Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Repeating Rows for a Table Footer.

Repeating Rows for a Table Footer

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 22, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365


Nancy asked if there is a way in Word to repeat rows at the bottom of a table that spans multiple pages, the same way you can repeat rows at the top of a multi-page table. The short answer is that Word doesn't provide such a capability. If you are willing to experiment a bit, you can try to come up with a workaround that may do the trick for you.

What you want to do is create a document section that contains just your table, and then use the page footers to contain the rows you want repeated from the table. Follow these general steps:

  1. Just before the start of your table, insert a continuous section break.
  2. Do the same thing just after the end of your table.
  3. Select the rows you want repeated at the bottom of the table and copy them to the Clipboard.
  4. Display the footer of the document. (Display the Insert tab of the ribbon, click Footer in the Header & Footer group, and then click Edit Footer.)
  5. Make sure that the Link to Previous option is turned off for the footer.
  6. Select anything that already exists in the footer.
  7. Press Ctrl+V to paste the copied rows into the footer.
  8. Use the controls on the Design tab of the ribbon to advance to the next section. (You should be looking at the footer for the section following the section in which the table resides.)
  9. Turn off the Link to Previous option for this footer.
  10. Delete the table row from this section's footer.
  11. Close the Header and Footer toolbar (click Close Header and Footer in the Close group).

You are now ready to place the final touches on your workaround. Position the insertion point somewhere in your table, then use the various controls in the Page Setup group (on the Page Layout tab of the ribbon) to adjust the relationship between your table and the footer. You'll need to play with the margin and layout settings to position the rows in the page footer, and you'll want to make sure that the Apply To drop-down list applies the changes to only the current section (the one with the table in it).

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (10588) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Repeating Rows for a Table Footer.

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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