Repeat Word Table Rows

There are times when a Word table won't fit on a single printed page. If this seems familiar to you that's because we talked about Repeating Excel Rows and Columns not long ago. Enabling repeating rows can ensure that meaningful labels appear on every page where Word displays table data.

Enable Repeating Rows

In older versions of Word, select one or more rows at the top of a table and click Table > Heading Rows Repeat. In Word 2007 and newer, click Layout within the Table Tools ribbon group, then click Repeat Header Rows.

The first row of this table is a good candidate for a head row, especially if the table contains lots of data.

In Word, table headers must contain one or more contiguous rows from the top of the table.

Note: If all rows in the table are designated as "header rows," none of them will repeat. This can happen if a header row is the only row in a table when new rows are added. Press Tab at the end of a the last row in table to add a new row. Alternatively, place the insertion point to the right of the last cell in a row and then press Enter to add a new row. The new row assumes all the attributes of the previous row.