In desktop Word, select the content for the page, open Layout > Page Setup, choose Landscape, then set Apply to to Selected text. To control the boundaries more explicitly, place section breaks before and after the page and apply landscape to that section only.
Quick method: apply landscape to selected content
This is the shortest route when the page already contains the text or other material you want to rotate. Word uses section formatting to apply the orientation to the selected range, so check the pages around it after the change.
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- Select the content that should appear on the landscape page.
- Open Layout and click the small dialog launcher in the Page Setup group.
- In the Page Setup dialog, choose Landscape under Orientation.
- Set Apply to to Selected text, then confirm.
- Review the document to make sure the intended page is landscape and the surrounding pages have the orientation you want.
Microsoft documents this procedure for desktop Word, including Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2024, Word 2021, Word 2019 and Word 2016 on Windows and Mac. Menu labels can vary slightly by platform or version. Microsoft’s orientation instructions describe the selected-text option.
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More control: isolate the page with section breaks
Use this approach when you want a clearly bounded landscape section and need to keep later pages in portrait. A section can have its own page orientation; a regular page break alone does not create an independent formatting section.
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- On the Home tab, turn on Show/Hide so you can see formatting marks and section boundaries.
- Place the cursor at the beginning of the content to rotate. Choose Layout > Breaks > Next Page under Section Breaks.
- Place the cursor at the end of that content and insert another Next Page section break. The material to rotate is now separated into its own section.
- Click within the isolated section. Open Layout > Page Setup, choose Landscape, and set Apply to to This section.
- Check the following section and the page layout. Confirm that the rotated section is landscape and the surrounding sections remain portrait.
A Next Page section break starts the new section on the following page, making it the clearer choice for a standalone landscape page. A Continuous section break starts a section on the same page and is useful when a formatting change, such as columns, should begin without forcing a new page. See Microsoft’s guide to section breaks.
Can Word for the web rotate just one page?
Microsoft’s guidance says Word for the web can change document orientation through Layout > Orientation, but it cannot add section breaks. To insert the breaks needed to isolate a page, open the document in desktop Word. The available guidance does not establish a complete web-only workflow for making exactly one page landscape while keeping the others portrait. Microsoft’s section-break instructions cover the limitation, and its orientation training page covers desktop Word.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.If the whole document changes orientation
- Reopen Page Setup and verify that Apply to is set to Selected text or This section, rather than the whole document.
- Turn on Show/Hide and look for section breaks around the content. A page break only starts content on a new page; it does not create a separately formatted section. See Microsoft’s page-break explanation.
- After changing orientation, inspect the page and the sections before and after it, since selected content and pagination affect where Word lays out the resulting section boundaries.
You do not need to print the document for an orientation change to take effect, according to Microsoft Support.
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