Adding a Line Before a Table

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 3, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

If you have a table at the beginning of your document, and you are using Word 2000 or later versions, adding a blank line before the table is easy--all you need to do is position the insertion point at the start of the first cell and press Enter. It doesn't work that way in Word 97, however. There you need to use a different approach. Any of the following will do the trick:

Position the insertion point at the start of the first cell in the table and choose Split Table from the Table menu.
Position the insertion point at the start of the first cell in the table and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
Position the insertion point at the start of the first cell in the table and insert a column break. (Choose Break from the Insert menu, then click on Column Break, then on OK.)

The result is that Word inserts a Normal-formatted paragraph prior to the table.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1372) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Erroneous Table Math

Depending on the type of data you have in your table, the SUM(ABOVE) function might return incorrect results. Here's an ...

Discover More

Adding Drop Shadows to Cells

Want to draw attention to what is in a cell? What better way than to add a drop shadow to that cell! Here's how you can ...

Discover More

Grouping Drawing Objects

Drawing objects are easily added to a document. You can group these objects so they are easier to manage by following the ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (menu)

Converting a Table into Text

Word includes a power table editor that allows you to create and work with tables easily. At some point, however, you ...

Discover More

Quick Recall of Table Formats

Got a table that you use over and over again? One way you can make quick work of such repetition is to save the table in ...

Discover More

Quickly Moving Your Table

For those who love to use the mouse during editing, you can use the little critter to help move your tables to exactly ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is four less than 7?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.