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


1

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:

  1. In the existing table, select a number of rows equal to the number you want to insert.
  2. 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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Summing Only Positive Values

If you have a series of values and you want to get a total of just the values that meet specific criteria, then you need ...

Discover More

Turning Off Paste Options

Paste some information into a worksheet and Excel helpfully displays some options related to the paste operation. If you ...

Discover More

Allowing for Prefixes and Suffixes in Find and Replace

Excel includes a rather simplistic find and replace capability. If you have more complex needs, you'll need to seek out ...

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)

Adding Multiple Rows to a Table

Need to add more than a single row to an existing table? Word provides an assortment of ways that you can accomplish the ...

Discover More

Changing Column Width

Do you use columns in your document layout? You may want to modify the widths of various columns, and Word makes the ...

Discover More

Moving a Table Column

Want to move a column in a table very easily? You can do so by using the same editing techniques you are already using.

Discover More
Subscribe

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.

What is 7 + 1?

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.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.