How to Draw a Perfect Circle on Microsoft Paint

Drawing a perfect circle in MS Paint is somewhat hidden within the Ellipse tool. You can force the MS Paint ellipse tool to draw a circle by holding ⇧ Shift while you click and drag the mouse.[1] You can also snap an ellipse into a circle by holding ⇧ Shift after the ellipse is drawn, but before releasing the mouse button.

Method 1
Method 1 of 2:

Forcing the Ellipse Tool to Draw Circles

  1. Image titled Draw a Perfect Circle on Microsoft Paint Step 1
    1
    Open Microsoft Paint. This program is located in “Start Menu > Programs > Windows Accessories”.
  2. Image titled Draw a Perfect Circle on Microsoft Paint Step 2
    2
    Select the Ellipse tool. This tool is the oval button in the toolbar in the “Shapes” section.
    Advertisement
  3. Image titled Draw a Perfect Circle on Microsoft Paint Step 3
    3
    Press and hold ⇧ Shift.
  4. Image titled Draw a Perfect Circle on Microsoft Paint Step 4
    4
    Click and drag with the mouse in the drawing area. Starting from where you click, the Ellipse tool will make a perfect circle instead of the normal ellipse.
    • Before you release the mouse button, you can drag the mouse to adjust the size of the circle.
  5. Image titled Draw a Perfect Circle on Microsoft Paint Step 5
    5
    Release the mouse button. You now have a perfect circle!
    • This method is great for creating concentric circles, because you can see the size of the circle as you draw it.
    6. Advertisement
Method 2
Method 2 of 2:

Making a Circle from an Ellipse

  1. Image titled Draw a Perfect Circle on Microsoft Paint Step 6
    1
    Open Microsoft Paint. This program is located in “Start Menu > Programs > Windows Accessories”.
  2. Image titled Draw a Perfect Circle on Microsoft Paint Step 7
    2
    Select the Ellipse tool. This tool is the oval button in the toolbar in the “Shapes” section.
  3. Image titled Draw a Perfect Circle on Microsoft Paint Step 8
    3
    Click and drag with the mouse in the drawing space to make an ellipse. Do not release the mouse press.
  4. Image titled Draw a Perfect Circle on Microsoft Paint Step 9
    4
    Press and hold ⇧ Shift.
  5. Image titled Draw a Perfect Circle on Microsoft Paint Step 10
    5
    Release the mouse button.
    • If you release the mouse button before pressing ⇧ Shift the ellipse will be drawn and you cannot turn it into a circle. You can undo the ellipse by pressing Ctrl + Z and try again.
  6. Image titled Draw a Perfect Circle on Microsoft Paint Step 11
    6
    Release ⇧ Shift. The ellipse will snap into a circle shape matching the height of the ellipse.
    7. Advertisement

Community Q&A

  • Question
    How do I duplicate a shape?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Once a shape is drawn, you can select it with the select tool, then copy and paste to the same documents. This will also copy the background where you select, so be careful.
  • Question
    How do I add texts on different parts of a circle using a PC?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Use the text tool to draw a text box, then type in what you want. Put the text boxes wherever you need them.
  • Question
    What other method is there for drawing a circle rather than pressing {{keypress|Shift}}?
    WikiHowUser20180326023246
    WikiHowUser20180326023246
    Community Answer
    Using the unit of measurement you used for the dimensions of your document, click anywhere on the artboard and type the same numbers for the width and height. Click {{keypress|OK}} or {{keypress|Enter}}.
Advertisement

Things You'll Need

  • Computer
  • Mouse
  • Microsoft Paint
  • Keyboard

You Might Also Like

Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint
How to
Resize an Image in Microsoft Paint
Shade in Microsoft Paint
How to
Shade in Microsoft Paint
Invert Colours in MS Paint
How to
Invert Colours in MS Paint
Remove the White Background in Microsoft Paint
How to
Remove the White Background in Microsoft Paint
Use Color Replacement in MS Paint
How to
Use Color Replacement in MS Paint
Make the Eraser Bigger in MS PaintHow to Change the Size of the Eraser in Microsoft Paint
Use Microsoft Paint in Windows
How to
Use Microsoft Paint in Windows
Change an Image Background in MS Paint (Green Screen)
How to
Change an Image Background in MS Paint (Green Screen)
Create and Use Custom Icons
How to
Create and Use Custom Icons
Create an Icon in Paint
How to
Create an Icon in Paint
Open Microsoft Paint
How to
Open Microsoft Paint
Draw and Color with Microsoft Paint
How to
Draw and Color with Microsoft Paint
Draw a Logo in Microsoft Paint
How to
Draw a Logo in Microsoft Paint
Open Multiple Images in PaintHow to Open Multiple Images in Paint
Advertisement

References

  1. ↑ http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/paint-tools

About This Article

wikiHow Staff
Co-authored by:
wikiHow Staff
wikiHow Staff Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 181,965 times.
How helpful is this?
Co-authors: 21
Updated: March 27, 2023
Views: 181,965
Categories: Microsoft Paint
Advertisement