Tables are great for presenting information in a scannable way. But things can go wrong fast when you’re trying to format a table manually, especially one with dozens of rows spanning multiple pages. Applying these three formatting techniques can save you a lot of grief:
Auto-fit rows and columns
To automatically make a group of columns or rows all the same width or height:
- Select the columns or rows you want to make the same size.
- Click Table from the top menu bar.
- Select AutoFit and Distribute, then click Distribute Columns Evenly or Distribute Rows Evenly. Your cells will automatically shrink or expand as needed.
Keep rows intact
If you have a row at the bottom of a page and want all of its content to stay together rather than split
across pages:
- Click anywhere in the row you want to keep together.
- Click Table from the top menu bar, followed by Table Properties.
- Open the Row tab. Under the Options heading, make sure the Allow row to break across pages checkbox is empty.
Set headers to repeat
A repeating header row reminds readers what each column contains, no matter what page they’re on. You can repeat your headers automatically by following these steps:
- Click anywhere inside your header row.
- Click Table from the top menu bar, followed by Table Properties.
- Open the Row tab. Under the Options heading, check the Repeat as header row at the top of each page box.
NOTE: These instructions are for the Mac version of Microsoft Word. In some versions of Word for Windows, the table formatting options are found in different places.
