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: Space after a Table.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 14, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
Brian has set up the "body text" style in his document so that it only has "space after" and has zero "space before." This works great for laying out his document, except when it comes to tables. The paragraph following the table ends up being too close to the table, and Brian wants some space between the table and a "body text" paragraph following the table. He wonders if it is possible for Word to put "space after" a table.
Not really, in the sense of "space after" for a paragraph. This can cause some issues when it comes to vertical spacing after tables, as Brian points out. There are two things you can do to work around this problem.
First, you could define another style, perhaps called "body after table," which is based on the "body text" style. The only difference would be that the "body after table" style would have space before the paragraph, not just after. This style can then be applied to the first paragraph after any tables, with the "body text" style being used for the rest of the paragraphs.
The other option is to insert an extra row at the end of your tables. This row should have no text in it, and it should be formatted so that it has no borders. You can adjust the height of the row to reflect the amount of space you want between the main portion of the table and your following text.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13012) 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: Space after a Table.
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2025-08-14 07:53:57
Barry Clermont
How will a screen reader interpret the blank row? Is this considered "accessible"?
2020-08-19 04:59:54
DelmaSwe
There is another Style you can use and that's the No Spacing style which is default in Word.
2020-08-11 15:58:56
Malcolm Patterson
The problem with following a table with a caption is that in most American styles, the table number precedes the table. (In contrast, captions follow figures.) I do as Kimberly suggested, assigning a *Table Follower* paragraph style to the blank paragraph. This also makes it easy to ensure that spacing after tables is consistent throughout a document--controlled by attributes of the *Table Follower* style.
2020-05-10 21:18:37
Nick Rea
Another way to do this is to have a Caption following the table - with the Table Number and Name in it and with Space Before and Space After configured however you like.
2020-05-09 06:34:03
Kimberly OGER
Hi, and thanks for all the tips.
I work work around this problem by manually inserting an empty line at the beginning of any paragraph that follows a table.
HIH,
Kim
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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:
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