How to Draw a Perfect Circle on Microsoft Paint

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Last Updated: April 2, 2024 Tested

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]
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Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Forcing the Ellipse Tool to Draw Circles

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This program is located in “Start Menu > Programs > Windows Accessories”.
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This tool is the oval button in the toolbar in the “Shapes” section.

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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.
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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.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Making a Circle from an Ellipse

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This program is located in “Start Menu > Programs > Windows Accessories”.
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This tool is the oval button in the toolbar in the “Shapes” section.
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Do not release the mouse press.
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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.
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The ellipse will snap into a circle shape matching the height of the ellipse.

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Question

How do I duplicate a shape?

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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.

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How do I add texts on different parts of a circle using a PC?

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Use the text tool to draw a text box, then type in what you want. Put the text boxes wherever you need them.

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What other method is there for drawing a circle rather than pressing {{keypress|Shift}}?

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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}}.

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Tips

Making perfect circles with the Pencil tool is very difficult. If you insist on drawing freehand, move slowly. If you draw in sections, you can undo a mistake and restart from where you last released the mouse button.

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Things You'll Need

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How to Draw a Perfect Circle on Microsoft Paint

Steps

Forcing the Ellipse Tool to Draw Circles

Making a Circle from an Ellipse

Community Q&A

Video

Tips

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