How to Stop a Table Row from Splitting Over Two Pages

For some documents, it is par for the course to have tables extend from one page to another. As your tables get larger, Word automatically breaks tables so the most information can get on each page. This may mean that a row of your table may start on one page and end on the following page. Obviously, this is not acceptable for some tables. You may have the need to make sure that entire rows of your table stay together.

To make sure that Word doesn't break a particular row of your table, follow these steps if you are using Word 97:

1. Select the row (or rows) that you want to keep together.
2. Choose Cell Height and Width from the Table menu. Word displays the Cell Height and Width dialog box with the Row tab selected.
3. Make sure the Allow Row to Break Across Pages check box is cleared.
4. Click your mouse on OK.

If you are using Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003 the process is slightly different. Follow these steps, instead:

1. Select the row (or rows) that you want to keep together.
2. Choose Table Properties from the Table menu. Word displays the Table Properties dialog box; you should make sure the Row tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Row tab of the Table Properties dialog box.

3. Make sure the Allow Row to Break Across Pages check box is cleared.
4. Click your mouse on OK.

If you are not sure about where a table may break (or even if it will), but you want to make sure that no row of the table is divided, you simply need to select the entire table in step 1 rather than selecting a single row.

Remember that these steps won't stop a table from splitting across two pages; it only stops individual rows from splitting across pages.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1827) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: How to Stop a Table Row from Splitting Over Two Pages.