You may want to add a watermark to your Microsoft Word document for branding, confidentiality, or copyright reasons. Whatever your reason, there are a couple of simple ways to add this element to your Word document.
Method 1: Insert a Watermark in Word Through the Design Tab
Microsoft Word’s design tab is the quickest and easiest way to add a watermark to your document. You have the option to add a pre-set or custom watermark to your document. Additionally, you can also choose to insert a custom image or text to use as your watermark.
Step 1. Open your Microsoft Word document and click on the ‘Design’ tab found at the top of the page.
Step 2. Click on the ‘Watermark’ option found on the right side of your screen.
Step 3. Choose between a pre-set watermark or a custom image. To select a pre-set watermark, browse the available options in the tab and click one to add it to your document.
To use a custom watermark in your document, click on ‘Custom Watermark…’. From here, you can select either a picture or text watermark. To use a custom picture, click on ‘Picture Watermark’, then ‘Select Picture’. You can now browse your personal gallery or the internet for your chosen watermark.
If you’d prefer text only, click on ‘Text Watermark’ and select your language, text, font, size, color, and layout preferences.
Step 4. Once you’re satisfied with your custom text or image, press ‘OK’ to upload it to your document.
Method 2: Insert a Watermark in Word as a Header/Footer Object
Another method of inserting a watermark into a Word document is through headers and footers. Since they appear on every page of the document, watermarks here are often used for branding purposes.
Step 1. Open your Microsoft Word document and click on the ‘Insert’ tab.
Step 2. Select either ‘Header’ or ‘Footer’ (noting that the header is located at the top of the page and the footer at the bottom). If you’d like to add a text watermark to your document, you may select one of the pre-set headers available in the tab.
If you’d like to add a custom watermark to your document, select ‘Edit Header’. You will then select either ‘Pictures’ to choose a custom image from your gallery, or ‘Online Pictures’ to browse the internet for one.
Step 3. Once you’ve chosen your image, click ‘OK’.
Step 4. Format your image as desired (transparency, orientation, etc.) and click ‘Close Header and Footer’ once satisfied.
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Last updated on 01 October, 2025
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