Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 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: Blank Lines before Tables.
If you want to place a blank line before a table, exactly how you do so depends on where the table is located in your document. This may sound strange, but it seems to be the way that Word just works. If the table is the very first thing in the document, all you need to do is press Ctrl+Home to position the insertion point at the left side of the first cell of the table. Then press Enter. Word places a blank line before the table.
This only works if the table is the first thing in the document. If you try this with a table that is anywhere else in a document, Word simply adds a new paragraph within the first cell of the table. To place a new blank line before the table, you must move to the end of the paragraph just before the table and press Enter. (You aren't pressing Enter in the table; you are pressing it just before the table.)
The upshot of this behavior is that if you want a new paragraph within the first cell of a table, and the table is at the very beginning of the document, you can't get it by pressing Enter, or other combinations of Enter such as Alt+Enter or Ctrl+Enter. Instead, you must either copy the paragraph mark to the cell from a different location, or you can follow these steps:
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13091) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Blank Lines before Tables.
The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!
If you want to have Word highlight rows in a table that contain a certain character, you need to resort to using a macro. ...
Discover MoreWhen adding borders and shading to a document's elements, Word allows you to quickly add drop shadows to paragraphs, text ...
Discover MoreIf you need to quickly display the Column tab of the Table Properties dialog box, here are some handy tricks you can use. ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2018-05-23 10:08:31
Andrew
I should have point out that you can manually accomplish this by doing a "Split Table" with the cursor located in the first row.
Andy.
2018-05-23 10:05:38
Andrew
Or this macro (bound to a convenient key if you use it often, like I do)
Sub InsertParagraphBeforeSelectedTable()
' Insert paragraph immediately before first table in selection.
If Selection.Tables.Count = 0 Then MsgBox "Selection must contain a table.", vbExclamation: Exit Sub
Selection.Tables(1).Select
Selection.Collapse wdCollapseStart
Selection.SplitTable
End Sub
2018-05-22 03:24:15
Bruno
This is not updated to the latest versions of Word. I remember struggling with this in the past but just went to try and in current version of Word 365 pressing enter in the first cell of a table at the top of the first page results creating a blank line above the table and the table moving one line down.
2017-04-07 19:23:05
Connie Goss
Sorry, correction: on my previous post I should have said Alt + numpad 5 to select the table, not Ctrl.
2017-04-07 18:45:01
The solution presented for tables in the middle of a document doesn't always work for me, especially if the table is right after a new-page section break. Here's what I do instead:
1. Select the table (Ctrl + numpad 5)
2. Cut the table (Ctrl + X)
3. Hit Return a few times to insert empty paragraphs
4. Move the cursor below one of the paragraphs
5. Paste the table back in (Ctrl + V)
This seems to work every time.
2014-07-30 16:27:43
Anne
Or after step 1 simply type any character in the cell and press Enter. Then delete the character.
2014-05-15 12:10:15
Richard
Position the cursor at the beginning of the first cell. Go to Table Tools > Layout tab > Merge group > Split Table.
While not intuitive, it works.
I don't have tables at the top of my documents so I hadn't spotted the strange Enter behaviour in the first cell.
2014-05-03 21:29:05
sheila mcinnes
Just use the back arrow from the first cell and press Enter
2014-05-03 16:48:14
Pam Caswell
You can also add a paragraph mark before a table anywhere in a document by placing the cursor in the first row of the table and clicking split table. This works best if the table is not wrapped.
2014-05-03 09:43:51
Peter
All this time I figured that I just didn't know what I was doing. Somehow it is reassuring to know that Word really is difficult in some areas, and I was doing just what it needed. Thanks for the clarification.
2014-05-03 07:39:43
Jim
This is a much needed tip. I can't remember the multitude of times I'm wrestled with this problem. Now all I have to remember is Ctrl-Enter.
Too easy.
Thanks.
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.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2020 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 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: 
Comments