guide, we'll unravel the secrets to elegantly inserting a vertical line in Word.

Elevate your resume's visual impact and leave a lasting impression on potential employers. Let's embark on this journey to refine your resume and enhance your professional image.

Why Use Vertical Lines in Your Resume?

Vertical lines can be a useful tool for organizing and formatting your resume. They can help to:

Separate different sections of your resume: Vertical lines can be used to separate different sections of your resume, such as your contact information, work experience, education, and skills. This can make it easier for recruiters and hiring managers to scan your resume and find the information they are looking for.

Emphasize important information: Vertical lines can also be used to emphasize important information on your resume, such as your job titles, company names, and dates of employment. This can help to draw the attention of recruiters and hiring managers to your most relevant qualifications.

Create a more polished and professional appearance: Vertical lines can also help to create a more polished and professional appearance for your resume. When used correctly, they can make your resume look more organized and easier to read.

However, it is important to use vertical lines sparingly and only when necessary. Too many vertical lines on your resume can make it look cluttered and unprofessional.

How to Insert Vertical Line in Word for Resume

To Insert a Vertical Line in Word for a Resume, follow these steps:

Step 1 : Open your resume in Word and place your cursor where you want to insert the vertical line.

Step 2 : Click the Insert tab in the ribbon then click the Shapes button in the Illustrations group.

Step 3 : Select the Line shape from the drop-down menu.

Step 4 : Click and drag your mouse to draw a vertical line on your resume.

Step 5 : Once you have drawn the line, release the mouse button.

Step 6 : You can now resize and reposition the line as needed.

To resize the line:

Click and drag the handles on the edge of the line.

To reposition the line:

Click and drag the line to its desired location.

To format the line:

Right-click the line and select Format Shape.

In the Format Shape dialog box, select the Line tab.

You can now change the line color, line thickness, and other formatting options.

To remove the line:

Click the line to select it.

Press the Delete key on your keyboard.

You can also insert a vertical line in Word by using the keyboard shortcut Shift + ** (backslash).

By following these steps, you can easily insert a vertical line in Word for your resume. Vertical lines can be a useful tool for organizing and formatting your resume, and they can help to make it look more polished and professional.

Where Can I Get Resume Templates in Word Online for Free?

To get free resume templates in Word Online:

Step 1 : Go to the Microsoft Templates website and browse Resumes.

Step 2 : Click the Download button to download the resume template to your computer.

Step 3 : Open the resume template in Word Online and make your desired changes.

Step 4 : Save the resume template.

To get free resume templates in WPS Office:

Step 1 : Go to the WPS Templates website and browse the Resumes tab.

Step 3 : Open the resume template in WPS Office and make your desired changes.

Before you download a resume template, make sure that you have the latest version of Word Online or WPS Office installed on your computer.

If you are having trouble opening a resume template, try downloading it again or saving it to a different location on your computer.

Be sure to customize the resume template to match your own qualifications and experience.

Once you have finished editing the resume template, proofread it carefully before submitting it to potential employers.

Best Free Resume Templates Editor - WPS Office

WPS Office is a free and open-source office suite that includes a powerful PDF editor and a built-in template library with a wide variety of free resume templates. This makes it the ideal solution for creating and editing professional-looking resumes.

Advantages of using WPS Office to edit resume templates:

Compatibility: WPS Office is compatible with most of the file formats used in Microsoft Office, so you can easily open and edit your existing Microsoft Office resume templates.

Ease of use: The WPS PDF editor is easy to use and provides a wide range of editing features, making it the perfect tool for customizing resume templates to meet your individual needs.

Affordability: WPS Office is completely free to use, so you can create and edit professional-looking resumes without spending a dime.

• Free Download

How to edit resume templates using WPS PDF tools:

Step 1 : Open the resume template in WPS Office by clicking the File tab and selecting Open.

Step 2 : Click the PDF tab to open the WPS PDF editor.

Step 3 : Make your desired changes to the resume template, such as adding and removing text, images, and other objects; changing the font, font size, and other formatting options; and adding or removing sections.

Step 4 : Once you are finished editing the resume template, click the File tab and select Save to save your changes.

How to export a resume as a PDF or Word document:

Step 1 : Open the edited resume template in WPS Office.

Step 2 : Click the File tab.

Step 3 : Select Export as and then select the file format that you want to export the resume to (PDF or Word).

Step 4 : Enter a name for the exported file and click Export.

Tips for creating professional-looking resumes with WPS Office:

Use the built-in template library to find a resume template that matches your desired style and professionalism.

Customize the resume template to fit your individual needs and experience.

Use the WPS PDF editor to add and remove text, images, and other objects; change the font, font size, and other formatting options; and add or remove sections.

Proofread your resume carefully before exporting it to a PDF or Word document.

By following these tips, you can use WPS Office to create professional-looking resumes that will help you stand out to potential employers.

How to insert a line in Google Docs for a resume?

Step 1 : Open your resume in Google Docs.

Step 2 : Go to "Insert" > "Drawing" > "+ New."

Step 3 : Select the line tool and draw your line.

Step 4 : Position and customize as desired.

Step 5 : Click "Save and Close" to insert the line.

What is the keyboard shortcut to add a line in Word?

The keyboard shortcut to add a line in Word is:

Ctrl + Shift + \ (Backslash)

Can I customize the color and thickness of the vertical line in Word?

Absolutely! After inserting the vertical line, right-click on it and select "Format Shape." In the Format Shape panel, navigate to the "Line" options. Here, you can choose your preferred color and adjust the thickness to suit your resume's aesthetics. This way, you can personalize the vertical line to complement your overall design.

This guide covers inserting a vertical line in Word for resumes. It stresses the impact of this detail. Benefits include organization and emphasis. Step-by-step instructions are provided. It highlights getting free templates in Word and WPS Office. WPS Office is lauded for compatibility, ease of use, and affordability. Tips for using its PDF tools are outlined. This resource enables creating standout resumes.

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• 2. How to Create a Line Graph in Excel [A Comprehensive Guide]
• 3. Best Instructional Guides to Add Line Numbers in Word [Step-by-Step]
• 4. How to Create an Excel Line Graph in WPS Office (Step-by-Step)
• 5. How to Insert a Vertical Line in WPS Word [Step-by-Step Guide]
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15 years of office industry experience, tech lover and copywriter. Follow me for product reviews, comparisons, and recommendations for new apps and software.

How to Insert a Vertical Line in Microsoft Word: 5 Methods

Adding a vertical line to a Microsoft Word document can enhance readability, highlight important text, visually separate content, or simply improve the overall design. While inserting a horizontal line is straightforward, adding a vertical line requires using one of several methods. Here are 5 easy ways to insert a vertical line in Word.

1. Use the Keyboard Shortcut

To insert multiple vertical lines, continue holding down Shift and press backslash several times.

2. Insert Line Shape

For more customization options, use the Line shape:

3. Use Borders

Borders allow you to add vertical lines beside paragraphs of text:

4. Insert Table

5. use tab stops, about the author.

Vegadocs Staff

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How to Create a Resume in Microsoft Word (Step-by-Step Guide)

If this is your first time creating a resume in Microsoft Word, the process may seem overwhelming. Luckily, this article is here to help! In this step-by-step guide, we will cover how to create an effective resume from start to finish using Microsoft Word.

How Do I Make a Resume in Microsoft Word?

There are two primary methods for making a resume in Microsoft Word:

• ‍ From Scratch: This gives you the ultimate creative control. However, it also requires you to familiarize yourself with all of Microsoft Word’s tools and layout options. Building a resume from scratch can be more time-consuming but also more customizable.
• ‍ From a Template: Microsoft Word offers several pre-made resume templates. By using these, all the formatting and layout creation is handled for you. You simply have to fill in your own information.

To use a template, go to File > New and then select a template from the Resume and Cover Letter section.

How Should I Format My Resume in Microsoft Word?

The format you choose will depend on your experience level!

There are 3 basic resume formats to choose between:

• ‍ Reverse-Chronological: Details your most recent job and works backwards from there. This format focuses heavily on work experience. ‍
• Functional: Focuses on skills and education rather than work experience. This is a good option for recent graduates or applicants with minimal work experience. ‍
• Hybrid/Combination: Combines elements of both the Reverse-Chronological and the Functional. This is a good option for applicants with gaps in their employment history.

Choosing the best format for your needs is key. For more help on this subject, check out our guide on How to Choose the Correct Resume Format in 2024 !

Beautiful resume templates to land your dream job

Make a Resume in Microsoft Word in 7 Easy Steps

First, let’s make sure you can navigate the Microsoft Word ribbon!

The ribbon is the toolbar found at the top of the screen.

It should look something like this:

The main parts of the ribbon you should familiarize yourself with on the Home tab are Font , Paragraph , and Styles .

These are how you will edit the appearance of your text and headers.

You should also familiarize yourself with the Layout tab .

This tab is where you will adjust your margins and add columns!

Once you have taken your time to figure out where all of your tools are, it’s time to begin building your resume!

Important Note: These steps detail how to create a resume in Microsoft Word from scratch. By using one of the program’s pre-made templates, you can bypass many of these steps and simply fill in the pre-made format.

Step 1: Create Your Layout

Let’s begin by visiting the Layout tab .

Here, you can set your margin size and decide if you want to use columns.

Here is a breakdown of these two elements:

‍ We recommend using 1-inch margins on all sides.

This will give you enough white space to keep your resume looking neat without sacrificing too much space.

It will also ensure your formatting looks good on printed versions of your resume. ‍

Columns and Sidebars:

‍ From the columns tab, you will find five options:

• The One , Two , and Three options are how you will create separate columns.
• The Left and Right options are how you will create sidebars! Sidebars are useful because they leave more room for the main text and sections.

From the Home tab , you can edit the following elements of your layout:

‍ Alignment:

‍ Choose between left, center, or right alignment.

We recommend using the left alignment.

Whichever you choose, it is a good idea to keep your alignment consistent across the board. ‍

Line Spacing:

‍ We recommend using 1.15 – 1.5 line spacing for the body text.

For section titles and headers, use 1.5 – 2.0 spacing to help them stand out from the rest of the text. ‍

‍ Use a simple and highly legible font. Try to use only 1-2 fonts throughout your resume.

We recommend the following seven fonts:

• Times New Roman

Step 2: Make Your Title Header

Your title header should contain the following information:

• Your Job Title
• Contact Information
• Professional Social Media Links

Use an H1 header to write your name at the very top.

Use the Normal style to write the rest of your information (see “How Do I Add Different Sections of the Resume on Microsoft Word” below for more information on header styles).

It should come out looking similar to this:

Copywriter Email: [email protected] Phone: (123) 456-7890 Website: Janesmith.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/janesmith

Check out some of our free resume examples to see alternative ways of formatting your title header!

Step 3: Write an Objective or Summary

Following your title header will be your resume objective or summary.

This will be a short statement between 1-5 sentences detailing your desired job title, experience, and career goals.

You will want to write this statement in the Normal style .

However, you may want to use a slightly larger font than the rest of the text in other sections.

This will help your objective or summary statement to stand out.

Here is an example of how this might look with the title header example from before:

Resume Objective: I am a copywriter with over 5 years of experience. working with corporate clients. I am seeking the position of Head Copywriter at your company, bringing with me over 10 major corporate clients.

Step 4: Create Your Base Format

By creating a base format, you can save the document as a separate file to return to and fill in again and again.

This will help you to tailor your resume to fit specific jobs!

The idea of the base format is to provide outlined sections with the correct spacing and number of bullet points.

You are essentially creating a skeleton for your resume that you can edit and adjust over time.

By doing so, you ensure you have already allocated the proper amount of space on the resume for each section.

For example, this is what your base Work Experience section may look like:

Work Experience

Job Title 1 , Company Name Date – Date · Descriptive Sentence · Descriptive Sentence · Descriptive Sentence Job Title 2 , Company Name Date – Date · Descriptive Sentence · Descriptive Sentence · Descriptive Sentence ‍ Job Title 3 , Company Name Date – Date · Descriptive Sentence · Descriptive Sentence · Descriptive Sentence

As you gain more work experience, you can return to this base format and make changes as need be.

Because you have already outlined the section, you won’t have to worry about reformatting the entire resume to make a few simple changes.

Step 5: Determine Your Section Organization

Once you have built the base format of your resume, it’s time to determine if your sections are in the optimal location.

For instance, if you are creating a Reverse-Chronological style resume you will want your Work Experience section to come first.

Comparatively, if you are creating a Functional style resume you may want your Skills or Education section to come first.

The order and organization of your sections will impact the impression your resume makes on hiring managers.

Step 6: Fill in the Information

Now that you have created the base format of your resume and chosen the optimal organization, it’s time to fill in your information!

When filling in your information, be mindful of the following 3 factors:

• ‍ Be Concise: Always use simple sentences that clearly describe your strengths and accomplishments. Avoid complex sentences or overly complicated vocabulary and jargon. ‍
• Use Bullet-Points: In each section, use bullet points to separate each thought or idea. This will make your resume more visually appealing and easier to read. ‍
• Choose Compelling Language: Try to avoid repeating the same words or phrases over and over. Mix it up, use keywords, and find the best action verbs to make your resume sound even better!

Not sure how to make your language more compelling on your resume? Take a look at our list of 350+ Action Verbs to Make Your Resume More Effective in 2024 .

Step 7: Double-Check Your Sections

Once you have completed steps 1-6, look back over your resume and make sure you have included all of the key sections.

You should also take some time to consider what additional sections you could include.

Here are the key sections every resume should have:

• A title header with your name and contact information
• An objective or summary statement
• Work experience

As we have covered, the order of these sections will vary depending on the format you have chosen.

However, each of these sections should always be included in your resume.

There are also some additional sections to consider adding.

Here is a quick list of extra sections that can add some extra flair to your resume:

• Awards and achievements
• Certifications
• Unpaid experiences, such as volunteer work or internships
• Relevant hobbies

How Do I Add Different Sections to a Resume on Microsoft Word?

The way to create different sections on your resume comes in two parts:

• Use an H2 header to create the section titles (Work Experience, Education, Skills, etc.)
• Use the Normal style to create the body of text below the H2 header

Here is a breakdown of how to use the H1, H2, H3, and Normal styles within your resume:

Select the Styles window from the Home tab .

From here, you will have options to create headers.

Your heading options are as follows:

• ‍ Heading 1: Use this heading as your largest title. This is what you will use to write your name at the top of the page. Use a bolded font between 16 to 20 pt in size. Use 1.5 to 2.0 line spacing to help the title heading stand out. ‍
• Heading 2: Use this heading to create your section titles. Use a bolded font size between 14 to 16 pt. in size. Make sure these headings are smaller than your title heading. Use 1.5 to 2.0 line spacing to help these headings stand out from the rest of the text. ‍
• Heading 3: Use this heading to create your job titles. Your job titles should be only slightly bigger than the rest of the text. Use a bolded font between 12 to 14 pt. in size. Use between 1.15 to 1.5 line spacing. ‍
• Normal: Use the Normal style to create the body text underneath the heading. Use a regular font between 11 – 12 pt. in size. Use between 1.15 to 1.5 line spacing.

What are the Pros and Cons of Using Microsoft Word to Craft Your Resume?

Microsoft Word is a handy tool to have, especially if your computer comes with the program pre-installed.

Here are 3 pros and 3 cons to using Microsoft Word to create your resume:

• ‍ Total Creative Control: When creating a resume on Microsoft Word directly from your computer, you have total control over the design and format. ‍
• More ATS Friendly: Applicant Tracking Systems are designed to read .doc files, the file format used by Microsoft Word. ‍
• Can be Edited by Recruiters: If you are using a recruitment agency, a Microsoft Word file can be easy to edit by recruiters before sending it off to employers.
• ‍ The Microsoft Word Learning Curve: If you are unfamiliar with Microsoft Word, there can be a pretty steep learning curve that can cause you frustration. ‍
• Time Consuming: Building a resume from scratch can be highly beneficial, but also highly time-consuming. This can become problematic if you need to create a resume quickly. ‍
• Temperamental Templates: Microsoft Word offers tons of free resume templates. On the surface, this is super useful. However, these templates can be tricky to use. One wrong move can mess up the formatting in a big way and be an even bigger headache to try and fix.

Why Should I Use an Online Resume Template or Resume Builder?

By using a resume template from an online provider, such as Easy Resume, you are more likely to find a template that fits your exact needs.

Plus, online resume templates and resume builders often have more design elements that are easier to use compared to Microsoft Word.

Are you interested in using our online templates or resume builder? Check out our beautifully designed resume templates to build your optimal resume!

Final Takeaways

Microsoft Word offers a lot of capabilities to help you build your ideal resume.

Here are five key takeaways for creating a resume on the program:

• Create a base skeleton for your resume that you can use again and again for different jobs.
• Use different heading styles to help your resume title and section titles to stand out.
• Use the column tool under the Layout tab to create sidebars. Sidebars are great for smaller sections, such as certifications or awards!
• Always use concise and compelling language.
• Consider using a template to build your resume faster.

At Easy Resume, we have designed our resume templates and online resume builder to fit your needs. No matter your level of experience or skill at making resumes, we have the tools to help.

Don’t forget to check out our expansive collection of FREE resume guides and examples while you’re here!

Browse more resume templates that fit your role

Ed is a co-founder of Easy Resume. His background in scaling teams at tech startups over the last decade has given him extensive experience and knowledge around how to hire top talent and build successful teams. He enjoys mentoring, coaching, and helping others reach their career goals. When he's not writing about career-related advice, he's playing with his dog, Lilo, or going on long hikes in upstate New York.

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How to Insert Lines in Word for Resume: A Step-by-Step Guide

• Career Advice

• Posted On: 2024-08-18
• Posted By: Shacara

Why Use Lines in a Resume?

• Organize Content: Lines can help divide different sections of your resume, such as education, work experience, skills, and references. This makes it easier for hiring managers to scan through your resume quickly.
• Improve Readability: A well-placed line can guide the reader’s eye, making your resume more navigable and aesthetically pleasing.
• Highlight Key Information: You can use lines to emphasize section headers or specific achievements, drawing attention to the most important parts of your resume.
• Professional Appearance: Lines contribute to a clean and structured layout, which can give your resume a more professional appearance.

Step-by-Step Guide to Inserting Lines in Word for Resume

Method 1: using the horizontal line tool.

• Go to the "Home" tab in the ribbon.
• Click on the "Borders" dropdown in the Paragraph group.
• Select "Horizontal Line" from the dropdown menu.
• Right-click on the line and choose "Format Horizontal Line…" from the context menu.
• You can adjust the width, height, color, and alignment of the line to match your resume’s design.

Method 2: Using the Borders Tool

• In the Paragraph group, click on the "Borders" dropdown.
• Select "Bottom Border" to insert a line directly beneath the text.
• To customize the border, click on "Borders and Shading…" at the bottom of the Borders dropdown.
• In the dialog box that appears, you can adjust the style, color, and width of the line.
• You can also apply the line to the top, bottom, left, or right of the text, depending on your needs.

Method 3: Using the Underline Feature

• Go to the "Home" tab.
• Click on the "Underline" button (represented by a "U" with a line beneath it) in the Font group.
• Alternatively, you can use the shortcut Ctrl + U to quickly apply an underline.
• To change the style or color of the underline, click the small arrow next to the Underline button.
• Select "More Underlines…" to access additional options, including different line styles and colors.

Method 4: Inserting Lines with Shapes

• Go to the "Insert" tab in the ribbon.
• Click on "Shapes" in the Illustrations group.
• Select the "Line" shape from the Lines category.
• Click and drag to draw the line where you want it on your resume.
• Hold down the Shift key while dragging to keep the line straight.
• Once the line is drawn, you can customize its appearance by right-clicking on it and selecting "Format Shape."
• Here, you can adjust the color, weight, and style of the line, as well as add effects like shadows or glow if desired.

Method 5: Creating a Custom Table Layout

• Go to the "Insert" tab.
• Click on "Table" and choose the number of rows and columns you need.
• Click on the table to select it.
• Go to the "Table Design" tab that appears.
• In the Borders group, click on "Borders" and select "No Border" to remove all borders.
• You can now add borders selectively to certain cells to create lines where needed.
• For example, you might add a bottom border to a row to create a line beneath a section header.

Best Practices for Using Lines in Your Resume

• Use Lines Sparingly: Too many lines can make your resume look busy and cluttered. Stick to using lines only where they help improve readability or emphasize important sections.
• Keep It Consistent: Consistency is key to a professional resume. Use the same line style, weight, and color throughout your resume to maintain a cohesive look.
• Balance White Space: Lines can help structure your resume, but it’s important to balance them with white space. This ensures that your resume remains easy to read and visually appealing.
• Align with Your Resume’s Design: The lines you use should complement the overall design of your resume. For example, if you’re using a minimalist template, opt for simple, thin lines. If your resume has a more modern design, you might experiment with bolder lines or unique styles.

Using mycvcreator.com to Design Your Resume

• Customizable Templates: mycvcreator.com offers a range of resume templates that incorporate lines and other design elements, allowing you to create a professional-looking resume without the hassle.
• Easy-to-Use Interface: The platform provides a user-friendly interface where you can drag and drop elements, insert lines, and customize your resume layout to suit your needs.
• Instant Formatting: With mycvcreator.com , you don’t need to worry about formatting issues. The platform automatically adjusts margins, spacing, and alignment to ensure your resume looks polished and professional.
• Real-Time Editing: You can make changes to your resume in real-time, adding or removing lines as needed and previewing how your resume will look once completed.

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How-To Geek

How to create a professional résumé in microsoft word.

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What is a résumé, using a microsoft word résumé template, crafting a custom résumé in microsoft word, deciding what information to include, organizing that information.

Pressing the send button when sending your résumé to a potential employer can be a nerve-racking experience. We're here to show you how to create a résumé using Microsoft Word and provide a few tips on getting you through the résumé screening process so you can press that send button with confidence.

A résumé, often referred to as a CV (curriculum vitae), is a summary of a person's background and experience, including work experience, education, and even volunteer work, and its most common use is to send to potential employers when searching for a new career opportunity. In fact, though taking on a much different form than that of what you'd expect a résumé to look like today, Leonardo Da Vinci even did this himself, and he is often given credit as the first person to create a resume.

Of course, the résumé has undergone quite the transformation since Da Vinci's 1482 version, drastically so during the age of word processors and digital typesetting in the 1970's---40 years after résumés became an institution. Fast-forward to today and not only do you have your standard .doc or .pdf résumé, but you'll also see people uploading video résumés on YouTube and using social media platforms like LinkedIn to sell themselves to companies.

We should be thankful for these developments because now we can skip the quill and ink and jump straight into Microsoft Word.

Microsoft Word offers a bunch of résumé templates. Some are beautiful; some are not. We'll let you decide which style fits you best, but here's where you can find them.

Go ahead and open Word. As soon as you do, you'll be greeted with several different templates to choose from, ranging from a simple blank document, cover letters, résumés, or even seasonal event flyers. Click the "Resumes and Cover Letters" link under the search box to see only those types of templates.

Now, you'll see all the different resume styles Word has to offer. There are a lot of different styles and color schemes to choose one, so pick what feels right. If you scroll down the list a bit, you'll also see some plainer resume templates designed for different purposes---like an entry-level, chronological, or extended CV style.

Some of the templates are already built into Word; others are a quick, free download from Office.com (and you won't even have to leave Word to grab them). When you click to create a resume, Word will let you know the download size (if it needs to download the template). Click the "Create" button and a few seconds later, you'll be in your document and ready to edit.

That's all there is to it! But what if you didn't find a résumé you liked? Luckily, Word has a few formatting tools to help you craft the perfect résumé.

Before we start, it's important to know that each résumé should reflect a person's personal experience and education. Since everyone's experience is different, it's no surprise that their résumés will be too.

That being said, there are some general aesthetic guidelines for making a résumé that we highly recommend you follow for a professional-looking document .

Go ahead and open up a clean, blank document in Word.

The first thing we'll want to do is set our margins. Go to the "Layout" tab and click the "Margins" buttons.

The drop-down menu displays several different margin options from which to choose. If you can't find the one you're looking for, you can click "Custom Margins" at the bottom and enter your specifications. Let's go ahead and do that.

According to the experts, the best margin size is 1" for the top and bottom and 0.63" for the sides. This may seem like an oddly specific number, but the objective is to get as much (relevant) information about yourself as possible on a page without overwhelming the reader. With the above credentials, we leave enough white space on the page for the reader to not feel suffocated.

Click "OK" once you've entered the margin sizes you want.

Now that our margins are set, it's time to start inputting information.

The information you put mainly depends on what you're trying to accomplish and where you are in your professional career. If you have over two years of working experience, then detailing that information is much more valuable than which high school you graduated from or which clubs you were a part of in college. Like a cover letter, your résumé should uniquely cater to the recipient. Dress to impress.

So, which information should you put? We'll give you the overview, and you can decide which areas you should detail.

• Contact Information
• Professional Experience (It's also ok to include any volunteer work at the bottom of this section)
• Additional Skills

For all of these, tailor the information to the job. You don't need to fit irrelevant work experience in there unless not including it would create a gap in your work experience. But if you're applying for a job as an accountant, nobody cares that you delivered pizzas 12 years ago. And you do list out any additional skills, make sure they're relevant to the position for which you're applying. Your high school friend might be impressed by how high you can kick, but your future employer---not so much.

Another thing to remember is that you should always list out your experience in reverse chronological order. That is, list out your most recent experience first, and go back from there.

There're several ways to do this, but arguably the most effective way is by creating headings and then inserting a table for the content of each section. By doing so, you're not only able to move content around in groups instead of individually, which can be a headache in itself, but you're also able to give your résumé a unique touch by adding table designs. In the image below, for example, we've added a dashed border to the left side of the table to create a nice little visual element to tie the different experience elements together.

First things first, let's go ahead and find a heading that we like. In the "Styles" section of the "Home" tab, you'll find several default styles. If you can't find one you like, then Word has a feature that lets you create your own. First, click the "More" arrow on the right-hand side of the different built-in styles.

You'll see a menu with three different options. Go ahead and click "Create a Style."

The "Create New Style from Formatting" window will appear. The only thing you can do here is to name the style, so click "Modify."

Now you should see a window with many formatting options. For fonts, there's no best option. Just make sure you use something that's clean and readable. "Georgia" is a great example. A 14 pt font size is fine for headings, but make sure it's bold so that each section is easier to find for the reader.

The "Add to the Styles gallery" option will automatically be selected. It's good to leave this option selected so you'll have easy access to your heading for the other sections of your résumé. If you plan to use this heading again in future documents, you can go ahead and deselect "Only in this document," but since we only plan to use it for our résumé, we'll keep that option selected.

Click "OK."

Go ahead and type in your first heading and apply the new style to it. In this example, we'll use "Experience" first.

Now, let's use a table under our first heading so that we can keep all our content lined up correctly. Place your insertion point on the line under your new heading, switch to the "Insert" tab, and click the "Table" button.

You'll see a 10x8 grid on the drop-down menu. You can create the table size by moving your mouse over the grid and clicking when it's the size you want. For your résumé, you'll need one column and enough rows to contain the separate pieces of information you have to list. For example, if you have three prior jobs to list in the Experience section, you'll want a table that's 1x3.

And here's what it looks like after we've inserted the table into the document.

We'll remove the border lines later. First, go ahead and put in your information. You'll want the "Job Title, Company" text to be 1 or 2 pts larger than the rest of the text but be sure to keep it smaller than the heading of the section. If you want your job title to stand out, you can change the color or make it italic, but try to keep it simple.

Once that's ready, let's go ahead change the borders of our table. Select the table by placing your insertion point anywhere inside it. Switch to the "Design" tab in the "Table Tools" section of the Ribbon, and then click the "Borders" button.

If you want to keep it simple and remove all the lines of your table, select "No Border." In this example, we're going to give our table a little flavor, so we'll select "Borders and Shading."

Because we only want to customize the left border of our table, we will select "Custom" under the "Setting" section. This lets us use the "Preview" section to deselect the sides on which we don't want borders. Click the boxes surrounding the preview to turn off all the borders except for the left one.

In the "Style" list, you can select the border design, color, and width you want. Click "OK" when you're ready.

Now we should have an experience section on our résumé that's starting to shape up. A little playing with colors and maybe spacing the table rows a bit, and you should be ready to go.

Now, just repeat these steps for the rest of the sections and your professional résumé will be finished in no time!

Image Credit: fizkes /Shutterstock

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Home » Microsoft Word » How to insert a vertical line in MS Word

How to insert a vertical line in MS Word

Whether you want to separate your text into two columns or create a border around your text, learning how to insert a vertical line in Word is useful. 

A few days back, we shared how to insert a horizontal line . In this post, we will share simple techniques to insert a vertical line.

Learning this function is especially beneficial for creating newsletters or pages of a newspaper, as you would have to separate the text into different columns.

5 ways to insert a vertical line in Word

• Using shapes 
• Adding a paragraph border
• Adding a page border
• Adding a bar tab
• Adding columns

Let’s get started.

Method 1: Using shapes 

The most basic method of adding a vertical line in Word is by using the Shapes tool. The benefit of this method is that you can choose the type of line you want to add (e.g. a line with an arrow) and you can insert it anywhere on the page.

Step 1: Open your Word document.

Open an existing document or create a new one using one of the several templates Word offers.

Step 2: Click on the Insert tab. 

This tab is located between the Home and Draw tabs. Click on it to find the different types of items that you can insert in your document.

Step 3: Click on the Illustrations button.

The Illustrations button is between the Table and Add-ins buttons. When you click on it, you will see the Shapes option.

Step 4: Click on the Shapes option.

You have several options for shapes. The second row consists of the different types of lines you can add in your document.

Step 5: Choose a line template.

Choose the line template that you would like to add to your document. For example, you can choose the straight line with no arrows or the line with an arrow at only one of the ends.

Step 6: Draw the line.

Click on the line that you would like to draw then drag the pointer across the page. To ensure that your line is vertical, press the Shift key on your keyboard as you’re drawing the line.

You can insert this line anywhere in your document, even next to the text on the page and on it. 

Method 2: Adding a paragraph border

The next method of adding a vertical line in your Word doc is by adding a border. You can try this method if you just want to add borders to your page and don’t want to insert a vertical line in the middle of the page.

Step 1: Click on the Home tab.

The Home tab is the default tab that you’re on when you open your Word document.

However, if you’re on a different tab, click on the Home tab to add the borders.

Step 2: Click on the Borders option.

The Borders option is located in the third group in the Home tab. You will find it among other tools like the Spacing and Fill tools.

Once you click on this option, you will see the different options you have for borders.

Step 3: Choose one or more border types.

The two types of vertical borders you can choose are left and right borders. Pick one or both of them depending on how you want to format your text.

This is how the page looks with only the left border:

This is how it looks with only the right border:

And finally, this is how it looks with both borders:

Alternative Step 3: Choose the Borders and Shading option to create a custom border.

Word also gives you the freedom to create a border of your choice. Click on the Borders and Shading option from the drop-down menu. 

This will open up a box where you can customize your border.

You can change the style of your border by choosing from several options, including dotted and wavy styles. You can also change the color and width of your border to anything you want- the sky’s the limit!

A great thing is that you can preview what your vertical border is going to look like before making a selection. You can make sure that you’re only adding vertical borders by deselecting the top and bottom options. 

Here’s a look at an example of a custom border:

Note that this line moves along with your paragraphs: so, it will extend if you add more paragraphs and shorten if you delete any paragraphs.

Method 3: Adding a page border

The borders that we discussed so far are paragraph borders. They only apply to the individual paragraphs on the page. In this section, we will learn how to apply borders to the entire page.

Step 1: Click on the Borders option.

Once again, you have to open the drop-down menu by clicking on the Borders option in the Home tab.

Step 2: Select the Borders and Shading option and go to Page Border.

The second option at the top of the box is Page Border. Click on this.

Step 3: Customize your page border.

Similar to the paragraph border, you can customize the style, color, and width of your page border as well. You can deselect the top and bottom options to make sure that you’re only adding vertical lines.

One really interesting option you have in this case is the Art option. Instead of having simple vertical lines, you can choose an icon to add as a border. 

Here’s a tacky example:

Again, you can choose from several different options and preview your border before making a selection.

Method 4: Adding bar tabs 

You can also use the Tab tool to add a vertical line in your Word documents. You can add these tabs anywhere in your document.

Step 1: Make sure that you can see the ruler. 

Having the ruler visible will help you find the right position for your tabs. If it isn’t already, you can show your ruler by going to the View tab and checking the Ruler box.

Step 2: Open the Line and Paragraph Spacing dialog box.

Go to the Home tab and click on the Line and Paragraph Spacing button. There, you will find Line Spacing Options. Click on this to open a dialog box.

Step 3: Click on Tabs.

At the bottom left corner of the box, you can see the Tabs option.

Step 4: Click on Bar and customize other features of your bar tab.

In the Alignment section, choose the Bar option. You can also change the other features of your bar tab, such as the Tab Stops. You can use the ruler to figure out the right stops for your bar tab.

For example, assuming that your text starts at 0, you can enter -0.5 to insert a bar tab to the left of the text and 7 to insert it to the right of the text.

This type of vertical line is also applied to the paragraphs, so its length changes with the length of the paragraphs on the page.

Method 5: Adding columns

You can also organize your text into columns and insert lines between the columns.

Step 1: Click on the Layouts tab.

This tab is located between the Design and References tabs. Click on it.

Step 2: Click on the Columns button.

This button is at the top left corner of the page. It will open up a drop-down menu. Click on the More Columns option and add the number of columns that you would like to divide your text into. Then, click on the Line Between option. 

Your text may look something like this:

So there you have it- five methods that you can use to add a vertical line in your Word doc. It’s always useful to learn more than one method as you never know when they may come in handy.

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oTechWorld » MS-Office » How to Add Line in Word for Resume

How to Add Line in Word for Resume

Do you want to know how to add a horizontal and vertical line in Word for a resume?

People often use Microsoft Word to create resumes. No doubt, Word is the best tool for this task and you can easily create the resume by using its pre-built templates. But still, you need to customize the template according to your requirements. Sometimes you may need to add a new section by adding or inserting horizontal or vertical lines.

So, in this article, I’ll show you how to add line in word for resume.

Well, creating a resume is not an arduous task because of online resume makers and prebuilt word templates. You don’t need to create the resume from scratch.

A well-organized resume includes several sections that add visual appeal. The basic and mandatory sections are given below.

• Header (Contact Information)
• Objectives/Summary
• Work Experience

Apart from these mandatory sections, you can add some additional sections if you want.

When you create a new resume in Microsoft Word (on a blank page or prebuilt template), you might need to add or remove the sections. The sections are often separated by lines.

So, horizontal and vertical lines help to make eye-catching resumes by categorizing the resumes into different sections.

If you’re one of those who is troubled with inserting lines in a word document, then this article will help you learn about that.

How to Add Horizontal Line in Word for Resume

In Microsoft Word, there are plenty of ways to add or insert horizontal and vertical lines as discussed below.

1. Insert Horizontal Line from Ribbon

Microsoft Word allows us to add a horizontal line across the entire page, cell, or column from the ribbon. Also, you can format the line as you want.

The steps are given below. Let’s get started.

• Open a word document or resume in Microsoft Word and place the cursor where you want to put the horizontal line.
• Now from the Home tab, click on the dropdown menu of the Borders icon from under Paragraph options.

• Now the horizontal line will be inserted where you placed the cursor.

By default, the color of the line is automatically selected by Microsoft Word according to the page color. If the page color is light, then the line color will be dark. Similarly, if the page color is dark, then the line color will be light.

But you can format the line. For this, double-click on the added line to change its width, height, weight, color, and alignment.

2. Insert Horizontal Line Using AutoFormat

Using AutoFormat is one of the easiest methods to add a straight line in the word document or resume. Microsoft Word has inbuilt 6 horizontal rules that can be accessed through three-character shortcuts.

You just need to type three characters and press the enter button. After that, the characters automatically convert into a full-width line. You can add six types or lines i.e., thinner, thicker, doted, double-line, and wavy.

The steps are given below to add a line through the autoformat.

• Open the Word Document and place the cursor where you want to insert the horizontal line.

• That’s all.

The line is inserted in the full width of the page or column.

If this functionality isn’t working, then you need to enable it. Microsoft Word gives the option to enable and disable AutoFormat lines from the Options settings.

For this, click on the File from the ribbon and open Options . From the options dialog box, click on the Proofing tab option from the left navigation list.

Now click on the AutoCorrect Options button and select AutoFormat As You Type tab. Check or uncheck the Border Lines option to enable or disable it. After that, click on OK to make the changes.

3. Add Horizontal Line using Borders

You can insert the line using the border option from the ribbon. Though the border provides a separate horizontal line option. But sometimes you may need to add a line on the top, bottom, left, or right of the text or paragraph.

The steps are given below.

• Open a resume or document in Microsoft Word and place the cursor where you want to add the straight line.
• From the Home tab, click on the Borders option from under Paragraph . Otherwise, click on the drop-down menu from the Border option and you’ll see the list of options. For horizontal lines, select the Top border or Bottom border option as you need.

You can also format the line to change the style color and width. For this, click on the drop-down menu from the Borders options from the ribbon. After that, open the Borders and Shading option. Select the Horizontal line style, color, and width, and click on the OK button.

4. Use Shapes to Add Horizontal Line

In Microsoft Word, you can add shapes (Lines, Block Arrows, Flowcharts, Callouts, Stars, and Banners) to documents and resumes. One of the best things about using shapes is that you can draw the line in any angle that you want.

The steps are given below to use shapes.

• Open Word Document and click on the Insert tab from the top.

• Now using the mouse, draw the line on the document where you want. (Tip: for straight line, press and hold the shift key and draw the line using a mouse)
• That’s it.

After inserting the line, you’ll see the Format option on the ribbon. Otherwise, double-click on the line to see the options. You can select the shape styles, outline, shadow effects, 3D effects, alignment, and more.

To change the color and size of the line, click on the Format Shape (Advanced Tools) option from under the Shapes Style.

5. Insert Horizontal Line using Pictures

To add the creative line, you can use graphics or pictures. You can use pictures from your device or online. The steps are given below.

• Open a document in Word and place the cursor where you want to put the line.

• If the picture is already available on your device storage, then click on the This device option and select the picture. Otherwise, select the Online Pictures option and search for the horizontal line. The search is powered by the Bing search engine.
• Select the line from the results and click on the Insert button. The image will be inserted into the document.

Also Read:   How to Extract and Save Images from Word Document

How to Add a Vertical Line in Word for Resume

The vertical lines are also adding a visual appeal to the resume by creating sections. So, the methods are given below to add a vertical line in word for a resume.

1. Insert Vertical Line in Word using Borders

If you want to put a vertical line at the left or right of the text or paragraph, you can use borders. The steps are given below.

• Open the Word document and place the cursor where you want to insert the vertical line.
• From the Home tab, click on the drop-down arrow icon from the Borders icon under Paragraph.

• After that, the line will be inserted into the document.

You can also format the border line to change the style, color, and width. For this, click on the drop-down arrow icon from the Borders option and select the Borders and Shadings option from the list. Select the line style, color, and width, and click on the OK button.

2. Use Shapes to Add Vertical Line

Shapes are the easiest way to add or insert the vertical line according to the user’s requirement. Because you can draw the line. The steps are given below.

• Open the document and click on the Insert tab.
• Draw the line using the mouse. (Tip – Press and hold the Shift key and draw the straight vertical line)

After inserting, you’ll see the Format options on the ribbon. If not, then double-click on the line to see the format options to change the shape styles, outline, shadow effects, 3D effects, alignment, and more.

To change the color and size of the vertical line, click on the Advanced Tools (Format Shapes) option from under the Shapes Style.

3. Add Vertical Line by Splitting text into Columns

Sometimes, you need to split the resume into two columns. For this, you can use columns from the layout. The steps are given below.

• Open the document in Word and click on the Layout tab from the top.

• Select the Presets from the dialog box. For resumes, Left and Right preset are best.

• Click on the OK button and that’s it.

Final Words

I hope this article helped you learn how to add a line in Word for your resume . Microsoft Word gives plenty of ways to insert horizontal and vertical lines in different styles to add visual appeal to your document and resume. Moreover, you can format the line according to your requirement.

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About The Author

Gagan Bhangu

Founder of otechworld.com and managing editor. He is a tech geek, web-developer, and blogger. He holds a master's degree in computer applications and making money online since 2015.

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This task management tool is the best i've found for actually getting things done, how custom colors made my google calendar look amazing.

Lines are an essential design element. In Microsoft Word, a horizontal or vertical line can divide a document and guide the flow of the text. You can insert a line in Word and format it differently to change a humble line into something more appealing.

It's so simple, after all. But if you don't know all the ways to do it, then this primer on how to insert a line in Word is for you.

How Do You Insert a Straight Line in Word With the Keyboard?

Did you know that you can quickly add a line in Word by typing a few characters? Word's AutoFormat feature types stuff for you as you type it. You may have already seen it in action when it creates automatic bulleted lists.

You can insert not only a straight line but also add lines with different designs. Here's how it works:

• Place the cursor in the spot where you would like to start your horizontal line.
• Then, type three characters for any possible line styles you see in the screenshot below—press Enter . For example, to draw a dotted line, type *** and press Enter.

As you will see, you will get six variations of the standard horizontal line.

• Plain single line with three hyphens (---)
• Broken or dotted line with three asterisks (***)
• Plain double line with three equal signs (===)
• Bold single line with three underline symbols (___)
• Triple line with a thick center with Three number signs (###)
• Wavy line with three tildes (~~~)

The line takes up the entire width of the page. When added inside a column, the line is inserted to match the width of the column. If you want to add text above or below the line, put your cursor where you want the text and begin typing.

You will also notice a tiny AutoCorrect Options button pop up next to the line. This is a shortcut that allows you to undo the automatic line when you don't need it, stop them altogether, or dive into the AutoFormat options dialog.

You can turn off these lines permanently from the AutoFormat options dialog.

Go to AutoFormat As You Typ e tab > Apply as you type section > uncheck Border lines .

Insert a Horizontal Line From the Ribbon

If you find AutoCorrect annoying and disabled the option, there's another quick way to add a horizontal line.

1. Place your cursor where you want to insert the line.

2. Go to the Home tab and then click the dropdown arrow for the Borders option in the Paragraph group.

3. Select Horizontal Line from the menu.

4. To tweak the look of this horizontal line, double-click the line. The Format Horizontal Line dialog box enables you to modify the width, height, color, and alignment of the line.

5. To resize a line, select the line with a double click and then drag any of the resizing points to change the length or width.

6. To remove the line, select it and press Delete on your keyboard.

Use Borders to Add Horizontal and Vertical Lines

The Borders option in the Paragraph group also gives you another way to insert a top or bottom border that resembles a horizontal line in the document.

1. Click on the paragraph of text where you want the line to appear.

2. Got to Home and the Paragraph group. Click on the Border button. The Bottom border is usually the default. This places a line below the selected text on the page, or the paragraph if you haven't selected any text.

3. For other options ( like a vertical borde r), you can click on the tiny dropdown arrow on the Borders button to access a list of options.

4. To change the look of any border, click on Borders and ShadiThen, use Use the dialog to adjust the border's style, color, and width .

5. Deleting this horizontal line in your Word document may not be obvious but it easy enough.

Use Shapes to Insert a Horizontal or Vertical Line in Word

The Shapes menu contains several line options. These line shapes come with one crucial difference---you can draw them at different angles. Then, after you draw the line, you can customize the color and appearance to make decorative horizontal or vertical lines even in the middle of a Word document.

1. Position the cursor where you want to insert a line.

2. Go to Insert > Illustrations group > Shapes dropdown arrow.

3. In the Lines group, choose the shape of the line.

4. Click and drag across the document with the mouse pressed till the endpoint. ( Tip: Hold down the Shift key to insert a straight line that is either horizontal or vertical)

5. Keep the line selected to customize the appearance of the line with the Shape Format tab on the Ribbon.

6. Go to the Shape Styles tab, change the color, use a different line style, or apply effects.

7. You can also right-click on the line and choose Format Shape from the context menu to open more options for changing the look.

How to Add a Vertical Line and Separate Text into Columns

Text arranged into columns is a basic layout technique. For example, you can separate text blocks into multiple columns and insert a vertical line between them.

1. Select the text.

2. Go to Ribbon > Layout > (Page Setup group) Columns . Click on the dropdown and select the number of columns you want.

3. The text is now arranged into columns. Click on any column and go to Layout > Columns > More Columns .

4. In the Columns dialog box, check the Line Between box and click OK.

Note that you can also change the number of columns and the spacing between them from this dialog.

How to Use a Bar Tab to Insert a Vertical Line

Tab stops in Word help align lines and paragraphs. The bar tab , on the other hand, doesn't set a tab. Instead, it. It inserts a vertical line and demarcates your paragraph into columns.

1. Select the paragraph where you want to add the vertical line.

2. Go to Ribbon > Home . In the Paragraph group click the tiny arrow to open the Paragraph Settings .

3. Click the Tabs button at the bottom of the dialog.

4. In the Tab stop position box, enter the position where you want the vertical line to appear. You can use the ruler at the top of the screen to gauge a value to enter.

5. Click the Bar button in the Alignment section. Click on Set and OK .

As you can see, I have set it to "-0.2" to make it appear just to the left of the first paragraph. To delete the vertical line, delete the bar tab.

Also: Want to make blank lines where the reader can fill in some information? You can use tabs to quickly create empty lines in forms with Microsoft Word .

How to Insert a Graphic for Creative Lines in Word

Using pictures for horizontal and vertical lines can be a creative workaround. But use them with care and avoid overusing them in a document as a stretched or condensed image can end up looking back on paper or the screen.

A graphic can be used as a straight line horizontally and vertically. Here's how:

• Choose one of the image sources from the dropdown. For instance, select This device to upload a line graphic you created in another program.

You can use these pseudo-lines as separators or as parts of the header or footer of your document. Use the Graphics Format toolbar on the Ribbon to format this illustration with Graphics Fill , Graphics Outline , and Graphics Effects .

Draw a Line in Your Word Document

Horizontal lines are more obvious and familiar. But adding vertical lines at the right place can boost the visual appeal of your content. Lines aren't mere decorations... they can lead your eye to the most critical part of a document when used with subtlety.

Think about lines and use these methods the next time you sit down to write a professional report with Microsoft Word.

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6 ways to add vertical lines in Word

There are at least six ways to add a vertical line in Microsoft Word . Vertical lines can help accentuate a piece of text in Word, but adding them is not as obvious as adding a horizontal line .

Custom Borders

Add a page border, adding a line using the shape tool, tab stop positions, adding lines to columns, vertical lines either side of text.

These are most common options available.  With all the features in Word there are other more complicated choices. We thought of four more vertical formatting tricks in Word

Adding a Border

Add a vertical line next to a paragraph is to simply add a side border to the paragraph.

Highlight the paragraph you wish to add a line to, go to Home | Paragraph, and click the Borders dropdown.

This gives you options to insert borders in various locations. To insert a vertical line to the left or right of the text, select Left Border or Right Border.

The Left or Right border options insert a plain black line next to the text. If you want to have more control over the color or style of your line, instead select Borders and Shading at the bottom of the list.

Click Custom on the left-hand side of the dialog box, to enable you to choose individual borders to add. In the middle section, you can select the style, color and width of the line. On the right-hand side, click the box to indicate where you want the border to appear (top, bottom, left or right). The preview will give you an indication of how your line will appear.

Note that the boxes for the border positions are toggle keys, so if a border that you don’t want is appearing in the preview, just click the appropriate box to remove it.

A line inserted by this method is anchored to the paragraph(s) it is applied to and will move if you move a paragraph.

The same thing can be done at the page level.

Design | Page Background } Page Borders | Page Border.

Like a paragraph border, select the style of border you want then click the Preview sides.  Remove the top and bottom borders, leaving left or right depending on your needs.

To add a vertical line using the shape tool, go to Insert | Shapes and select the Line tool.

Place the cursor where you want the line to start, and drag to where you want the other end of the line to be. Holding the Shift key while you drag will ensure that the line is straight.

Once you have finished creating the line, the Format tab becomes live on the ribbon, where you can change the color, shape and style of the line.

Click the Layout button next to the line to see options regarding how you want the line to interact with your text.

To move or resize the line, grab one of the end points and move it. If you hold the Control key while you move, both ends of the line will move as if around a fulcrum.

Adding a Bar Tab

Another way to add a vertical line to text is to use the Tab feature, but instead of inserting a tab, you will add a ‘bar’ or vertical line.   Bar tabs are the lesser known Tab formatting option which separate tabbed items with a visible bar like this:

The shape tool can be used to add a line in any location and of any length, a bar tab can only be applied to whole paragraphs.

Make the ruler is visible at the top of your document, to help you find the correct position for the bar tab. If you cannot see the ruler, go to View | Show, and tick the Ruler box.

To insert a bar tab, select the paragraphs that you want the bar to appear beside, go to Home | Paragraph and open the Paragraph dialog box.  Then click the Tabs button at the bottom of the dialog box.

In the Tab Stop Position box, enter the position where you want the line to appear. You can use the ruler at the top of the screen to work out what value to enter. In the example pictured, the text starts at 0 on the ruler, so if you want the line to appear to the left of the existing text, you may enter “-0.5”. If you want it to appear to the right of the text, you may enter “17”.

Then select Bar under Alignment and click OK.

With the values entered in the above figure, the text would then look like this:

Note that a line inserted by this method is anchored to the paragraph(s) it is applied to. If you move a paragraph around, the line will go with the paragraph to its new location.

If you wish to later delete the line, highlight the paragraph, open the tab dialog again and click Clear.

If you are arranging your text into columns, you can insert a vertical line between the columns.

To arrange your text into columns, select the text, go to Layout | Columns and select the number of columns you want.

Now that your text is arranged into columns, click anywhere within the columns, and go to Layout | Columns again, but this time select More Columns at the bottom of the list. In the dialog box, simply tick the Line Between box, and click OK.

One way to put vertical lines on both sides of text is to add empty columns either side using Layout | Breaks | Column Break. Three column breaks will do the job, two to make empty columns plus one at the bottom of the middle text column.

Note that if you wish to add a line to the left or right of the columns, this can be done using any of the other methods described above.

See  Color the Column dividing line in Word

Four more vertical formatting tricks in Word

About this author

Megan Casey

Office 2021  - all you need to know . Facts & prices for the new Microsoft Office. Do you need it? Office LTSC is the enterprise licence version of Office 2021.

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How to Make a Resume on Word: Step-by-Step Guide

Creating a resume on Word is a straightforward process that anyone can master with a little guidance. By using the tools and templates available in Microsoft Word, you can design a professional-looking resume that will catch the eye of potential employers. In less than 100 words, here’s how to do it: Open Microsoft Word, choose a resume template, fill in your personal information, customize the design to your liking, and save the document. Voilà, you’re ready to start job hunting with a fresh resume in hand!

Step by Step Tutorial: Making a Resume on Word

Before we dive into the steps, let’s understand what we’re aiming for. A resume is your professional highlight reel – concise, well-organized, and tailored to the job you’re applying for. Microsoft Word offers various templates, but we’ll start from scratch for full customization.

Step 1: Open Microsoft Word

Launch Microsoft Word on your computer to get started.

When you open Word, you’ll see a variety of template options, but for this tutorial, we’re going to start with a blank document. You can find this option either on the initial screen or by selecting ‘File’ and then ‘New’ from the menu bar.

Step 2: Set Up Page Layout

Adjust the margins, orientation, and size of your document.

In the ‘Layout’ or ‘Page Layout’ tab, you’ll find options for margins, orientation, and size. Standard resumes typically have 1-inch margins and are in portrait orientation. Make sure your page is set to ‘Letter’ size for a standard 8.5"x11" document.

Step 3: Insert Header

Include a header with your name and contact information.

Click on ‘Insert,’ then ‘Header’ to add a header to your resume. This is where you’ll put your name in a larger font, followed by your contact information such as your phone number, email address, and LinkedIn profile. Keep it professional and easy to read.

Step 4: Add Sections

Create distinct sections for your experience, education, skills, and any other relevant information.

Use the ‘Heading’ feature to distinguish between sections like ‘Work Experience,’ ‘Education,’ ‘Skills,’ and any other categories relevant to your professional background. This will help organize your resume and make it easier for employers to scan.

Step 5: Enter Your Information

Fill in each section with your personal and professional details.

Within each section, list your experiences in reverse-chronological order, starting with the most recent. Be sure to include job titles, company names, dates of employment, and a brief description of your responsibilities and achievements.

Step 6: Customize Your Resume

Use fonts, colors, and formatting tools to personalize your resume.

Under the ‘Home’ tab, you’ll find options to change font styles, sizes, and colors. Remember to keep it professional – use consistent formatting and avoid overly stylized fonts or colors that could detract from the content.

Step 7: Save Your Resume

Save your document as a Word file and as a PDF.

Once you’re satisfied with your resume, save it by clicking ‘File,’ then ‘Save As.’ It’s a good idea to save it both as a Word document (.docx) and a PDF. The PDF version is best for submitting to employers, as it will maintain your formatting across different devices.

After you’ve completed these steps, you’ll have a polished resume ready to be sent to potential employers. Remember to proofread your resume carefully for any typos or errors before sending it out.

Tips for Making a Resume on Word

• Keep it simple. When it comes to resumes, less is more. Stick to a clean, professional design.
• Tailor your resume. Customize your resume for each job you apply for, highlighting the experience and skills that are most relevant.
• Use bullet points. They make it easier for employers to quickly scan through your experience and achievements.
• Be consistent. Ensure that your formatting is consistent throughout the document, including font sizes and styles, alignment, and spacing.
• Proofread. Always proofread your resume for spelling and grammatical errors before sending it to an employer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can i use a template in word to create my resume.

Yes, Word offers a variety of templates that you can use as a starting point for your resume.

What font should I use for my resume?

Stick to professional and easy-to-read fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman, and keep the font size between 10 and 12 points.

How long should my resume be?

Your resume should typically be one page long, especially if you have less than 10 years of experience. Aim for brevity while including all relevant information.

Should I include references on my resume?

Generally, it’s not necessary to include references on your resume. You can provide them later in the application process if requested.

How can I make sure my resume stands out?

Focus on achievements and quantifiable results in your work experience, use strong action verbs, and tailor your resume for each job application.

• Open Microsoft Word
• Set Up Page Layout
• Insert Header
• Add Sections
• Enter Your Information
• Customize Your Resume
• Save Your Resume

Crafting the perfect resume on Word might seem daunting at first, but it’s actually a piece of cake once you get the hang of it. By following the simple steps outlined above, you’ll be able to create a standout resume that showcases your skills and experiences in the best light. Remember, your resume is often the first impression you make on a potential employer, so make sure it’s a good one! Keep it clean, concise, and tailored to the job you’re applying for. Don’t forget to proofread – a resume riddled with typos is a surefire way to end up in the ‘no’ pile. And finally, always save your resume in both Word and PDF format, ensuring it can be opened and read on any device. Now go forth and conquer the job market with your newly minted resume!

Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com.

His work can be found on many websites and focuses on topics such as Microsoft Office, Apple devices, Android devices, Photoshop, and more.

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How to Make a Resume in Microsoft Word: A Step-by-Step Guide Finding Your Dream Job

Creating a resume can feel overwhelming, but with Microsoft Word, you have a powerful tool at your fingertips to craft a professional-looking document that highlights your skills and experiences. Whether you're just starting your career or updating an existing resume, Word provides various templates and formatting tools that make the process easier. In this guide, we'll walk you through the steps to create a standout resume using Microsoft Word.

Creating a Resume in MS Word

 step 1: open microsoft word.

If you haven't already, open Microsoft Word on your computer. This guide is based on Word 2016 and later, but the steps are generally similar across different versions.

Note: If you don't have Microsoft Word installed, you can access it through an Office 365 subscription or use the online version at [office.com](https://www.office.com).

Step 2: Choose a Resume Template

One of the easiest ways to get started is by using a resume template. Microsoft Word offers a variety of pre-designed templates that are both professional and visually appealing.

How to Find a Template

1. Open Word: Start Word and select "New" from the menu.

2. Search for Resume Templates: In the search bar at the top of the window, type "resume" and press Enter. Word will display a list of available resume templates.

3. Choose a Template: Browse through the templates and select one that best fits your style and the type of job you’re applying for. Double-click the template to open it.

 Tips for Choosing a Template

- Consider the Industry: For creative fields, a more modern or visually interesting template might be appropriate. For more traditional industries, stick with classic, clean designs.

- Keep it Simple: Ensure that your resume is easy to read. Avoid overly complex layouts and excessive colors.

Step 3: Customize Your Resume

Once you've selected a template, it's time to customize it with your personal information. This is where you add the details that make you stand out as a candidate.

 Editing the Text

1. Replace Placeholder Text: Click on the text fields and replace the placeholder content with your own information. This includes your name, contact information, education, work experience, and skills.

2. Format Your Text: Use Word's formatting tools to adjust fonts, sizes, and styles to ensure consistency and readability. Stick to standard fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, or Calibri.

3. Adjust Sections: Depending on your experience and the job you're applying for, you might want to add or remove sections. For example, if you have extensive experience, you might emphasize that section more than education.

 Organize Your Information

- Contact Information: Place this at the top of the resume, including your full name, phone number, email address, and LinkedIn profile or portfolio if applicable.

- Professional Summary or Objective: A brief statement at the beginning of your resume that outlines your career goals or summarizes your professional background.

- Work Experience: List your most recent job first, followed by previous positions. Include the job title, company name, location, and dates of employment. Use bullet points to describe your responsibilities and achievements.

- Education: List your highest degree first, including the institution name, degree type, and graduation date.

- Skills: Highlight skills relevant to the job. These can be hard skills like programming or soft skills like communication.

- Additional Sections: Consider adding sections for certifications, languages, volunteer work, or hobbies if they are relevant to the job.

Step 4: Fine-Tune the Design

With the content in place, you can now focus on making your resume visually appealing while maintaining a professional look.

 Formatting Tips

1. Margins and Spacing: Ensure that your margins are even and the spacing between sections is consistent. Use the “Layout” tab to adjust margins and spacing.

2. Use Bullet Points: Bullet points help break up text and make your resume easier to skim. Use them to list duties and accomplishments under each job entry.

3. Consistency: Keep font sizes and styles consistent throughout. Headings should be slightly larger than the body text to make sections easy to identify.

4. Color: Use color sparingly. Stick to neutral colors like black, gray, or navy for the text. If you use color, ensure it complements the overall design and does not distract from the content.

 Step 5: Save and Export Your Resume

Once you're satisfied with your resume, it's important to save it properly.

1. Save as a Word Document: Go to "File" > "Save As" and choose where you want to save the file on your computer. Name your file appropriately (e.g., “John_Doe_Resume”) and choose the ".docx" format.

2. Export as a PDF: It's often recommended to send resumes as PDFs to ensure that the formatting remains consistent across different devices. To do this, go to "File" > "Save As" and select "PDF" from the drop-down menu.

Step 6: Review and Edit

Before sending out your resume, review it carefully to catch any errors.

 Proofreading Tips:

1. Check for Spelling and Grammar Errors: Use Word's built-in spell check, but also manually review the text for any mistakes the software might miss.

2. Get a Second Opinion: Have a friend or family member review your resume to provide feedback and catch errors you might have overlooked.

3. Read Aloud: Sometimes reading your resume out loud can help you catch awkward phrasing or missing information.

Tips for Constructing a Winning Resume

Constructing a resume is a crucial step in landing a job, and employing effective strategies can make all the difference. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you create a compelling resume that showcases your skills and experience in the best possible light.

 1. Understand the Job Requirements

- Analyze the Job Description: Carefully read the job listing to identify the key skills and qualifications the employer is seeking. Highlight the keywords and requirements mentioned in the job description.

- Customize Your Resume: Adjust your resume to align with these requirements. Ensure that your most relevant experiences and skills are prominent.

 2. Choose the Right Resume Format

Popular formats.

- Chronological: Lists your work experience in reverse chronological order. Ideal for those with a strong work history in the field.

- Functional: Focuses on skills and experiences rather than job titles. Best for career changers or those with gaps in employment.

- Combination: Merges elements of both chronological and functional formats. Useful for those with relevant skills and a solid work history.

Select the Format That Best Suits Your Experience

- Chronological: Best if you have a steady career progression.

- Functional: Ideal if you want to emphasize specific skills or if you’re entering a new industry.

- Combination: Suitable if you have a strong skill set and relevant experience.

 3. Craft a Compelling Professional Summary

Create an attention-grabbing summary.

- Professional Summary: Start with a brief, compelling statement about your career goals and what you bring to the table. Focus on your achievements and skills.

- Objective Statement (Optional): An alternative to the summary, this can outline your career goals and what you hope to achieve in the role.

Tips for Writing a Summary

- Be Concise: Keep it to 2-4 sentences.

- Focus on Achievements: Highlight your most notable accomplishments and skills.

 4. Showcase Relevant Work Experience

Detail your work history.

- Job Entries: Include your job title, company name, location, and dates of employment.

- Responsibilities and Achievements: Use bullet points to describe your responsibilities and highlight achievements with quantifiable results (e.g., “Increased sales by 20%”).

Use Action Verbs

- Start Bullet Points with Action Verbs: Words like “managed,” “developed,” “led,” and “implemented” convey your role effectively.

Quantify Achievements

- Add Numbers: Whenever possible, use figures to illustrate your impact (e.g., “Reduced customer complaints by 30%”).

 5. Highlight Your Skills

Create a skills section.

- Relevant Skills: List skills that are directly related to the job you're applying for. This can include technical skills, software proficiency, and soft skills.

- Use Keywords: Incorporate keywords from the job description to pass through Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

Soft Skills vs. Hard Skills

- Hard Skills: Specific, teachable abilities (e.g., programming languages, certifications).

- Soft Skills: Personal attributes (e.g., communication, leadership) that are important for job performance.

 6. Include Education and Certifications

Detail your academic background.

- Education Section: List your degrees, including the institution name, degree type, and graduation date. Mention any relevant coursework if it pertains to the job.

Certifications and Training

- Relevant Certifications: Include certifications or training that are relevant to the position. List the certification name, issuing organization, and date received.

 7. Incorporate Additional Sections

- Volunteer Work: If relevant to the job or industry, include volunteer experiences.

- Awards and Honors: Mention any relevant awards or recognitions.

- Professional Affiliations: List memberships in professional organizations.

- Languages: Include languages spoken and proficiency levels.

 8. Use Effective Formatting

Maintain a professional appearance.

- Font Choice: Use a clean, professional font like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman.

- Font Size: Keep it readable, typically between 10-12 points for body text.

- Margins and Spacing: Use standard margins (1 inch) and ensure there is enough white space to make the resume easy to read.

Design Considerations

- Consistency: Ensure consistent formatting throughout (e.g., bullet points, headings).

- Avoid Overly Creative Designs: Keep the layout simple and professional, unless applying for a design-related position.

 9. Proofread and Edit

Ensure accuracy.

- Check for Errors: Proofread for spelling and grammatical errors. Mistakes can detract from your professionalism.

- Consistency: Ensure that dates, job titles, and formatting are consistent.

Get Feedback

- Ask for a Review: Have a friend, family member, or mentor review your resume for feedback and to catch errors you might have missed.

 10. Keep it Updated

- Review Periodically: Update your resume regularly to reflect new experiences, skills, and accomplishments.

- Tailor for Each Application: Customize your resume for each job application to align with specific job requirements and highlight relevant experiences.

By following these strategies, you can craft a resume that effectively showcases your skills and experiences while aligning with the job you're applying for. A well-constructed resume not only increases your chances of landing an interview but also sets a positive tone for your job application process. Good luck!

Conclusion: Final Thoughts

Creating a resume in Microsoft Word is a straightforward process when you know where to start. By using templates and customizing them with your unique information, you can create a professional resume that stands out to potential employers. Remember to tailor your resume to each job application, emphasizing the experiences and skills that are most relevant to the position. Good luck with your job search!

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Use a template to create a resume

If you need help creating a resume or cover letter, start with one of the dozens of professionally-designed resume and cover letter templates that are available in Word.

Go to File > New .

In the search box, type Resume or Cover Letter.

Double-click the template you want to use.

Replace the placeholder text with your own information.

On the File menu, select New from Template .

Create and use your own template in Office for Mac

Making a resume like this while you're online is quick and easy.

Note:  This template comes with a cover letter, so you'll have everything in one document.

Choose one of our resume templates , and open it in Word for the web to make it yours.

As you work on the resume, you'll probably want to rename it.

The template uses a table to line everything up. If you need to add more lines for job experience or education, add rows to the table by going up to Layout under Table Tools and clicking Insert Below (or Insert Above) .

For tips on writing your resume, check out Six steps to developing a great resume .

When you're finished, print it out or share it online. You can do this with the resume still open in Word for the web. No need to save it first (that's already done for you).

To print it, press Ctrl+P, and wait for the Print dialog box.

Note:  If you don't see a Print dialog box, click the link for opening a PDF version of your resume. From there, use the PDF program's Print command.

To share it online, send a link:

Near the top of the screen, click Share .

Under Share , click Get a Link .

Under Choose an option , click View only .

Click Create Link .

Click on the web address to select it, and then copy and paste it into an email, message, or post.

Tip:  If you have a blog or website, you can embed a view of your resume there.

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How to make a resume in Microsoft Word

Whether you’re just entering the workforce or need a resume refresh, you’re probably considering  using Microsoft Word for the task. We’ll walk you through options for making a resume in Word, from using helpful templates to creating a resume from scratch.

Use a built-in Word resume template

Use a word resume template on the web, use a third-party word resume template, create a word resume from scratch.

If you’ve just downloaded Microsoft Word and want the quickest and easiest way to make a resume, start with one of Microsoft’s templates . You can look for one directly in Word and choose from a large collection of options.

Open Word, select File > New , and pop “resume” into the Search box. You can then browse the templates with resumes for specific jobs and industries along with those for any type of position.

Choose a template to see a description and pick Create to use the resume.

The Microsoft resume templates come with placeholders that you can simply swap out for your own details. This is handy if you like the appearance of all elements in the template. Of course, if you’re not fond of the color scheme or font styles, you can change those types of items.

Remember to go to File > Save As to save a copy of your resume.

Maybe you don’t have Microsoft Word on your computer yet but need your resume in that format. You can use Word on the web for free with a Microsoft account and take advantage of resume templates.

Visit the Microsoft Create website and explore the resume templates . If you see one you like, select it to open it directly in Word for the web.

Alternatively, select Create from scratch and choose Resumes, flyers, brochures . When Word opens, use the Designer sidebar on the right to browse through and choose a resume template.

Then, swap out the placeholders for your own details and customize the resume as you like.

If you like the template idea but don’t care for any of the Microsoft options, you can check out third-party templates for your resume. Here are just a few of the top options and samples of resume templates they offer for free.

Resume Genius

With Resume Genius , you can pick from over a dozen custom Word templates to download. From simple to professional to aesthetically pleasing to visually appealing, you’re sure to find at least one resume template you like.

Hloom offers over 15 resume and CV templates for free and even more if you don’t mind paying. Be sure to select Free on the left below License if you want to narrow down the no-charge options. As a bonus, you’ll also see a tab for cover letters if you’re in the market for one of those too.

Template.net

One more place to check out for Word resume templates is Template.net . You’ll find a large variety of attractive options specific to position or resume style. Like with Hloom, select Free beneath License on the left, and be sure to take a look at the cover letter collection too.

After you download a resume template from one of the above sites, simply customize it with your own details.

Maybe you’d prefer to simply create your resume from scratch; this is always an option if you have the time. Consider reviewing the above templates and samples for the information you should include and ideas for formatting.

To get started, add the following details to your resume:

Full name and current position : Place your name and position at the top. If you don’t have a current position, you can certainly omit it.

Objective (optional) : Provide a brief description of your goal to potential employers beneath your name and position. This is an optional inclusion — if you add one, try to keep it short and sweet with one to two meaningful sentences.

Contact details : Include at least your email address and phone number. If you have an up-to-date website or LinkedIn profile, you can add these as well. Make sure these details are kept together in a specific location so they’re simple to find.

Work experience : List your work experience in chronological order with the most recent first. Start with your position, then move onto the employer, month, and year you worked there, and your duties. You should include your duties and responsibilities in a list format making them easy to review.

Education : List your educational history in chronological order with the most recent first. Start with the degree, then add the school with the month and year you attended.

Skills, awards, and more : Use a list format to add your skills, awards, certifications, volunteer work, and any other details you feel important to the position or company.

Here are several tips when formatting your resume in Word:

• Use a heading or larger font for your full name at the top.
• Add headings for the Experience, Educations, and Skills sections.
• If you decide to use color, keep it to just one or two complementary colors.
• Try to use the same font style throughout, taking advantage of font sizes, headings, or bold formatting for more prominent details.
• Use a font that’s easy to read like a 12-point Arial, Calibri, Georgia, or Times New Roman for the main body text. You might also consider which font style works better for reading on the web versus on a printed piece.
• If your resume spills over onto the first few lines of a new page, use Microsoft Word’s double spacing tool to adjust line and paragraph spacing.
• If you include a headshot, make sure it’s a professional one.
• Consider using a table to structure your resume, as shown above.

Finally, be sure to keep the appearance and content of your resume consistent.

Is it OK to make a resume in Word?

Absolutely! This is exactly the type of document you should create in a word processing application like Microsoft Word. If you prefer, you can also use a web application like Google Docs to make a resume or downloadable software like LibreOffice Writer.

Once your resume is complete, you can save it as a PDF or other requested format in most word processing applications for submission to the potential employer or hiring manager.

How far back should a resume go?

Most experts recommend 10 to 15 years is appropriate for a resume. Keep in mind that you should include relevant work experience for that time period . For example, if you’re a nurse who worked at a fast-food chain for two months 12 years ago, you can likely exclude that job.

How many pages should a resume be?

The standard for a resume is one to two pages. However, this can depend on the length of your experience and education in relation to the position for which you’re applying. For instance, someone who’s been in the workforce for 20 years might require two pages, but a recent college graduate would probably only need one page.

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However, using Google Docs proves it still has a long way to go before it can match all of Word's features -- Microsoft has been developing its word processor for over 30 years, after all, and millions still use Microsoft Word. Will Google Docs' low barrier to entry and cross-platform functionality win out? Let's break down each word processor in terms of features and capabilities to help you determine which is best for your needs. How does each word processing program compare? To put it lightly, Microsoft Word has an incredible advantage over Google Docs in terms of raw technical capability. From relatively humble beginnings in the 1980s, Microsoft has added new tools and options in each successive version. Most of the essential editing tools are available in Google Docs, but users who are used to Word will find it limited.

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If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably struggled with messy menus that complicate your website’s layout and confuse your visitors. A poorly designed navigation system can lead to a frustrating user experience. 

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So, let’s get started and take your WordPress site to the next level with a free vertical menu plugin!

Table of Contents

What Are Vertical Menus & Why Should You Use Them?

Let’s get clear on what vertical menus are and why they can be such a game-changer for your WordPress site.

What’s a Vertical Menu? A vertical menu is just a navigation menu that runs along the side of your website instead of across the top. It’s also known as a sidebar menu. 

You might have already seen them on mobile sites, e-commerce stores, or blogs. Vertical menus aren’t just for mobile, they work great on desktop too. 

Horizontal menus can get cluttered when you have too many items. But vertical menus are fantastic for stacking content without overwhelming the user.

Why Choose Vertical Menus? Now, you might be asking: why should I use a vertical menu on my WordPress site? There are a few reasons:

• Better Navigation: Vertical menus create an easy flow for users. This helps more if you have a lot of menu items. You can categorize them clearly without crowding your top bar.
• Responsive Design: Most of the best free vertical menu plugins are mobile-friendly. This is really important cause most of us are browsing websites on our phones these days.
• Minimalist Aesthetic: Vertical menus are the way to go if you’re into minimalist design. The best free WordPress vertical menu plugins keep your website looking modern and sleek without too much items.
• Use Case Flexibility: Vertical menus work perfectly for sidebars, sticky navigation, and even hidden or accordion-style menus that slide out. If you’re using your WordPress site for a blog, a portfolio, or an e-commerce store, these menus will help simplify the navigation process.

Alright, now that we’ve covered the basics, it’s time to dive into the list of best free WordPress vertical menu plugins!

9 Best Free WordPress Vertical Menu Plugins for Stunning WordPress Sites

There are tons of free plugins out there. But I’ve done the hard work of narrowing it down to the absolute best. These plugins are perfect for creating vertical menus, look stunning and perform incredibly well. 

Let’s jump into the 9 best free WordPress vertical menu plugins that will take your site’s navigation to the next level!

1. WPB Accordion Menu

WPB Accordion Menu is the best free WordPress vertical menu plugin out there. It is a lightweight and highly customizable plugin perfect for creating vertical accordion menus in minutes. It’s super easy to use. Great for all kinds of users even if you’re not a coding expert.

Features of WPB Accordion Menu :

• Drag-and-drop interface for easy menu creation
• Fully responsive design that works perfectly on mobile
• Customizable accordion styles to match your website’s theme
• Multi-level menu support for organized navigation
• Integration with major page builders like Elementor and WPBakery
• Lightweight for fast performance and smooth transitions

Pros of WPB Accordion Menu :

• Excellent for mobile users due to its responsive design
• Works seamlessly with popular page builders
• Easy setup and customization options

Cons of WPB Accordion Menu :

• Limited advanced features in the free version
• Some users may want more design options
• Free version lacks certain premium features

Price Range : Free ( Premium version available )

• Users looking for an intuitive, responsive vertical menu
• Bloggers or small business websites
• Mobile-first designs

2. Max Mega Menu

Max Mega Menu is a feature-rich free WordPress vertical menu plugin. It supports both mega menus and vertical layouts. Max Mega Menu offers a powerful drag-and-drop builder and tons of customization options.

Features of Max Mega Menu :

• Drag-and-drop menu builder for easy customization
• Supports custom icons and styling options
• Fully responsive with mobile-friendly design
• Built-in support for mega menus with vertical navigation
• Integration with popular WordPress themes and page builders
• Multi-level menu support for better organization

Pros of Max Mega Menu :

• Highly customizable, giving you full control
• Responsive and works smoothly on mobile devices
• Great for users who want detailed design options

Cons of Max Mega Menu :

• Can be overwhelming for beginners due to advanced features
• Some features are locked behind the premium version
• Learning curve for customization

Price Range : Free (Premium version available)

• Users looking for advanced customization options
• Websites with complex menus or multiple categories
• E-commerce stores with detailed product listings

3. SlickNav

SlickNav is a lightweight free WordPress vertical menu plugin. This simple plugin is designed to create fast-loading vertical menus. It’s perfect for anyone looking to build a mobile-friendly site without sacrificing speed or usability.

Features of SlickNav :

• Fully responsive design for seamless performance on any device
• Custom animations for smooth transitions between menu items
• Lightweight code for fast load times
• Easy-to-use setup with no coding required
• Integrates smoothly with existing WordPress menus
• Minimalistic design that works with most themes

Pros of SlickNav :

• Very easy to set up and configure
• Optimized for mobile devices, perfect for mobile-first websites
• Fast loading, keeping your site performance top-notch

Cons of SlickNav :

• Limited customization options compared to other plugins
• Not ideal for users wanting a highly complex menu
• Basic design might not suit all users

Price Range : Free

• Users who prioritize speed and simplicity
• Mobile-first websites or blogs
• Minimalist website designs

4. Responsive Menu

Responsive Menu is one of the most customizable vertical menu plugins. This WordPress vertical menu plugin offers over 150 settings to tweak your design. It’s highly flexible and integrates smoothly with any WordPress theme. This makes it a go-to choice for mobile-friendly sites.

Features of Responsive Menu :

• Over 150 customization options for ultimate design flexibility
• Touch-friendly navigation, great for mobile users
• Fully responsive, adapting to different screen sizes
• Supports multi-level menus with sliding animations
• Works with any WordPress theme seamlessly
• Custom branding and style options for personalization

Pros of Responsive Menu :

• Tons of customization features to fit any design
• Quick and easy setup with minimal effort
• Perfect for mobile compatibility and responsiveness

Cons of Responsive Menu :

• Some features are locked behind a premium version
• Can be overwhelming for users who don’t need so many options
• Free version lacks some advanced styling tools
• Users looking for a highly customizable vertical menu
• Mobile-friendly designs and websites
• Advanced users who want more control over the design

5. UberMenu

UberMenu is another best free WordPress vertical menu plugin. This plugin also supports mega men and vertical menus like Max Mega Menu. It’s ideal for users who need advanced features like widget support and shortcode integration.

Features of UberMenu :

• Drag-and-drop builder for easy menu creation
• Fully responsive design with customizable layouts
• Supports widgets, shortcodes, and icons for advanced design
• Flexible mega menu support with vertical layout options
• Custom styling options for complete personalization
• Multi-level menu support for complex sites

Pros of UberMenu :

• Versatile and powerful, offering advanced features
• Customizable menu layout for complete control
• Works with shortcodes and widgets, increasing flexibility

Cons of UberMenu :

• Steep learning curve for beginners
• Advanced features may not be necessary for smaller sites
• Limited features in the free version
• Users needing advanced vertical menus with many features
• E-commerce websites with complex product categories
• Users looking for high customization in their menu layout

6. WordPress Vertical Menu Plugin by WPDevArt

The WPDevArt Vertical Menu is a stylish free WordPress vertical menu plugin. It offers a modern and vertical slide-out navigation layout. It’s mobile-optimized and works perfectly for websites looking for a trendy design.

Features of WPDevArt Vertical Menu:

• Fully responsive design for mobile and desktop.
• Customizable menu icon options.
• Ability to adjust submenu animations and durations.
• Free and premium versions available for extended features.
• Seamless integration with most WordPress themes.
• Lightweight, ensuring minimal impact on site speed.

Pros of WPDevArt Vertical Menu:

• Easy to set up and configure.
• Works well with responsive themes.
• Free version offers good basic features.

Cons of WPDevArt Vertical Menu:

• Limited customization options in the free version.
• Lack of advanced design options.
• Some features only available in the premium version.

Price Range: Free (Premium version starts at $9.99).

• Users looking for a basic, easy-to-use vertical menu.
• Websites that need responsive vertical navigation.
• Users who want simple menu icon integration.

7. QuadMenu

QuadMenu is a highly flexible plugin that supports both horizontal and vertical menus, making it a versatile choice. It’s perfect for users who need a drag-and-drop builder to create responsive menus for various layouts.

Features of QuadMenu :

• Drag-and-drop builder for effortless customization
• Fully responsive and mobile-friendly design
• Supports both horizontal and vertical menus
• Multi-level menu system for better organization
• Custom styling options to match your website’s theme
• Integration with popular themes and page builders

Pros of QuadMenu :

• Highly flexible and supports multiple menu layouts
• Responsive design that looks great on any device
• Easy to use with a drag-and-drop interface

Cons of QuadMenu :

• Advanced features require a premium version
• May not be necessary for simple menus
• Some learning curve for beginners
• Users needing flexibility in both horizontal and vertical menus
• E-commerce stores or large websites with complex navigation
• Websites that prioritize responsiveness and design

8. Advanced Sidebar Menu

The Advanced Sidebar Menu plugin automatically generates vertical menus from your WordPress site’s pages or categories. It offers an easy way to create side navigation menus that stay updated as you add content.

Features of Advanced Sidebar Menu :

• Automatically generates menus based on pages or categories.
• Ability to enable or disable hierarchy settings.
• Customizable widget areas for adding the vertical menu.
• Supports widgets to easily place the menu in sidebars.
• Options to display menu titles for better navigation.
• Dynamic updating as new pages or categories are added.

Pros of Advanced Sidebar Menu :

• Automatically updates as new content is added.
• Simple and quick to set up.
• Works well for dynamic websites with frequently updated content.

Cons of Advanced Sidebar Menu :

• Limited customization in the free version.
• Only works in sidebars; no full-page menus.
• Some styling features require custom CSS or premium upgrade.
• Websites with frequent content updates (e.g., blogs, portfolios).
• Users looking for a dynamic vertical menu that adapts automatically.
• Sites that prioritize simplicity in menu design.

9. SideMenu

SideMenu injects a sleek sliding side menu into your WordPress site, providing a modern, mobile-friendly navigation experience. It’s perfect for users who want a vertical menu that slides out from the side and doesn’t overwhelm the content layout.

Features of SideMenu :

• Responsive sliding side menu for a mobile-optimized experience.
• Customize menu trigger buttons for better design integration.
• Option to add icons and labels to each menu item.
• Custom styling for the sidebar menu to match your theme.
• Simple drag-and-drop builder for easy configuration.
• Fully responsive across all devices and screen sizes.

Pros of SideMenu :

• Modern slide-out design perfect for mobile.
• Easy to set up with minimal configuration.
• Supports adding icons and labels for visual clarity.

Cons of SideMenu :

• May not suit users looking for more complex menu layouts.
• Advanced features require a premium upgrade.
• Users looking for a modern, slide-out vertical menu.
• Websites with a focus on mobile-first design.
• Minimalist sites wanting a simple yet stylish menu.

These are the best free WordPress vertical menu plugins that will help you create stunning, responsive, and flexible menus for your site.

How to Choose the Right Vertical Menu Plugin for Your Site

Want to know how to pick the perfect vertical menu plugin for your WordPress site? I totally get it—it can be tricky with so many options out there. 

In this section, I’ll walk you through how to choose the best free WordPress vertical menu plugin based on your site’s design and ease of use. Let’s make sure you get the perfect fit!

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Vertical Menu Plugin

Keep these important factors in mind when deciding on a free WordPress vertical menu plugin. Your choice should align with your goals..

1. Ease of Use

If you’re not a pro at coding or just want a simple interface, look for a plugin with a user-friendly dashboard. Some plugins are highly customizable but may require a steep learning curve.

For beginners or those who want quick results, I recommend plugins like WPB Accordion Menu or Advanced Sidebar Menu for all types of users. They are super easy to navigate. Plugins like Max Mega Menu may be better suited for advanced users.

2. Customization Options

Some websites thrive on minimal design. Others need more advanced features like multi-level navigation and custom branding. WPB Accordion Menu, SideMenu, and UberMenu offer extensive customization for this. These best free WordPress vertical menu plugins lets you match your vertical menus to the overall style.

Plugins like QuadMenu might be ideal if you’re looking for flexibility. This vertical menu plugin lets you create both horizontal and vertical menus with plenty of skins.

3. Site Performance

Some plugins are heavier on your site’s resources, which can slow down load times. Always check if the plugin is lightweight and optimized for performance. Plugins like SlickNav and Responsive Menu are known for being lightweight and won’t bog down your site, especially if mobile-friendliness is a priority.

Performance is key for user experience—so, no matter how many cool features a plugin has, it needs to load quickly and smoothly.

4. Mobile Responsiveness

Since many users visit websites from their phones, make sure the plugin you choose is mobile-friendly. This is where plugins like Superfly Menu shine with their sleek, slide-out design for mobile users.

Always test how the menu looks on various devices—most plugins offer demos, so you can see if the vertical menu fits well into your overall design.

5. Design Flexibility

If you’re aiming for a unique, eye-catching design, consider whether the plugin allows custom icons, fonts, and branding options. Plugins like UberMenu and SideMenu are ideal for those who want detailed control over the visual elements.

On the other hand, if you want something clean and simple, SlickNav or Advanced Sidebar Menu will be great choices, offering basic customization with minimal effort.

Hope you liked the 9 best free WordPress vertical menu plugins I covered. Also, these details will make you feel more confident in picking the right one for your site. 

There’s a plugin here for everyone in the list I created. The key is finding the perfect balance between design, functionality, and performance.

Feel free to test out a few free WordPress vertical menu plugins from this list. You can always upgrade to a premium version if you need advanced features. The right vertical menu can transform your website’s navigation and make your content more accessible.

So, what are you waiting for? Try out these best free WordPress vertical menu plugins and see how they can elevate your WordPress site to new heights!

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• Open access
• Published: 13 September 2024

A qualitative study on reasons for women’s loss and resumption of Option B plus care in Ethiopia

• Wolde Facha   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7463-524X 1 ,
• Takele Tadesse 1 ,
• Eskinder Wolka 1 &
• Ayalew Astatkie 2  

Scientific Reports volume  14 , Article number:  21440 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

Metrics details

• Health care
• Medical research

Loss to follow-up (LTFU) from Option B plus, a lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) for pregnant women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), irrespective of their clinical stage and CD4 count, threatens the elimination of vertical transmission of the virus from mothers to their infants. However, evidence on reasons for LTFU and resumption after LTFU to Option B plus care among women has been limited in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study explored why women were LTFU from the service and what made them resume or refuse resumption after LTFU in Ethiopia. An exploratory, descriptive qualitative study using 46 in-depth interviews was employed among purposely selected women who were lost from Option B plus care or resumed care after LTFU, health care providers, and mother support group (MSG) members working in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission unit. A thematic analysis using an inductive approach was used to analyze the data and build subthemes and themes. Open Code Version 4.03 software assists in data management, from open coding to developing themes and sub-themes. We found that low socioeconomic status, poor relationship with husband and/or family, lack of support from partners, family members, or government, HIV-related stigma, and discrimination, lack of awareness on HIV treatment and perceived drug side effects, religious belief, shortage of drug supply, inadequate service access, and fear of confidentiality breach by healthcare workers were major reasons for LTFU. Healthcare workers' dedication to tracing lost women, partner encouragement, and feeling sick prompted women to resume care after LTFU. This study highlighted financial burdens, partner violence, and societal and health service-related factors discouraged compliance to retention among women in Option B plus care in Ethiopia. Women's empowerment and partner engagement were of vital importance to retain them in care and eliminate vertical transmission of the virus among infants born to HIV-positive women.

Introduction

Lost to follow-up is a major challenge in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV among HIV-exposed infants (HEI). Globally, about 1.5 million children under 15 years old were living with HIV, and 130,000 acquired the virus in 2022 1 . In the African region, an estimated 1.3 million children aged 0–14 were living with HIV at the end of 2022, and 109,000 children were newly infected 2 . Five out of six paediatric HIV infections occurred in sub-Saharan Africa in 2022 3 . Most of these infections are due to mother-to-child transmission (MTCT), accounting for around 90% of all new infections 4 , 5 . Without any intervention, between 15 and 45 percent of infants born to HIV-positive mothers are likely to acquire the virus from their mothers, with half dying before their second birthday without treatment 3 . Almost 70% of new HIV infections were due to mothers not receiving ART or dropping off during pregnancy or breastfeeding 3 .

In Ethiopia, the burden of MTCT of HIV is high, with a pooled prevalence ranging from 5.6% to 11.4% 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 . Ethiopia adopted the 2013 World Health Organization’s Option B plus recommendations as the preferred strategy for the PMTCT of HIV in 2013 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 . Accordingly, a combination of triple antiretroviral (ARV) drugs was provided for all HIV-infected pregnant and/or breastfeeding women, irrespective of their CD4 count and World Health Organization (WHO) clinical staging 11 , 13 . Besides, the drug type was switched from an EFV-based to a DTG-based regimen to enhance maternal life quality and decrease LTFU from Option B plus care 11 , 15 . The Efavirenz-based regimen consists of Tenofovir (TDF), Lamivudine (3TC), and Efavirenz (EFV), while the DTG-based regimen consists of TDF, 3TC, and DTG 13 , 15 , 16 . The change in regimen was due to better tolerability and rapid viral suppression, thereby retaining women in care and achieving MTCT of HIV targets 17 , 18 .

The trend of women accessing ART for PMTCT services increases, and new HIV infections decrease over time 3 , 19 , 20 . However, the effectiveness of Option B plus depends not only on service coverage but also on drug adherence and retention in care 4 , 15 , 21 . In this regard, quantitative studies conducted in Ethiopia showed that the prevalence of LTFU from Option B plus ranged from 4.2% to 18.2% 22 , 23 , 24 . Besides, the overall incidence of LTFU ranged from 9 to 9.4 per 1000 person-months of observation 25 , 26 , which is a challenge for the success of the program.

Qualitative studies also revealed that the main reasons for LTFU among women were maternal educational status, drug side effects, lack of partner and family support, lack of HIV status disclosure, poverty, discordant HIV test results, religious belief, stigma, and discrimination, long distance to the health facility, and history of poor adherence to ART 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 . Reasons for resumption to care were a decline in health status, a desire to have an uninfected child, and support from others 30 , 33 . Unless the above risk factors for LTFU are managed, the national plan to eliminate the MTCT of HIV by 2025 will not be achieved 34 .

Currently, because of its fewer side effects and better tolerability, a Dolutegravir (DTG)-based regimen is given as a preferred first-line regimen to pregnant and/or breastfeeding women to reduce the risk of LTFU 13 , 16 . The goal is to reduce new HIV transmissions and achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.3 of ending Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) as a public health threat by 2030 35 , 36 , 37 . As mentioned above, there is rich information on the prevalence and risk factors of LTFU among women on Option B plus care before the DTG-based regimen was implemented. Besides, the previous qualitative studies addressed the reasons for LTFU from providers’ and/or women’s perspectives rather than including mother support group (MSG) members. However, there was a lack of evidence that explored the reasons for LTFU and resumption of care after LTFU from the perspectives of MSG members, lost women, and healthcare workers (HCWs) providing care to women. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the reasons why women LTFU and resumed Option B plus care after the implementation of a DTG-based regimen in Ethiopia.

Materials and methods

Study design and setting.

An exploratory, descriptive qualitative study 38 was conducted between June and October 2023. This study was conducted in two regions of Ethiopia: Central Ethiopia and South Ethiopia. These neighbouring regions were formed on August 19, 2023, after the disintegration of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region after a successful referendum 39 . The authors included these nearby regions to get an adequate sample size and cover a wider geographic area. In these regions, 140 health facilities (49 hospitals and 91 health centers) provided PMTCT and ART services to 28,885 patients at the time of the study, of whom 1,236 were pregnant or breastfeeding women (675 in South Ethiopia and 561 in Central Ethiopia).

Participants and data collection

Study participants were women who were lost from PMTCT care or resumed PMTCT care after LTFU, MSG members, and HCWs provided PMTCT care. Mother support group members were HIV-positive women working in the PMTCT unit to share experiences and provide counselling services on breastfeeding, retention, and adherence, and to trace women when they lost Option B plus care 11 , 40 . Healthcare workers were nurses or midwives working in the PMTCT unit to deliver services to women enrolled in Option B plus care.

Purposive criterion sampling was employed to select study participants from twenty-one facilities (nine health centers and twelve hospitals) providing PMTCT service. A total of 46 participants were included in the study. The interview included 15 women (eleven lost and four resumed care after LTFU), 14 providers, and 17 MSG members. Healthcare workers and MSG members were chosen based on the length of time they spent engaging with women on Option B plus care; the higher the work experience, the more they were selected to get adequate information about the study participants. Including the study participants in each group continued until data saturation.

The principal investigator, with the help of HCWs and MSG members, identified lost women from the PMTCT registration books and appointment cards. A woman's status was recorded as LTFU if she missed the last clinic appointment for at least 28 days without documented death or transfer out to another facility 15 . Providers contacted women based on their addresses recorded during enrolment in Option B plus care, either via phone (if functional) or by conducting home visits for those unable to be reached. Informed written consent was obtained, and the research assistants conducted in-depth interviews at women’s homes or health facilities based on their preferences. After an interview, eleven women who lost care were counselled to resume PMTCT care, but nine returned to care and two refused to resume care. Besides, the principal investigator, HCWs, and MSG members identified women who resumed care after LTFU, called them via phone to visit the health facility at their convenience, and conducted the interview after obtaining consent. The research team covered transportation costs and provided adherence counselling to women post-interview. A woman resumed care if she came back to PMTCT care on her own or healthcare workers’ efforts after LTFU.

One-on-one, in-depth interviews were conducted with eligible MSG members and HCWs at respective health facilities. A semi-structured interview guide translated into the local language (Amharic) was used to collect data. The guide comprises the following constructs: why women are lost to follow-up from PMTCT care, what made them resume caring after LTFU, and why they did not resume Option B plus care after LTFU with probing questions (Supplementary File 1 ). The interview was conducted for 18 to 37 min with each participant, and the duration was communicated to study participants before the interview. The interview was audio-taped, and field notes were taken during the interviews.

Data management and analysis

Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The research assistants transcribed the interviews verbatim within 48 h of data collection and translated them from the local language (Amharic) to English for analysis. The principal investigator read the translated document several times to get a general sense of the content. An inductive approach was applied to allow the conceptual clustering of ideas and patterns to emerge. The authors preferred an inductive approach to analyze data since there were no pre-determined categories. The core meaning of the phrases and sentences relevant to the research aim was searched. Codes were assigned to the phrases and sentences in the transcript, which were later used to develop themes and subthemes. The subthemes were substantiated by quotes from the interviews. The interviews developed two themes: reasons for LTFU and the reasons for resumption after LTFU. The findings were triangulated from healthcare workers, MSG members, and client responses. Open code software version 4.03 was used to assist in data management, from open coding to the development themes and sub-themes.

Background characteristics of the study participants

We successfully interviewed 46 participants (14 providers, 15 women, and 17 MSG members) until data saturation. The mean (± standard deviation [SD]) of age was 25.53 (± 0.99) years for women, 32.5 (± 1.05) years for MSG members, and 32.2 (± 1.05) years for care providers. Three out of fifteen women did not disclose their HIV status to their partner, and 5/15 women’s partners were discordant. The mean (± SD) service years in the PMTCT unit were 10.3 (± 1.3) for MSG members and 3.29 (± 0.42) for care providers (Supplementary File 2 ).

Reasons for LTFU

Women who started ART to prevent MTCT of HIV were lost from care due to different reasons. Societal and individual-related factors and health facility-related factors were the two main dimensions that made women LTFU. The societal and individual-related factors were socioeconomic status, relations with husbands or families, lack of support, HIV-related stigma and discrimination, lack of awareness and perceived antiretroviral (ARV) side effects, and religious belief. Health facility-related factors such as lack of confidentiality, drug supply shortages, and inadequate service access led to women's loss from Option B plus care (Supplementary File 3 ).

Societal and individual-related factors

Socioeconomic status.

Lack of money to buy food was a major identified problem for women’s LTFU. Women who did not have adequate food to eat became undernourished, which significantly increased the risk of LTFU. Besides, they did not want to swallow ARV drugs with an empty stomach and thus did not visit health facilities to collect their drugs.

“My life is miserable. I have nothing to eat at my home. How would I take the drug on an empty stomach? Let the disease kill me rather than die due to hunger. This is why I stopped to take the medicine and LTFU.” (W-02, 30-year-old woman, divorced, daily labourer)

Women also disappeared from PMTCT care due to a lack of money to cover transportation costs to reach health facilities.

I need a lot of money to pay for transportation that I can’t afford. Sometimes I came to the hospital borrowing money for transportation. It is challenging to attend a follow-up schedule regularly to collect ART medications.” (W-11, 26-year-old woman, married, housewife)

Relationships with husbands and/or families

Fear of violence and divorce by sexual partners were identified as major reasons for the LTFU of women from PMTCT care. Due to fear of partner violence and divorce, women did not want to be seen by their partners while visiting health facilities for Option B plus care and swallowing ARV drugs. As a result, they missed clinic appointments, did not swallow the drugs, and consequently lost care.

“Due to discordant test results, my husband divorced me. Then I went to my mother's home with my child. I haven’t returned to take the drug since then and have lost PMTCT care.” (W-03, 25-year-old woman, divorced, commercial sex worker)

Women did not disclose their HIV status to their discordant sexual partners and family members due to fear of stigma and discrimination. As a result, they did not swallow drugs in front of others and were unable to collect the drugs from health facilities.

“I know a mother who picked up her drugs on market day as if she came to the market to buy goods. No one knows her status. She hides the drug and swallows it when her husband sleeps.” (P-05, 29-year-old provider, female, 3 years of experience in the PMTCT unit) “I don't want to be seen at the ART unit. I have no reason to convince the discordant husband to visit a health facility after delivery. My husband kills me if he knows that I am living with HIV. This is why I discontinued the care.” (W-12, 18-year-old woman, married, housewife)

Women who lack partner support in caring for children at home during visits to health facilities find it difficult to adhere to clinic visits. Besides, women who did not get financial and psychological support from their partners faced difficulties in retaining care.

“Taking care of children is not business for my husband. How could I leave my two children alone at home? Or can I bring them biting with my teeth?” (W-05, 24-year-old woman, divorced, daily labourer) “ I didn't get any financial or psychological support from my husband. This made me drop PMTCT care.” (W-15, 34-year-old woman, married, daily labourer) Lack of support

Women living with HIV also had complaints of lack of support from the government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and HIV-related associations in cash and in kind. As a result, they were disappointed to remain in care.

"Previously, we got financial and material support from NGOs. Besides, the government arranged places for material production and goods sale to improve our economic status. However, now we didn't get any support from anywhere. This made our lives hectic to retain PMTCT care.” (W-06, 29-year-old woman, married, daily labourer)

HIV-related stigma and discrimination

Fear of stigma and discrimination by sexual partners, family members, and the community were mentioned as reasons for LTFU. Gossip, isolation, and rejection from societal activities were the dominant stigma experiences the women encountered. As a result, they did not want to be seen by others who knew them while collecting ARV drugs from health facilities, and consequently, they were lost from care and treatment.

“Despite getting PMTCT service at the nearby facility, some women come to our hospital traveling long distances. They don't want to be seen by others while taking ARV drugs there due to fear of stigma and discrimination by the community.” (P-10, 34-year-old provider, female, 2 years of experience in the PMTCT unit) “I am a daily labourer and bake ‘injera’ (a favourite food in Ethiopia) at someone's house to run my life. If the owner knew my status, I am sure she would not allow me to continue the job. In that case, what would I give my child to eat?” (W-12, 18-year-old woman, married, housewife) “My family did not know that I was living with the virus. If they knew it, I am sure they would not allow me to contact them during any events. Thus, I am afraid of telling them that I had the virus in my blood.” (W-05, 24-year-old woman, divorced, daily labourer)

Lack of awareness and perceived ARV side effects

Sometimes women went to another area for different reasons without taking ARV drugs with them. As per the Ethiopian national treatment guidelines 13 , they could get the drugs temporarily from any nearby facility that delivers PMTCT service. However, those who did not know that they could get the drugs from other nearby PMTCT facilities lost their care until their return. Others were lost, considering that ARV drugs harm the health status of their babies.

“One mother refused to retain in care after the delivery of a congenitally malformed baby (no hands at birth). She said, 'This abnormal child was born due to the drug I was taking for HIV. I delivered two healthy children before taking this medication. I don't want to re-use the drug that made me give birth to a malformed baby." (P-14, 32-year-old provider, female, 4 years of experience in the PMTCT unit)

When they did not encounter any health problems, women were lost from care, considering that they had become healthy and not in need of ART. Some of them also believe that having HIV is a result of sin, not a disease. Besides, some women believed that it was not possible to have a discordant test result with their partner.

“I didn't commit any sexual practice other than with my husband. His test result is negative. So, from where did I get the virus? I don't want to take the drug again.” (W-02, 30-year-old woman, divorced, daily labourer)

Religious belief

Some study participants mentioned religious belief as a reason for LTFU and a barrier to resumption after LTFU. Women discontinued Option B plus care due to their religious faith and refused to resume care as they were cured by the Holy Water and prayer by religious leaders.

“I went to Holy Water and was there for two months. My health status resumed due to prayer by monks and priests there. Despite not taking the drugs during my stay, God cured me of this evil disease with Holy Water. Now I am healthy, and there is no need to take the medicine again.” (W-09, 25-year-old woman, married, daily labourer)

Some women believed that God cured them and made their children free of the virus despite not taking ART for themselves and not giving ARV prophylaxis for their infants.

“Don't raise this issue again (when MSG asked to resume PMTCT care). I don't want to use the medicine. I am cured of the disease by the word of God, and my child is too. My God did not lie in His word.” (MSG-16, 32-year-old MSG, married, 16 years of service experience “Don't come to my home again. I don't have the virus now. I have been praying for it, and God cured me.” (W-03, 25-year-old woman, divorced, commercial sex worker)

Health facility-related factors

Shortage of drug supply.

Women were not provided with all HIV-related services free of charge and were required to pay for therapeutic and prophylactic drugs for themselves and their infants. Most facilities face a shortage of prophylactic drugs, primarily cotrimoxazole and nevirapine syrups, for infants and women, and other drugs used to treat opportunistic infections. As a result, women lost their PMTCT care when told to buy prophylactic syrups for infants and therapeutic drugs to treat opportunistic infections for themselves.

“Lack of cotrimoxazole syrup is one of the major reasons for women to miss PMTCT clinic visits. In our facility, it was out of stock for the last three months. Women can't afford its cost due to their economic problems.” (MSG-03, 34-year-old provider, married, 12 years of service experience)

Inadequate service access

Most women travelled long distances to reach health facilities to get PMTCT service due to the absence of a PMTCT site in their area. Due to a lack of transportation access and/or cost, they were forced to miss clinic visits for PMTCT care.

“In this district, there were only two PMTCT sites. Women travelled long distances to get the service. To reach our facility, they must travel half a day or pay more than three hundred Ethiopian birr for a motorbike that some cannot afford. Thus, women lost the service due to inadequate service access.” (P-06, 30-year-old provider, male, 2 years of experience in the PMTCT unit)

In almost all facilities, PMTCT service was not given on weekends and holidays, despite women's interest in being served at these times. When ARV drugs were stocked out at their homes, they did not get the drugs if facilities were not providing services on weekends and holidays. When appointment date was passed, they lost care due to fear of health workers’ reactions.

Lack of confidentiality

Despite maintaining ethical principles to retain women in care, breaches of confidentiality by HCWs were one of the reasons for LTFU by women. Women were afraid of meeting someone they knew or that their privacy would not be respected. As a result, they lost from PMTCT care.

“I don’t want to visit the facility. All my information was distributed to the community by a HCW who counselled me at the antenatal clinic.” (W-09, 25-year-old woman, married, daily labourer)

Reasons for resumption after LTFU

Healthcare workers' commitment to searching for lost women, partners’ encouragement, and women’s health status were key reasons for resuming women's Option B plus services after LTFU.

Healthcare workers’ commitment

The majority of lost women resumed Option B plus care after LTFU when healthcare workers called them via phone or conducted home visits for those who could not be reached by phone call.

“We went to a woman’s home, who started ART during delivery and lost for four months, travelling about 90 kilometers. She just cried when she saw us. She said, 'As long as you sacrificed your time traveling such a long distance to return me and save my life, I will never disappear from care today onward.' Then, she returned immediately and was linked to the ART unit after completing her PMTCT program.” (P-13, 32-year-old provider, male, 5 years of experience in the PMTCT unit) “We have an appointment date registry for every woman. We waited for them for seven days after they failed to arrive on the scheduled appointment date. From the 8th day onward, we called them via phone if it was available and functional. If we didn't find them via phone, we conducted home visits and returned them to care.” (P-02, 24-year-old provider, female, 3 years of experience in the PMTCT unit)

Partner encouragement

Women who got their partners' encouragement did not drop out of PMTCT care. Besides, most women returned to care and restarted their ARV drugs due to partner encouragement.

“I did not disclose my HIV status to my husband, which was diagnosed during the antenatal period. I lost my care after the delivery of a male baby. When my husband knew my status, rather than disagreeing, he encouraged me to resume the care to live healthily and to prevent the transmission of HIV to our baby. This was why I resumed care after LTFU.” (W-14, 28-year-old woman, divorced, daily labourer)

Women’s health status

Some women returned to Option B plus care on their own when they felt sick and wanted to stay healthy.

“When I felt healthy, I was away from care for about eight months. Later on, when I sought medical care for the illness, doctors gave me medicine and linked me to this unit (the PMTCT unit). I returned because of sickness.” (W-06, 29-year-old woman, married, daily labourer)

This qualitative study assessed the reasons why women left the service and why they resumed care after LTFU. The study aimed to enhance program implementation by providing insights into reasons for LTFU and facilitators for resumption from women's, health professionals', and MSG members' perspectives. We found that financial problems, partner violence, lack of support, HIV-related stigma and discrimination, lack of awareness, religious belief, shortage of drug supply, poor access to health services, and fear of confidentiality breaches by healthcare providers were major reasons for LTFU from PMTCT care. Healthcare workers’ commitment, partner encouragement, and feeling sick made women resume PMTCT care after LTFU.

In this study, fear of partner violence and divorce were identified as major reasons that made women discontinue the PMTCT service. Men are the primary decision-makers regarding healthcare service utilization, and the lack of male involvement in the continuity of PMTCT care decreases maternal health service utilization, including PMTCT services 41 , 42 . In addition, economic dependence on men threatened women not to adhere to clinic appointments without their partner’s willingness due to fear of violence and divorce 28 . Thus, strengthening couple counselling and testing 13 , male involvement in maternal health services, and women empowerment strategies like promoting education, property ownership, and authority sharing to reach decisions on health service utilization were crucial to retaining women in PMTCT care. Besides, legal authorities and community and religious leaders should be involved in preventing domestic violence and raising awareness about the negative effects of divorce on child health.

Financial constraints to cover daily expenses were major reasons expressed by women for LTFU from PMTCT care. Consistent with other studies, this study revealed that a lack of money to cover transportation costs resulted in poor adherence to ART and subsequent loss of PMTCT care 27 , 29 , 43 . As evidenced by other studies, lack of food resulting from financial problems was a major reason for LTFU in the study area 30 . As a result, women prefer death to living with hunger due to food scarcity, which led them to LTFU. Besides, women of poor economic status spent more time on jobs to get money to cover day-to-day expenses than thinking of appointment dates. Thus, governments and organizations working on HIV prevention programs should strengthen economic empowerment programs like arranging loans to start businesses and creating job opportunities for women living with HIV.

Despite continuous information dissemination via different media, fear of stigma and discrimination was a frequently reported reason for LTFU among women in PMTCT care. Consistent with other studies conducted in Ethiopia and other African countries, our study identified that fear of stigma and discrimination by partners, family, and community members are significant risk factors for LTFU 27 , 28 , 29 , 31 . As a result, women did not usually disclose their HIV status to their partners 28 , 32 so that they could not get financial and psychological support. This highlights the need to intensify interventions by different stakeholders to reduce HIV-related stigma and discrimination in the study area. Women's associations, community-based organizations, and religious, community, and political leaders should continuously work on advocacy and awareness creation to combat HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

Our study revealed that a lack of support for women made them discontinue life-saving ARV drugs. In developing countries like Ethiopia, most women living with HIV have low socio-economic status to run their lives, and thus they need support. However, as claimed by the majority of study participants, the government and organizations working on HIV programs were decreasing support from time to time. This was in line with qualitative studies such that lack of support by family members or partners 27 was identified as a barrier to adherence to and retention in PMTCT care 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 32 . Organizations working on HIV programs need to design strategies so that poor women get support from partners, family members, the community, religious leaders, and the government to stay in PMTCT care. Moreover, some women thought incentives and support must be given to retain them in Option B plus care. Thus, HCWs should inform women during counselling sessions that they should not link getting PMTCT care to incentives or support.

Women infected with HIV want to be healthy and have HIV-free infants, which could be achieved by proper utilization of recommended therapy as per the protocol 27 , 43 . However, women’s religious beliefs were found to interfere with adherence to the recommended treatment protocol, made them LTFU, and refused resumption after LTFU. Although religious belief did not oppose the use of ARV drugs at any time, women did not take the medicine when they went to Holy Water and prayer. As evidenced by previous studies, lost women perceived that they were cured of the disease with the help of God and refused to resume PMTCT care 27 , 30 . This finding suggests the need for sustained community sensitization about HIV and its treatment, engaging religious leaders. They need to inform women on ART that taking ARV drugs does not contradict religious preaching, and they should not discontinue the drug at any religious engagement.

Once on ART, women should not regress from care and treatment due to problems related to the facility. Unlike the study conducted in Malawi, which reported a shortage of drugs as not a cause of LTFU 29 , in the study area there was a shortage of drugs and supplies to give appropriate care to women and their infants and to retain them in care. They did not get all services related to HIV free of charge and were requested to pay for them, including the cotrimoxazole syrup given to their infants. The finding was consistent with the study conducted in Malawi, where the irregular availability of cotrimoxazole syrup was mentioned as a risk factor for LTFU 32 .

On some occasions, there may also be a shortage of ARV prophylaxis (Nevirapine and Zidovudine syrups) at some facilities for their infants that they couldn’t get from private pharmacies. Services related to PMTCT care were expected to be free of charge for mothers and their infants throughout the care. Ensuring an adequate supply of prophylactic and therapeutic drugs should be considered to prevent the MTCT of HIV and control the spread of the disease among communities via appropriate resource allocation. Facilities should have an adequate supply of ARV prophylaxis and should not request that women pay for diagnostic services. Besides, they always need to provide cotrimoxazole syrup free of charge for HIV-exposed infants.

Lack of awareness of a continuum of PMTCT care among women is a major challenge to retaining them in care. Women who experienced malpractice against standard care practice and had misconceptions about the disease were at higher risk for LTFU. Those women who forgot to take ARV drugs due to different reasons (maybe due to poor counselling) did not get the benefits of ART. Improved counselling and appropriate patient-provider interaction increase women’s engagement in care and reduce the risk of LTFU 28 , 44 . Thus, proper counselling on adherence, malpractice, and misconceptions should be strengthened by healthcare providers in PMTCT units to create optimal awareness for retention.

Maintaining clients’ confidentiality is the backbone of achieving HIV-related treatment goals. However, some women disappear from PMTCT care due to a lack of confidentiality by HCWs delivering the service. Although not large, women claimed a lack of privacy during counselling, and disclosing their HIV status in the community was practiced by some healthcare professionals. The finding was consistent with the study conducted in developing countries, including Ethiopia, where lack of privacy and fear regarding breaches of confidentiality by healthcare workers were identified as risk factors for LTFU 31 , 32 , 44 . Thus, HCWs should deliver appropriate counselling services and maintain clients’ confidentiality to develop trust among women.

The validity of the findings of this study was strengthened by the triangulating data collected from women, MSG members, and HCWs delivering PMTCT service. Besides, the study included women from the community who had already been lost from care during the study, which minimized the risk of recall bias. However, we recognized the following limitations. First, the study did not explore the husband’s perspective to validate the findings from women and HCWs. Second, the study may have different reasons for LTFU for women who were unreached or unwilling to participate compared to those who agreed to be interviewed. Thus, further studies are advised to include the husband’s perception to validate their concern and to address all women who have lost care.

Conclusions

Financial constraints to cover transportation costs, fear of partner divorce and violence, HIV-related stigma and discrimination, lack of psychological support, religious belief, shortage of drug supply, inadequate service access, and breach of confidentiality by HCWs were major reasons for women’s lost. Healthcare workers’ commitment to searching for lost women, partners’ encouragement to resume care, and women’s desire to live healthily were explored as reasons for resumption after LTFU. Women empowerment, partner engagement, involving community and religious leaders, awareness creation on the effect of HIV-related stigma and discrimination for the community, and service delivery as per the protocol were of vital importance to retain women on care and resume care after LTFU. Besides, HCWs should address false beliefs related to the disease during counseling sessions to retain women in care.

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this article and its Supplementary Information files.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the staff of the South Ethiopia and Central Ethiopia Regional Health Bureaus for their technical and logistic support. Moreover, the authors sincerely thank the research assistants who translated and transcribed the interview. The authors would also like to thank the study participants who were involved in the study.

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W.F. was involved in the study's conception, design, execution, data acquisition, analysis, interpretation, and manuscript drafting. T.T., E.W., and A.A. were involved in the project concept, guidance, and critical review of the article. All the authors have reviewed and approved the final manuscript and agreed to publish it in scientific reports.

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The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Wolaita Sodo University (ethical approval number WSU41/32/223). The study was carried out following relevant legislation and ethics guidelines. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants before an interview, and interviewee anonymity was guaranteed.

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Facha, W., Tadesse, T., Wolka, E. et al. A qualitative study on reasons for women’s loss and resumption of Option B plus care in Ethiopia. Sci Rep 14 , 21440 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-71252-2

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