Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Table Header Rows after a Manual Page Break.

Table Header Rows after a Manual Page Break

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 29, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Ed had his table set up the way he wanted, with a couple of rows repeated at the top of each page. He ran into a problem, however, when he inserted a manual page break in the middle of the table. When he did, the formerly repeating rows no longer repeated at the top of the table.

The reason for this is rather simple—when you insert a page break into a table you are, in reality, splitting the table into two separate tables. The rows that were repeating are no longer in the new table, but in the original table.

To get around this problem, don't insert a manual page break in the table to force a row to a new page. Instead, use this formatting approach:

  1. Put the insertion point at the beginning of the row that you want on the new page.
  2. Choose Paragraph from the Format menu. Word displays the Paragraph dialog box.
  3. Make sure the Line and Page Breaks tab is displayed. (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The Line and Page Breaks tab of the Paragraph dialog box.

  5. Select the Page Break Before check box.
  6. Click on OK.

Now the row will always start at the beginning of a new page, your table is not "broken" into two parts, and your desired rows will still repeat at the top of each page.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (3504) 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: Table Header Rows after a Manual Page Break.

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. ...

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