Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. 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: Quickly Inserting Table Rows.

Quickly Inserting Table Rows

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 10, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, and 2013

You already know that you can use the Insert Above and Insert Below tools on the Layout tab of the ribbon to insert rows in an existing table, and you can press Enter with the cursor outside the cell at the end of a row to insert another row. (Press Tab if the cursor is inside the cell.) There is an even faster way to insert rows—especially if you need to insert more than one row. To quickly insert rows in your table, follow these steps:

In the existing table, select a number of rows equal to the number you want to insert.
Click the Insert Above button on the Layout tab of the ribbon. (The tab is visible only after you complete step 1.) The rows are inserted just before the selected rows.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11023) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, and 2013. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Quickly Inserting Table Rows.

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

Grabbing the MRU List

Want to use the list of most recently used files in a macro? You can access it easily by using the technique presented in ...

Discover More

Getting Rid of Numbered Columns

Excel normally refers to columns as A, B, C, etc. It also has a referencing format that allows columns to be referred to ...

Discover More

Saving Movement on Enter with a Workbook

Press Enter when working in a workbook and Excel moves to a cell adjacent to the one in which you were working. If you ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Working with Table Columns and Rows

Need to add or delete columns and rows from a table? It's easy to do using the tools provided in Word.

Discover More

Merging Table Cells

Want to create cells that span multiple columns or multiple rows? You do this in Word by merging cells together. Here's ...

Discover More

Distributing Columns Evenly

When you want the horizontal space in a table to be divided evenly among the columns in the table, you'll love this tip. ...

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?

2021-07-13 10:07:11

Jane Lawson

When I want to move a row in a table to another location within the table, I find that the column do not align with the rows around the inserted row and that I have to manually adjust each column border to re-align them.

Has anyone had this problem and found a solution?

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.