How to delete Text Box without removing text in Word or Excel

Text box is a native feature in Microsoft Word and Excel and we can place or draw a text box on any part of a Word document or Excel sheet. However, sometimes you may need to remove a text box but keep its text content. For example, if a text box is inside a shape or object, you may want to delete it so that only text will remain inside that object or shape. Whatever the reason, this post helps to delete a text box without removing text in a Word or Excel file on a Windows 11/10 PC. You don’t need any add-ins for this purpose.

How to delete Text Box without removing text in Word or Excel

You can delete a text box without removing text in Word or Excel using the following ways:

1. Set text box to No Outline
2. Use the Format Shape task pane
3. Copy the text and then delete a text box.

Let’s check these options one by one. The steps for these options are the same for Word and Excel.

1] Set text box to No Outline

The steps are as follows:

1. Open your Word document or Excel file
2. Select a text box that you want to remove but keep its text content
3. Go to the Shape Format menu
4. Open the drop-down menu of Shape Outline
5. Click on the No Outline option.

This will remove the text box outlines immediately.

Related: Text box won’t resize in Word or Excel [Fix]

2] Use the Format Shape task pane

Follow these steps to delete a text box without deleting the text content using the Format Shape task pane in a Word document or Excel file:

1. Select a text box in your document
2. Access the Shape Format menu
3. Click the dialog box launcher (small arrow icon) in the Shape Styles group. Format Shape task pane will open. Alternatively, you can also right-click on a text box and click on the Format Shape… option to open this task pane
4. Format Shape task pane has two sections- Shape Options and Text Options. Access the Shape Options section
5. Expand the Line menu
6. Select the No line option.

Also read: How to wrap Text around a Picture in a Text Box in Word

3] Copy the text and then delete a text box

It’s the simplest way to delete a text box while keeping its text. First, copy the text content of a text box and delete it. After that, paste the copied text in another shape or text box, a line, a cell, etc.

That’s all. Hope it helps.

Now read: How to change Text Direction by rotating text in Word

How to remove a table without removing text in Word?

If you want to remove a table without removing text in a Word document, select the desired table. Access the Table Layout menu. Click on the Convert to Text option on the right side. A small box will open. There, select an option to separate text with. Available options are: Tabs, Commas, Paragraph marks, etc. Press the OK button. The table will be gone and the text content will remain in your Word document.

How do I remove Content Control in Word without deleting text?

To remove a Rich Text Content Control or Plain Text Content Control in Word while keeping its text content, first select that content control. Now open the right-click menu and select the Remove Content Control option. Alternatively, you can copy the text content manually, delete the content control, and paste the copied text.

Read next: How to Add, Copy, Remove, Apply and Manipulate Text Boxes in Word.