How to Set Word Vertical Text Orientation for Asian Layout Documents

When creating documents that follow East Asian publishing conventions, you may need text to run vertically from top to bottom instead of horizontally. Word provides a dedicated vertical text orientation feature for Japanese, Chinese, and Korean layouts. This article explains how to enable and configure vertical text orientation in Word for Asian layout documents, including page-level and text-box-level settings.

Understanding Word Vertical Text Orientation for Asian Layouts

Word supports vertical text orientation primarily for East Asian languages such as Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean. When you enable this mode, characters flow from top to bottom along columns that run right to left. This matches traditional book and newspaper layouts in those languages.

The feature is not available for all language versions of Word. You must have an East Asian language editing pack installed or at least the language proofing tools enabled. Word detects the installed languages and shows the vertical text options only when an Asian language is active for the document.

You can apply vertical orientation at two levels: the whole page or a specific text box. Page-level orientation changes the flow of all body text. Text-box-level orientation lets you mix vertical and horizontal sections within the same document.

Prerequisites for Using Vertical Text

Before you begin, ensure that Word is configured for an East Asian language. Go to File > Options > Language. Under Office authoring languages and proofing, check if Japanese, Chinese, or Korean is listed. If not, click Add a Language and install the language pack. Restart Word after installation.

If you only need to view vertical text, no additional setup is required. But to create or edit vertical text, the language must be active in the document. You can switch the editing language by selecting the text and changing the language on the Review > Language > Set Proofing Language menu.

Steps to Set Vertical Text Orientation for the Entire Page

Use this method when the whole document should read vertically, such as a Japanese novel or a Chinese poetry collection.

1. Open the Layout tab
   Click the Layout tab on the ribbon. This tab contains page-level formatting commands.
2. Click Text Direction
   In the Page Setup group, click Text Direction. A dropdown menu appears with options: Horizontal, Rotate all text 90 degrees, Rotate all text 270 degrees, and Stacked.
3. Select Vertical
   Choose Rotate all text 90 degrees to rotate the page so text reads top to bottom. Choose Rotate all text 270 degrees for the opposite direction. For East Asian vertical layout, select Stacked. Stacked mode aligns characters in vertical columns with no horizontal component.
4. Adjust column settings if needed
   After applying vertical orientation, go to Layout > Columns and set the number of columns. In vertical layout, columns run horizontally across the page. One column means a single vertical strip of text. Two columns create two vertical strips side by side.

Page Setup for Vertical Text Alignment

1. Open Page Setup
   Click the small arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Page Setup group on the Layout tab.
2. Go to the Layout tab in the dialog
   In the Page Setup dialog, click the Layout tab.
3. Set Vertical alignment
   Under Page, find Vertical alignment. Choose Top, Center, Justified, or Bottom. Top aligns the first vertical column to the top margin. Justified distributes vertical columns evenly between top and bottom margins.

Steps to Set Vertical Text in a Text Box or Shape

Use this method when only a portion of the document should be vertical, such as a sidebar quote or a heading in an otherwise horizontal document.

1. Insert a text box
   Go to Insert > Text Box > Draw Text Box. Click and drag on the page to create the box.
2. Type or paste your text
   Enter the text you want to display vertically.
3. Open Format Shape
   Right-click the edge of the text box and choose Format Shape. The Format Shape pane opens on the right.
4. Go to Text Options > Text Box
   In the Format Shape pane, click the Text Options icon (looks like a square with an A). Then click the Text Box icon (a small box with lines).
5. Change Text Direction
   Under Text direction, select Stacked vertical from the dropdown. The text inside the box now flows top to bottom. You can also choose Rotate all text 90 degrees or 270 degrees.
6. Resize the text box
   Drag the handles to adjust the width and height. For vertical text, the box should be narrow and tall.

Common Issues When Using Vertical Text Orientation

Vertical Text Option Is Grayed Out or Missing

The Text Direction button and the Stacked option are only available when an East Asian language is enabled. Go to File > Options > Language and add Japanese, Chinese, or Korean. If the language is already installed, select the text and change its proofing language to the Asian language on the Review tab.

Characters Appear Rotated Instead of Stacked

If you choose Rotate all text 90 degrees, each character is turned sideways. This is not the traditional vertical layout. To get proper vertical text where characters remain upright but flow top to bottom, use the Stacked option. Stacked is available only when an Asian language proofing language is active.

Vertical Text Does Not Flow Into Next Column

When you apply vertical orientation to the whole page, Word treats the page as a single column by default. To create multiple vertical columns, go to Layout > Columns and select 2 or 3 columns. Text will fill the first column from top to bottom, then move to the top of the next column on the right.

Numbers and Latin Characters Look Wrong in Vertical Text

Word handles numbers and Latin letters differently depending on the font. Some fonts rotate them, others leave them upright. To force consistent behavior, select the problematic characters and apply a font that supports vertical metrics, such as MS Mincho, SimSun, or Batang. These fonts include vertical glyph variants for non-Asian characters.

Page-Level vs Text-Box-Level Vertical Text: Key Differences

Item	Page-Level Vertical	Text-Box-Level Vertical
Scope	All body text on the page	Only text inside the selected box
Method	Layout > Text Direction > Stacked	Format Shape > Text Options > Text Box > Text Direction > Stacked vertical
Column control	Layout > Columns	Manual resizing of the box
Mixing with horizontal	Not possible on the same page	Possible by placing multiple boxes
Best for	Entire documents like novels or reports	Captions, sidebars, headings

You can now create documents that follow East Asian vertical text conventions using either page-level or text-box-level orientation. Start by enabling an Asian language in Word, then apply the Stacked text direction option. For mixed layouts, use text boxes with vertical orientation alongside horizontal body text. An advanced tip: when printing, check the preview to ensure vertical columns do not overflow the page margins. Adjust the column width in Layout > Columns if needed.