Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. 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: Headings On Your Printout.

Headings On Your Printout

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 6, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


Most tables have some sort of heading which indicates what is in each column of the table. This heading can be a row or two in size, and you typically apply some sort of special formatting to the heading row (or rows). When your table gets long enough, you may be wondering how you can get your special heading rows to appear at the top of the portion of the table that appears on each new page. You do this by following these steps:

  1. Select the rows that you are using as your headings.
  2. Display the Layout tab of the ribbon. (This tab is only available if you do step 1.)
  3. In the Data group, click the Repeat Header Rows tool.

What you see on the screen at this point depends on the view you are using. If you are using Normal view, you will notice no difference in the screen. If you are using Print Layout view, however, the headings will appear any time your table is split across pages.

It should be noted that this feature is intended to repeat a row or rows that appear at the beginning of your table. If the row or rows you select in step 1 are not the first rows of the table, then the Repeat Header Rows tool will not be available. Further, if you set up header rows and then add additional rows before the first row of the table, then Word gets rid of the header rows and you'll need to again specify which rows you want to be headers.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12737) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Headings On Your Printout.

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

Formatting Currency

If you need to format a number so that it appears as currency, it is not as easy to do in Word as it is in Excel. You can ...

Discover More

Crashing when Searching

If you use Excel's Open dialog box to search for files and you notice that doing so ends up crashing your system, you may ...

Discover More

Finding and Replacing when Only a Portion of the Text is Superscripted

Finding and replacing text when the text being searched for has mixed formatting can be a challenge. You may, however, ...

Discover More

Discover the Power of Microsoft Office This beginner-friendly guide reveals the expert tips and strategies you need to skyrocket your productivity and use Office 365 like a pro. Mastering software like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is essential to be more efficient and advance your career. Simple lessons guide you through every step, providing the knowledge you need to get started. Check out Microsoft Office 365 For Beginners today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Self-Adjusting Column Widths

It is important to understand how column widths relate to the margins you may have set in your document. The reason is ...

Discover More

Spacing Before and After Tables

Tables can be a necessity in many types of documents. However, they can be a bother to get positioned properly relative ...

Discover More

Limiting Lines in a Table Cell

When creating tables, Word automatically sets the size of the cells. But what if you want to make sure each cell is a ...

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 2 + 2?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


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.