When editing documents in Word, sometimes we can insert some graphic symbols to make the content more intuitive and lively, like arrows with different shapes and directions. Since they can’t be typed directly like numbers and characters, here I’d like to introduce 3 common used ways to insert arrows in Word. The method 1 and method 2 can also be applied in Microsoft Excel. Let’s have a look.

Insert Arrow Shape

1. Open the Word (or Excel) document.

2. Switch to Insert tab, click Shape button to expand the drop-down menu.

2. There are many different types of arrows with different directions, you can choose any one you like.

3. Hold your mouse to draw a shape you selected, and drag its frame to adjust the size and direction of the arrow.

4. You can also change its color or effect in Format (Drawing Tools) tab.

Insert Arrow Symbol

1. Open the Word document (or Excel file).

2. Go to Insert tab, click Symbol button on the right of the ribbon and choose More Symbols… in the menu.

2. Change the Font into Wingdings in the popping out Symbol window, scroll down till the end and you’ll find many different arrow symbols here. Select the one you want and hit Insert button to add it to your document.

Insert Arrow by Code

Alternatively, you can also insert different arrows in Word only by keyboard.

1. First you should make sure that your numeric keypad is enabled, otherwise, tap [Num Lock] to turn on it.

2. Press and hold [Alt] key while tapping corresponding numeric code. Then release the [Alt] key and the arrow will show in your document.

3. Here I collect a list of arrow code (all in Unicode 11), you can find the arrow you want and use its corresponding code.

Arrow	Code
Left Arrow ←	8592
Right Arrow →	8594
Up Arrow ↑	8593
Down Arrow ↓	8595
Left-right Arrow ↔	8596
Up-down Arrow ↕	8597

For example, if you want to insert a right arrow ↓ in Word document, you just need to hold [Alt] key and enter 8594 on numeric keypad. Then release the [Alt] key, you will see the right arrow is successfully inserted.