Repeating the First Column of a Table

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 14, 2018)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Debbie is looking for a way to repeat the first column of a table on each page of a document. The table runs several pages, and having the first column repeated would make their work a lot easier. (She knows how to do it in Excel, but wants to do the same repetition in Word.)

There is no way to repeat left-most columns in a Word table. The only workaround is to use a text box to simulate the columns you want repeated. Display the header area of the document, and create a text box that is anchored to the header. The text box should be wide enough to hold the column (or columns) you want to repeat, and long enough that it extends to the bottom of the page. Paste the column you want repeated into the text box, and remove it from the table itself.

In order to make this look just right, you will need to play with positioning of the text box, position of the left margin, and spacing around the text box and table. This, obviously, entails some trial and error. You'll also want to make sure that the table occupies the entire page of each page on which it occurs, so you may want to add a section break before and after the table, then make sure that the added text box is only applied to the header in the table's section of the document.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (226) 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

Determining Picture Size in a Macro

When processing a document using a macro, you may need for your macro to figure out the sizes of the images in your ...

Discover More

Reviewing Document Versions

If you save different versions of your document using the versioning feature of Word, you'll want to know how you can go ...

Discover More

Removing Automatic Lines

Type a few dashes, underscores, or equal signs, and you could end up with a full-width line in your document. This is ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Repeating Rows for a Table Footer

Word allows you to specify rows that should be repeated at the top of a table when that table extends beyond the bottom ...

Discover More

Creating Tables with Specific Column Widths

Create a table and Word figures out column widths by dividing the horizontal space by the number of columns you want in ...

Discover More

Converting Text Into a Table

You can easily convert regular text into a table using a couple of different methods. This tip explains how to make the ...

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 5 - 3?

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.