Object Anchor

Question

I still don't adequately understand the usefulness of the object anchor in Word.  It has been such an irritant.  I don't understand the rules.  I've watched YouTube videos and read conversation threads on the topic but left with more questions after I try to use it.  I created a full page of text then inserted an object, after I chose a word wrap option, I simply move the object where I want it and the words just flow around it.  Then the stupid anchor appears and gives me fits.  Can someone just give me a bulleted list of rules for the use of this anchor, why I want it, what is it's function, why I can't just move the image around manually?    When I apply what I think I've learned, the anchor still just floats around and doesn't seem to actually anchor anything.  If its called an anchor why is my object still free to move around?

Answer 1

Hello,

I'm an independent advisor that Microsoft asked to assist customers. I'm an experienced user of Office but do not speak for Microsoft. I've been assisting my fellow users for more than 20 years. I hope I can help you.

The anchor tells you where Word things your object is, roughly. It will be anchored to a particular paragraph usually. If that paragraph gets moved to a new page because of changes in the document, the object will move with that paragraph. Generally, you want the anchor close to where you want the object.

If you move your object far enough, the anchor will move as well.

See: https://wordmvp.com/FAQs/DrwGrphcs/Anchors.htm for more about how anchors work and more generally about how Word handles drawings, see:

https://wordmvp.com/FAQs/DrawingGraphics.htm

I hope this information helps. Please let me know if you have any more questions or require further help. .

Regards

Answer 2

Typo:

"things" above should have been "thinks."

The anchor tells you where Word thinks your object is, roughly.

Answer 3

As Charles said, the anchor basically defines which page the object should appear on. Note that you can lock the anchor to prevent it from being moved via drag and drop.

However, cutting and pasting the object to some other page in the document will also move the anchor. The converse is also true: if you move the paragraph containing the anchor to another page in the document, the object will move with the anchor to that same page. (This applies no matter if the anchor is locked or not.)

It is worth noticing that the position of the actual object on the page is not (directly) related to the anchor. It is possible to position an object relative to a text paragraph, so that the object moves up or down the page along with the paragraph, but, as an alternative, you can specify the position relative to the page edges, for example. In both cases, the object will always move to a new page if the anchor moves to another page, though.