w:bdr (Text Border)

Draws a border around the individual characters of a run.

Parent elements

w:rPr

Description

w:bdr applies a border around the text characters in a run. Unlike w:pBdr (which borders an entire paragraph), w:bdr borders are drawn tightly around each contiguous run that carries the same w:bdr style — adjacent runs with identical border settings are grouped under one continuous border box.

It is defined in ECMA-376 Part 1 §17.3.2.5.

The attribute set mirrors that of paragraph borders (w:pBdr children) and table cell borders.

Attributes

Attribute	Type	Possible Values	Description
`w:val`	`ST_Border`	`single`, `double`, `dashSmallGap`, `dotDash`, `none`, and many others	Border line style.
`w:color`	`ST_HexColor`	Six-digit hex RGB (e.g. `FF0000`) or `auto`	Border color.
`w:sz`	`xsd:integer`	Width in eighths of a point (e.g. `4` = ½ pt)	Border line width.
`w:space`	`xsd:integer`	Spacing in points between border and text	Space between the border and the text characters.
`w:themeColor`	`ST_ThemeColor`	`dark1`, `light1`, `accent1`, etc.	Theme color reference.
`w:themeTint`	`ST_UcharHexNumber`	Two-digit hex (00–FF)	Tint applied to the theme color.
`w:themeShade`	`ST_UcharHexNumber`	Two-digit hex (00–FF)	Shade applied to the theme color.
`w:shadow`	`ST_OnOff`	`true`, `false`	Add a shadow effect to the border.
`w:frame`	`ST_OnOff`	`true`, `false`	Draw as a frame (border appears as a 3D frame).

Examples

<!-- Single thin black border around the run -->
<w:r>
  <w:rPr>
    <w:bdr w:val="single" w:color="000000" w:sz="4" w:space="1"/>
  </w:rPr>
  <w:t>Bordered text</w:t>
</w:r>

using DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Wordprocessing;

var run = new Run(
    new RunProperties(
        new Border
        {
            Val = BorderValues.Single,
            Color = "000000",
            Size = 4U,
            Space = 1U
        }
    ),
    new Text("Bordered text")
);

Notes

The w:space attribute specifies the gap between the text and the border in points.
Adjacent runs with identical w:bdr settings are visually merged into one continuous border box.
Use w:val="none" to explicitly remove an inherited border.