Word: Header row won’t repeat
March 26, 2010A client sent me a Word document to fix. One of the problems they were having was that the header row on a table would NOT repeat, no matter how many times they turned on or off the setting. (NOTE: If the ‘Header Row Repeat’ option is already on, turn it off, then back on again — sometimes just doing this will solve the problem. If it doesn’t, read on…)
The first thing I noticed was that when I tried to select the header, the preceding paragraph marker was also selected. That was strange, but it was a clue that lead me to the solution.
Paragraph marker is also selected when Header Row is selected
The table had been set up with Text Wrapping turned on (Around). As soon as I changed it to None, I could select the header row independently of the preceding paragraph marker AND the header row repeated as it should.
Solved!
You can find the text wrapping option here (you need to select the table first or at least put your cursor inside the table before you can see these options):
- Word 2003: Table > Table Properties > Table tab, Text Wrapping section, select None.
- Word 2007/2010: Table Tools > Layout tab > Table group, Properties icon, Table tab, Text Wrapping section, select None.
Alternatively, right-click anywhere in the table, then select Table Properties.
Turn off text wrapping to let the Header Row repeat
I don’t know why text wrapping affects the header row repeat function, but it does. Seems strange to me — if you have a table that goes on to a new page, then surely repeating the header row should be totally independent of any text wrapping.
Another option (from the 491st comment on this post [A Nezlin, 27 Jun 2019]—I’ve added it here so it doesn’t get missed): Another tip for when nothing else works—you may want to cancel ‘Preferred width’ in the Table Properties, for the Table, Column and Cell tabs and/or ‘referred Height’ for the Row tab as one or all those properties may be keeping the formatting and preventing the header row from repeating. Strange but true…
See also:
- ‘Header row won’t repeat revisited’ for another reason why: https://cybertext.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/word-header-row-wont-repeat-revisited/
CyberText Newsletter 
Hi Rhonda
You may also find that the line before the table had “Keep with next” chosen in the paragraph formatting. Which is a good thing because it keeps the heading with the table, but needs to be turned off to fix the issue first. Often just clicking on the line before the table and changing to “Normal” style can help.
cheers
Natalie
This was a wonderful tip! It had been frustrating me for ages!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!!
This tip saved my day!
Ditto – you have just saved me a huge amount of wasted time & frustration! Thank you so much!
Thank you!!!!!!!!!
[…] But no matter what I did, it just wouldn’t repeat on the next and subsequent pages. I looked for a selected paragraph mark above it, but there was nothing […]
Mahalo! This saved me a great deal of frustration!
Great – worked for me. Don’t know why this commonly seen problem since the very first versions of word hasn’t had better rigour introduced into Word 2010 so it works properly. I mean – if text wrapping stuffs up repeating header row, why not advise user of this problem when the user is selecting that option??
Maybe the response is that famous tech line: “That’s not a bug – that’s the functionality!”
This worked for me – very much appreciate the tip!
Your “solution” works for the same situation in Word 2010!!
Just had this problem the other day. This didn’t work for my problem but found something that did. Figured out that the second page of the table was wrapping into the page header. Tried everything to reconstruct that table to display outside of the header, with no luck.
Figuring the problem must reside in the section properties, I (1) cut the section content, (2) deleted all surrounding section breaks, (3) re-inserted new section breaks and formatting, then pasted the content back into the new section. Voilà! Finally got it!
I’ve also seen tables flow off the page into nothingness — they won’t flow on to the next page as they should. If you check the table properties for such a table, you’ll probably find that it has Text wrapping set to Around. By selecting None instead, the table will bounce back on to the page and flow correctly on to the next page.
–Rhonda
You saved my day,
Thank you
You rock!!!
Thank you! Thank you!! Helped me!
I can not thank you enough!!!!!!!!
Thank you. Even though Text Wrapping “none” was selected I clicked on it again and presto!! – the header repeated.
Karon
I found that in Word 2010 the header won’t repeat when formatted to “multiple” line spacing (under Paragraph). Changed that to single, and the problem vanished.
Thank you for that! Although I feel I know Word relatively well, it still gets me stumped every now and again!!
really
thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i felt that if there is somebody who save your life and wana say for him THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Fantastic! I went to three other sites for help on this problem, and none work until yours!
Thanks a lot.
Thanks, good tip.
Thank you for the help. However this did not resolve my issue, so I’ll pass along what i did to resolve it.
1- I selected the whole table (using the Alt+Num5)
2- Press the Ctrl+x to cut the table
3- Create a new document
4- On the new document, press Ctrl+V to paste the table
5- Verify that you can enable the Header Row as per this newsletter
6- On the old document, open the “Outline View”
7- Go to the last line on the document
8- Go to your new document and copy the table (see step 2)
9- Go to the old document, place the cursor in the last line and press Ctrl+V to paste the table
10- You should now have the header row across multiple pages.
thank you so much for this. it worked! i really appreciate you taking the time to share this piece of advice. thanks again.
Thank you so much for this tip, it has been bothering me for years and I would never have figured this out on my own!
Heading Rows Repeat for 2010????
Hi Karen
The steps should be the same as for Word 2007.
–Rhonda
Thank you!! Worked for me and stopped me fiddling around with my document any longer. :-)
OMG — thank you! Saved my day!
Thank you so so much. This was been driving me crazy the last day….
Thank you, I spent hours to try to fix this. It is the same procedure with Word 2010. Merci beaucoup.
There’s one more (at least one) method worth checking: select whole table (by clicking on it’s handle in upper-left corner), then in table properties UNCHECK header row repeating. Back to table – select 1st row only and in table properties CHECK header row repeating.
Works (for me at least) when this solution doesn’t help (probably some other problem -large table c&p from other document with merged cells – c&p into wordpad and back as other solutions suggest ends up with total mess)
Thanks (g) your method worked for me! None of the others did.
Thank you so much. This was incredibly helpful.
This was extremely helpful. We struggled for a half hour, then I decided to google this query, and hey presto! it worked!
Thanks man ayri fik
GREAT TIP! This has been driving me nuts forever.
Thank YOU!!!!!!!!! I have had trouble with this for such a long time! AWESOME!!!!
we tried all of these things but it didn’t work :(
my colleague has a table within a table though – so don’t know if this makes a difference. when I c&p teh table to a new document it was fine…
The below method worked for me when none of the others would and it was so much easier too. Thanks to the person who posted this above!
:)
There’s one more (at least one) method worth checking: select whole table (by clicking on it’s handle in upper-left corner), then in table properties UNCHECK header row repeating. Back to table – select 1st row only and in table properties CHECK header row repeating.
Works (for me at least) when this solution doesn’t help (probably some other problem -large table c&p from other document with merged cells – c&p into wordpad and back as other solutions suggest ends up with total mess)
Thank you! Thank you!! I had been fighting with this for quite some time. This was an easy fix. :)
Thank you, this worked for me :-)
Thank you so much for posting this…..I was getting very frustrated and this fixed it! :)
Joining the many thank you messages.
[…] Header row won’t repeat? Try this: https://cybertext.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/word-header-row-wont-repeat/ […]
You just saved me many hours of “dumb searching” & time; I will gladly buy you a cuppa java; have one on me too!
thanks! I’ve been trying to fix this for 2 hours and now it works!
Thank you for this! I have been struggling with this issue and never could figure it out!
Relief – thank you! but why is so complicated in the first place?!
Great tip!
OMG. You’ve been a great help! Thanks~
Thank you!
Genius. Thank you so much
Yup workerd perfectly!!!!!!
Thank You so much, working on a requirements document and using a table lifted from another doc. This issue was driving me CRAZY!!!
Dana J.
York, SC
Thanks – This was very helpful.
Thanks for the Tip! It worked wonderfully
Of course, Microsoft “help” was totally useless. I would have been here until midnight, banging my head against the wall – Thanks SO Much!!! You are my hero!!!!!
Doesnt work for my table. wraparound is off. simply wont repeat.
There’s one more (at least one) method worth checking: select whole table (by clicking on it’s handle in upper-left corner), then in table properties UNCHECK header row repeating. Back to table – select 1st row only and in table properties CHECK header row repeating.
Works (for me at least) when this solution doesn’t help (probably some other problem -large table c&p from other document with merged cells – c&p into wordpad and back as other solutions suggest ends up with total mess)
by (g) September 8, 2011 at 4:07 pm
^^^THIS! None of the other solutions worked for me. Thanks!
Worked so well I almost pooed.
Thanks!
Thank you! Your Post was very helpful and saved me alot of time to resolve!!
I’m using MS Word 2003.
Looks like using the ‘Table Properties’ setting on the right-click context menu won’t work. I had to check the ‘Heading Rows Repeat’ option on the table menu.
The ‘Heading Rows Repeat’ option applies to the row you are on, so it is possible to check it for multiple rows and have them repeat.
Hi Mat
I also use Word 2003 (though not for much longer), and have no trouble right-clicking and getting Table Properties. You can also access it from the menu — Table > Table Properties.
If you can’t get some of the right-click actions, either your installation of Word has been locked down in a corporate environment, or you may need to close and re-open Word to see if that ‘clears’ it.
–Rhonda
Thank you!!!! You saved me from pulling out the rest of my hair.
You’ve solved a problem I’ve run into several times over the years – leaving a sad trail of headless tables on 2nd pages. Thank you!
You rock! Thank you.
I’ve been searching for nearly an hour and you’ve made me day!! Thank you!!!!
Don’t you just love the internet. Thank you so much. I was trying to figure this out on my own, but no luck for hours.
Thanks for this great help. I’ve wasted a heap of time trying to solve this nonsense. Even our IT dept were bamboozled. Not surprising that this crap happens in a f..cked program like Word. It is so illogical unlike Wordperfect, where you know exactly what it is doing by checking the codes. Unfortunately we all suffer now because nearly every organisation uses Word. As they say”garbage in garbage out”
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great stuff. Saved me a lot of messing around :)
Hallelujah! Thank you!
You’re a star! Was trying to fix this for AGES!!
I can’t believe it!!! I’ve been facing this issue forever! Thank you, thank you!
thanks bro !
Turning off text wrapping fixed my problem. This does not make sense and I never would have figured it out.
THANK YOU!!! just what i was looking for :)
Thank you! I have been struggling with this, and couldn’t find an answer on Microsoft. What a BIG help!
Hallelujah! Worked like a charm–such an easy solution to a problem that was driving me mad! Thank you!
Thank you soooo much for being so helpful and devoted to helping others save time xxx
thanks a lot ………was trying since long but saved precious time.
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This information excellent thank you so much.
The previously mentioned tip from (G) was what worked for me too (and at least 4 others in this stream). Thank you!!!
There’s one more (at least one) method worth checking: select whole table (by clicking on it’s handle in upper-left corner), then in table properties UNCHECK header row repeating. Back to table – select 1st row only and in table properties CHECK header row repeating.
Works (for me at least) when this solution doesn’t help (probably some other problem -large table c&p from other document with merged cells – c&p into wordpad and back as other solutions suggest ends up with total mess)
by (g) September 8, 2011 at 4:07 pm
Thanks a billion times!!1
Thanks so much! I couldn’t figure it out on my own.
OMG so helpful! This worked great!
Add another satisfied customer to your tip blog!
Great tip, it worked!
OMG, THANK YOU!
This tip works for me; many thanks
Thanks – I’ve battled with this so many times – and would never have thought of changing this setting. I guess we should ask is this a bug or a feature? I’m inclined to think the former.
Thank You!!! If my husband weren’t out of work, I’d have sent enough for a fancy latte, but I at least sent enough for a donut to go with your coffee… :)
There’s one more (at least one) method worth checking: select whole table (by clicking on it’s handle in upper-left corner), then in table properties UNCHECK header row repeating. Back to table – select 1st row only and in table properties CHECK header row repeating.
Works (for me at least) when this solution doesn’t help (probably some other problem -large table c&p from other document with merged cells – c&p into wordpad and back as other solutions suggest ends up with total mess)
by (g) September 8, 2011 at 4:07 pm
What the poster said above!!!
Thank you SO MUCH dude (or dudette).
THANK YOU!!
Solved my problem. Thanks for the insight!
Solved it. Thanks!
THANK YOU!!! I just spent about 45 minutes trying to work this out, and off all of the tips I found (thanks to google) this is the one that worked.
Worked!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
Thank you!! This fixed the problem I’ve been frustrated with for days.
Thank you!! Problem solved! This problem has caused me such a headache when trying to produce documents for work. All sorted now.
Thank you………….. :)
Thank you SO much! Have been going around in circles to make it work
Bliss.
Thank you very much – you are great!!
Thank you so much!!!! I have always had this problem and have never been able to find a solution. Changed my life!
Fantastic!! Thankyou….
The advice below, posted by “g” on 9/28/2011 at 4:07pm, is the only solution that worked for me in Word 2007. THANK YOU G!!!!
“There’s one more (at least one) method worth checking: select whole table (by clicking on it’s handle in upper-left corner), then in table properties UNCHECK header row repeating. Back to table – select 1st row only and in table properties CHECK header row repeating.”
Excellent! The only website that had nice simple instructions on how to solve this problem. Thank you!
Thank you very much, this website help me so much
Holy crap, I have been fighting this ALL day. Thank you
Thank you!!! I spent one hour trying to figure this out. With your info, fixed in 10 seconds!
“There’s one more (at least one) method worth checking: select whole table (by clicking on it’s handle in upper-left corner), then in table properties UNCHECK header row repeating. Back to table – select 1st row only and in table properties CHECK header row repeating.
Works (for me at least) when this solution doesn’t help (probably some other problem -large table c&p from other document with merged cells – c&p into wordpad and back as other solutions suggest ends up with total mess)”
This is the only thing that worked for me. Thank you so very much!
thank you. you solved my problem.
Thank you for such a simple and effective explanation. This information was not available in Word help. Thanks so very, very much.
To make your header repeat, put the cursor in the original header row (I used the left cell). Under the Table Tools/Layout tab click Repeat Header Rows. It worked for me.
And that’s how it’s normally done, Glenn. But sometimes you can turn that option on but it won’t work not matter how many times you try. This blog post addresses the times when it doesn’t work.
-_Rhonda
Awesome! Awesome! Thanks for the tip!
Thank you so much! I followed your instructions and it worked fine!
Please accept my gratitute!
Thank you! This worked for me!!
Thank you so much, I just spent an hour trying to figure out why one minute I had the rows repeating and the next they weren’t. I have an important presentation to complete and was ready to throw my computer out the window! This fixed everything!
thank you! worked for me too.. :)
Hurrah! I was going crazy!
Wow! First posted three years ago and it is still helping people. Thanks very much!
Solved my frustration too, wish I came here before trying office.com!
This totally worked! Thanks!
Thanks so much from another user who spent hours trying to figure it out.
I wanted to tell you how grateful I am for the time and effort you took to document this problem and the solution. I was getting very frustrated and looked online and found your solution. Thank you for being a ‘Good Samaritan’ and looking out for others in the same situation. With sincere gratitude.
Very grateful – this has been a frustration to me for ages – wonderful to have the riddle solved.
Awesome…many thanks! One down on the long list of frustrating Word idiosyncracies…
you just saved me hours of fighting with Word! thanks so much!
It worked! Finally, thank you!
Fantastic, your a peach – be blessed!
I have struggled for two days and I couldn figure out why some tables would behave as such in my work and not others. I did a some googling and at last u brought me right to the heart of my problem thanx a zillion u have saved a lot of my endless efforts
Thank you, such a simple and quick fix!
Works in Word 2010 too!!
Thank you! Could not figure that one out!
I can not believe it is still the case for Office 2010, in 2013.
Thank you for the post, I had been struggling with this problem in one of my documents recently
I, too, noticed the paragraph symbol being grabbed when I highlighted the row and figured that was the problem. A quick internet surf brought me to your answer. Thanks!!
Brilliant!!! Thank you so much!
Finally the solution. Thank-you
Thank you SO much for figuring it out and sharing it with all of us. You fixed the problem for me!!
this was so helpful! thanks :)
OMG. Thank you. The text wrapping was the problem. I also had tried everything.
Thank youuu!!
Thanks Mate!!!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU x infinity!!!!!!!!!
I cannot believe how frustrating this has been for me – thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!! You got my vote for Nobel Peace Prize.
omg how weird, but you made my table header reappear! thanks :)
This one resolved my problem:
There’s one more (at least one) method worth checking: select whole table (by clicking on it’s handle in upper-left corner), then in table properties UNCHECK header row repeating. Back to table – select 1st row only and in table properties CHECK header row repeating.
Thank you for this tip because I tried everything else and this worked.
This was realy helpful. Thank you so much!!!!!
Same for me – the text wrapping was the problem! Great solution to a problem that was driving me mad.
Yeah.. it works!
finally managed to resolve this…which happens a lot to me! Thank you very much ;-)
What about word 2010 – there is no ‘table properties’ and although i’ve tried all these tips using equivalent icons, still no luck…any ideas?
got it!!!!
After trying all other suggestions to no avail you’re quick and easy fix was most welcome, thank you :)
I, too, was having this problem, but have found the 100% foolproof method of accomplishing this task every time:
1. LEFT click on table handle at top left of table.
2. Under Table Tools tab on command bar, select Layout.
3. Select Properties on drop down menu.
4. Select Row in menu box.
5. This step is the most critical: Note the box entitled “Repeat as Header…” It may be checked, shaded blue, or blank. It MUST be blank, so rotate through the check/uncheck process and leave it BLANK. In any case, rotate through the choices by mouse clicking until it is again blank and select OK.
6. You are now returned to the table. Select the row or contiguous rows that you want to use as your page header row(s). Note that if you use multiple rows as a header, the selected rows must be contiguous.
7. Select Properties from the drop down menu and now check the box “Repeat as Header…” and select OK.
8. Done.
Thank you so much! So helpful!!
Thanks a lot. I was facing the problem of “row not repeating as header for a word table”. It was resolved by turnning off the text arapping to none for a word document
oh my gosh – I was fighting with word for way too long trying to solve this problem. turning off text wrapping worked. THANK YOU.
Roger, many thanks – the other fixes above didn’t work with my doc, but your process did – thanks so much :)
Roger, thanks a lot. ur post still helping people like me. :D
Yahoo! It did the trick. I was struggling invain to repeat the header on subsequent pages in a Word doc. When I started with a new table the header did appear on other pages. As soon as I added content only the header row stayed in the first page and all other rows jumped to the next page. Your tip worked like a miracle. This is a CLASSIC ADVICE.
Thanks a lot.
Vijjy – India
Roger, i figured out this solution myself after playing with the table for almost 3 months on and off. I wish I had been diverted to your post when i faced the problem. This issue was driving me nuts :)
Thanks for the tips and suggestions, there might be some hidden links with the table I was working with. so I used the cut and paste into another doc, fixed the issue and then repasted int old doc.
Microsoft must have read this fix. I does no longer work, at least on my laptop. Good on you Microsoft, got us again back to frust!
Hi John
It still works for me in Word 2010 — in fact I used this trick just yesterday. What version of Word are you using? and is it on Windows or a Mac?
–Rhonda
Thank you so much!!!! Save me time!!
Many web sites, many different solutions….
The text wrapping solution worked for me, THANKYOU
Wonderful!!!! Had been racking my brain on this one.. thanks!!!!!!!!!!!
There are many websites stating different solutions…………….But this one is the best…………Thanks
Thanks a lot… You saved my lot of time…. Word is several time frustating… which issue link to what, nobody knows….
This was a HUGE HUGE help! Thank you so much!
You save my day. Thank you!!!!
Thank you so much.
Thanks
Thank you!!
Thank you! It helped me a lot!!
Perfect – fixed the problem after much frustration!
Right on the money. Fixed the problem immediately.
This is terrific. I wasted an hour on this. Thanks
YESS! Thank you!!
So many thank yous here for you and here is yet another. You are a life saver!!!
Great job well done. Two technical authors and I were trying to resolve this issue without success, I then found this post. A new one on me.
omg you are a genius!!! thank you so much!
Brilliant! I consider myself good with Word, but I couldn’t figure this one out! Six stars on scale of five!! :-)
Wow this worked for me too – you would think word would give a warning when you select “Repeat as header…” that it won’t repeat because…
thank you very much!
Another thankyou, like others I wasted time trying to fix this. It still goes wrong in word 2013.
thank you so much , it saved my day
Thank you! You saved me so much to get this fixed!
you are awesome! saved my day…….
Thank you!!!
I couldn’t figure how to get the header row to repeat. Thank you for solution to the problem.
Thank you so much for your help. I’ve been struggling with this for a long time.
Thanks a lot – this helped me a lot. While I could have always recreated the table, this gives me a permanent solution to the problem :)
Best tip. EVER.
Oh my god, you have literally saved my life. My boss was going to kill me, chop me up and feed me to his dogs if I didn’t get this working. Thanks so much!!
Years later,this tip has really come in handy i had been struggling with the thing for a few minutes.thank you very much.
Thank you! This tip allowed me to rescue my husband (I shudder to think how long he struggled before asking for help…….)
Thanks for this tip. This problem kept me from finishing the document that I was working on. Your a great help.
Thank you so much from another infinitely frustrated Word user
Thanks so much for posting this tip. It solved a frustrating problem for me.
God Bless,
In Jesus,
Suresh
Thanks so much, this solved my issue!
Thank you very helpful
Thankyou so much for making this post !! this tiny niggly thing had been driving me CRAZY for over an hour ! Bravo … you solved it. thanks again.
Thank you!! That was driving me nuts! What an odd/simple solution!
Thanks, a great tip, and it works well.
Awesome!! Thanks for the help! This is great!
This is one frustrating issue which MS is yet to fix. Thanks worked at last.
BRILLIANT tip….thanks for this and thank you to the help tool which leads us to you…
Made my day :) thnx a ton
OMG why didn’t I search and find this tip an hour ago?! Thanks very much!
Thank you! This was driving me crazy.
Thank you so much! I have been trying to fix this document for a week! I followed so many complicated instructions, and this one only took one click, and actually worked!
Thanks! it saved a hell lot of time. Thank you very much great tip.
Thank you! So so helpful; I really appreciate the advice!
Works v good, Thanks
Thank you so much, works perfectly
Wow! Thanks!
OMG thank you. So frustrating.
None of this works for me. I suspect it’s because I have some rows with merged cells and some without. When I click on the table handle, it selects only the first 2 rows, as though that was the whole table. Also, if I select more than the top 2 rows, I can’t see Table Properties any more. Word thinks this is multiple tables with no space between them for some reason.
Hi Steve
Yes, it sounds like there is more than one table, which appear to be merged but actually aren’t merged at all. You could try a few things:
* Zoom in to about 250% to see if there’s a TINY paragraph between the tables
* split the table at various points to see what happens, then remove the empty spare paragraph created when you split the table to see if you can get it back together as one table. You’ll know it’s one table when you can select the table ‘handle’ and the entire table is selected.
Worst case: Re-create the table from scratch. Not always a good option, but sometimes it’s easier than trying to figure out what went wrong. There’s a ‘return on investment’ tipping point where it’s quicker and easier and less stressful to re-create than to continue to pursue dark alleyways in the hope of finding an answer.
–Rhonda
THANKS!!!!!
holy fish an’ chips, I cannot believe this is still valid in office 2013! Thanks a lot!!
I just found out, there is one other problem that might prevent you to repeat headers. Do this -> Click in Header Row->Click Table Properties->Click ‘Row’ Tab->Uncheck ‘Specify Height’
Wow, what an amazing tip. Looks like it’s been to go to solution for 4 years now. Thank you!
Big… Thanks…….for the help..
Thank you! It was a nightmare until I saw your post :)
Thank you for this! So much appreciated.
For the first time I came across this issue, and I am thankful to people like you for putting the solutions to problems like these out there for people to find. Thank you!
My ongoing frustrations with this issue have just been solved! You’re a genius. :)
Thank you!!!! Solved my problem!!!!
This is by far the best tip in word! Saved loads of time too. Thank you for posting
WOOOOO HOOO! I have spent a good amount of time trying to figure this out.
THANK YOU for saving my sanity! :)
THANK YOU SO MUCH. Text wrapping was the issue.
Perfect. Worked for me.
I’m using Word 2013.
Thank you SOOOOOOO Much!!!! You saved me …
THANK YOU! this was driving me crazy
IT WORKED!!!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!
WOW Boy WOW!!! You saved! A Nobel prize for you on behalf of me
So very simple yet very effective! Thank you so much!! I’ve been frustrated with this for so long if I tell you how long I’ll give my age away!!!!
Thank you for the great help with this.
Cannot thank you enough for this tip. Cheers!
What a life-saver! Thank you for sharing this information. I work with tables all of the time and this will make my life much more simple!
Thank you – I was going crazy – it worked like a charm!
I’ve looked at so many forums, and nobody came up with this solution. It worked great. Thank you so much. I will pass the word.
Awesome! It worked perfectly!!!
Response from user ‘g’ worked for me…
“Select whole table (by clicking on it’s handle in upper-left corner), then in table properties UNCHECK header row repeating. Back to table – select 1st row only and in table properties CHECK header row repeating”.
Thanks very much!
Response from user ‘g’ worked for me…
“Select whole table (by clicking on it’s handle in upper-left corner), then in table properties UNCHECK header row repeating. Back to table – select 1st row only and in table properties CHECK header row repeating”.
Thanks very much!
thanks a lot for this easy solution, i spent hours trying to figure out what is wrong.
many thanks
When all the other suggestions above didn’t work, I had a thought…. My table had merged cells in it. What if I put all the cells back? Viola! Now it worked! (By the way, I had to do the copy and paste suggestion too)
Also, once I put the table back into my doc, I merged the cells back like they were before.
yessssssssssssssss!
Thanks so much. In just a few seconds I fixed something that my company’s IT help desk could not in 15 minutes online
Thank you very much! Very helpful tip! :)
OK another solution if the other methods above are not working. It may be that Word perceives two tables where you see only one, and that is why it is not adding your headers to the end of the table. Try to select your table by clicking on its handle in the upper left corner — if this results in only the top rows of your table being selected, then you actually have two tables not one. You may add rows to the top table by going to the end of the selection and pressing tab. You may then cut and paste entries from the bottom table into the newly created rows. When you have finished copying the information to the top table, delete the bottom table rows. You now have one table with headers on every page.
Good solution, Tom. Yes, I’ve seen tables butted up against each other like this, and nested tables too – both of which could result in a header row not repeating as it should.
THANK YOU! – Worked like a charm.
Excellent; thank you.
Just got snagged on this issue. What a weird thing to cause repeat header not work. Thank you very much for posting this fix.
Thank you!!!:)
Very helpful – thanks for posting it
Thank you, worked for me!
I echo everyone’s sentiment here :) Thank you so much!
Thank you very much, this helped me instantly. Works like a charm! Thx a lot
Thank You! I happened on this issue for the very first time and your answer was a Godsend when I needed something done ASAP.
Thanks – just wanted to let you know your solution is still helping people, even five years later.
Thanks for the info.. It helped me
Unbelievable! Who would have thought this was the reason?! It’s definitely something MSFT needs to fix. I fully agree that “if you have a table that goes on to a new page, then surely repeating the header row should be totally independent of any text wrapping.!!”
Thank you SO much for your help. It’s clear many others have had this problem & we are grateful to you for posting this tip. Thank you!
Thanks a lot this has been driving me crazy!
Thank you :)
You rock!! Many thanks. :)
Thank you, worked for Word 2010 : )
Thank you :)
I can’t thank you enough for this solution. I would never have known to look for that.
5 years on and this solution still rocks…cheers
OMG-THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.
Original solution fixed my problem. Thank you so very much. Given that this “feechur” has existed for so long (5 years and counting) I presume Micro$oft has consided it “Working as Designed”. However, the rest of the real world considers it “Broken As Designed” (aka BAD).
Thanks a ton (g). You just made my life much easier. Was stuck with this issue for couple of hours and your tip is such a relief!
thanks a lot, u fixed my problem.
You are a life saver, I didnt have any clue how to solve this problem. Thanks man for sharing.
I was so frustrated — thank so much. It still makes me ask why in the world turning off wrapping would affect it. Oh Well! Thanks again!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thank you indeed. Another grateful frustrated Word user!
Roger, nothing else worked. Yours was the only solution for my problem. Many thanks.
Thank you – my header row wouldn’t repeat for yet another reason, and this post and the comment from Natalie Grimm led me to that reason. In my case it was the header row of the table itself that was formatted to “Keep with next”. Clearing this allowed the header row to repeat
Thank you so much for this tip, it worked for me – I had been going around in circles :)
Thank you very much. It worked for me. I wonder how in my case the word wrap came to not be selected as none. For several sessions with a table spanning some 35 pages it worked, and keep with next for certain rows of cells also worked. Then something happened and both stopped working. Until I Googled the problem and found this solution. Now both work again.
You are a genius!!!! Thanks for much for taking the time to write a solution to help others!
This is absolutely BRILLIANT! THANK YOU. And to think, this was posted five years ago and is STILL a problem with the table function, and this solution still works.
This solution worked for me on one document several weeks ago but I just had another today and it didn’t work at all, the “none” button was not clickable! I then opened a new Word document, prepared the same page layout as in original document, copied and pasted the table .The text wrap button was now clickable and the solution worked again. I thought this might be helpful to someone. Thanks again!
For me, I had to first turn on “allow row to break across pages”, before the header row repeat would work. After the header row began repeating, I turned back off the row breaking. Thanks for all the great tips guys!
Have been trying to fix this for an hour now as my assignment is due in four hours! you’re a lifesaver and i love you
thanks very much :-)
thank you!!!! very helpful tip.
Thanks for sharing – super helpful tip!
wow, thank you! I’ve been struggling with this for the longest time.
this is brilliant. thank you
Thank you
Thanks, that was handy!
thank you! I always wondered what the solution was, but never had time to search for it. now you really helped! thanks again!
A great BIG THANK YOU!!! So very helpful!
Never too late to say thank you!!
Thank you so much!!!
I am so grateful to find this solution, I have been working on this issue for days! THANK YOU!
Thank you. Finally the frustration is over!!
Thank you. Worked a treat
ditto on you being a GENIUS!!!
Thanks so much for this – really helpful!!
OMG – thank you – it was driving me crazy!
thanks a lot for sharing ,,its really helpful
Dude, You Are A Genius!!
Stuck with this error over weekend (with my due thesis)
Today i googled it and found your blog
Great job mate :’)
THANK U SOOOOO MUCH I WAS STRUGGLING SINCE HALF AN HOUR…IT REALLY WORKED…..THANKS A LOT
Another thank you – saved my New Year brain from melting!
Thanks so much
thank you so much…
There’s one more (at least one) method worth checking: select whole table (by clicking on it’s handle in upper-left corner), then in table properties UNCHECK header row repeating. Back to table – select 1st row only and in table properties CHECK header row repeating.
Works (for me at least) when this solution doesn’t help (probably some other problem -large table c&p from other document with merged cells – c&p into wordpad and back as other solutions suggest ends up with total mess)
by (g) September 8, 2011 at 4:07 pm
^^^^ This solution from (g) is the only one that worked for me. Thank you (g) for sharing the tip with us.
Thank you! This just fixed a problem I was having too:)
thanks!
Thank you so much! I truly appreciate your help!
Brilliant! I run into this problem frequently and it is so frustrating. When I checked my table properties “None” was selected, but the box on the Row Tab for “Repeat as header row at the top of each page was grayed out.” I read through all the tips here and sure enough, I found the solution. THANKS to everyone!!!
Awesome. Wish I looked at this page much earlier. Thanks a ton!
THANK YOU!! No one else had been able to address this, this is great. And ridiculous that it occurs.
OMG….after one hour trying to solve the issue I googled my problem and yours was the 2nd answer I checked… it solved it!!
I had to unclick and click again on “repeat title” and…tadaaaaan!! love you
Awesome ! It worked for me.
Thank you very much for the smart solution to my problem
Selecting the text wrapping ‘none’ box has saved the day for me – I was sooo frustrated and so, am hugely appreciative. Many, many thanks.
Thank you so much! That worked like a charm.
Wow, thanks for figuring that out.
Whoever left this comment, thank you very much, a very simple option and the only one that worked for me.
There’s one more (at least one) method worth checking: select whole table (by clicking on it’s handle in upper-left corner), then in table properties UNCHECK header row repeating. Back to table – select 1st row only and in table properties CHECK header row repeating.
Works (for me at least) when this solution doesn’t help (probably some other problem -large table c&p from other document with merged cells – c&p into wordpad and back as other solutions suggest ends up with total mess)
Thanks so much! This is the most helpful post ever!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! It finally worked! I’ve been on the web looking for a solution, and after about 20 minutes found this site. I really appreciate your sharing your knowledge. :)
Thanks SO much!!!
Good god, thank you. This just saved me so much time.
Thank you, it worked :)
You legend! Thanks. That was seriously doing my head in! I note 4 million other appreciative user above also! Kudos.
Kudos to you! This and your other post fixed my header issues.
Thank you a gazillion times! I was going crazy cause I couldn’t figure out how to fix this! You saved my sanity!
Thank you – this resolved my issue!
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you very much! Problem solved :)
Thank you!! This solved my problem after reading so many other ‘help’ pages, the text wrapping was my problem!
Thanks! No matter how long a person has used Word (in my case over 20 years) there is always a “trick” that can help. Thanks!!
Thank you very much
I was very frustrated and your tip was a life saver…Thanks
SOLVED….
Also solved the problem of not allowing rows to break between pages.
THANK YOU
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! <3
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great Tip!! Repeat Headers has been frustrating me for years. I’m glad I googled this problem.
Thank you for the tip! Does Microsoft ever read these forums and seek to implement solutions?
Thanks for your tip – I’ve never had the problem before today. One table in my document was fine – but the other two had the problem.
great tip! thank you very much
Ditto – you have just saved me a huge amount of wasted time & frustration! Thank you so much!
I just battled with that for an hour before finding your tip! Thank you so much, you’ve made an old woman very happy.
Thank you!!!!
Thank you! I don’t think I would have eventually figured it out on my own (which I usually can).
Thank you SO MUCH!
Sometimes you just wish Microsoft either document better, or fix these little things.
Thank you so much!!!! This ‘problem’ was bugging me for a while and I wasted too much time trying to solve it on my own. Should have checked this out earlier :)
Thank you so much you are a genius. solved my problem which was so much time consuming
Why is this even an issue? Sigh. THANK YOU for this. You just saved me hours, if not days of frustration! Not even sure if I would have figured this out on my own without random testing!
Thank you for solving this mystery!
thank you!! Considering how long this has been going on, you would think they would have fixed it by now!
wow! I too have been struggling with this issue for quite a while. Thanks so much for solving this issue! I don’t think I would have figured this out!
Thanks a lot! it works for me right in the first try.
Brilliant! This worked for me in seconds. Thank you.
Worked a treat! Thank you so much for the help :)
thanks a lot. such a great help. it works on word 2013 as well.
Thank you. Still valid in 2016.
Genius! Thank you!!!!
Thank you! Solved my issue instantly!!!
YES, that did it!!!! You are the GREATEST!!!!!!! Thank you so much:-)
My issue was from copying a set of cells from Excel in to Word, which spanned approx 10 pages. I needed to repeat the headers, but none of the above tips worked.
For me, to get the header row to repeat, in Table Properties, at the top where is displays Row, it showed nothing for the number of rows.
If you click Previous, it then shows the maximum number of rows, in my case 60.
If you then click Next, it takes it to Row 1, and the “Repeat as head row at the top of each page” option then enabled, and ticking it and clicking OK made the header row repeat.
It appeared therefore to be Word not knowing the size of the pasted Excel table, and selecting Previous and Next, allowed it to work out where the header row was and how many rows there were in total.
If nothing works, try this… I had a similar situation. Whatever I do on the table properties, the header won’t repeat. Forget about the Table properties menu. Select the header row and go to the layout menu on the top. Under Data group, click the “Repeat Header Row” button.
It worked for me. Hope it works for you. For some reason, the table properties way is not working.
Hi Lal — your method is the standard one, but when that doesn’t work, the reason is usually the wrapping setting. This blog post deals with the situation when the usual Table Tools > Layout > Header Row Repeat DOESN’T fix it.
–Rhonda
many thanks for all
thank you!!!!
Genius!
I can’t thank you enough. I was about to rip my hair out!
Thanks..it helped me.
text wrapping ! Great tip, thank you!
This was really helpful. It solved the problem immediately.
Thanks so much …I was getting frustrated too…thank goodness for Google searches and you for posting the fix to this issue!! :-)
Thanks, I got frustrated for years!
Finally, some real help! This was exactly what I needed.
I consider myself a little expert in table related formatting but this oversight about text-wrapping of table frustrated me. Really grateful for the tip. I even went for pasting the text in excel then back to word (which actually solved the issue) but this one is excellent one.
excellent, it works Thank you.
Perfect Thanks
Thank you thank you Roger.
You are a star, thank you very much
Excellent tip. I wrestled with this for an hour.
This did not work for me, but it lead me to this solution.
I realised the entire table was selected to repeat header rows, instead of just the header row.
I could see this in Word 2010 by selecting any row of the table, selecting Table Tools > Layout in the menu bar. The icon Repeat Header Rows was selected for every row. I compared this to a working table, which only showed the header row with this icon selected.
Solution: Selected the entire table. De-selected the ‘Repeat Header Rows’ icon. Then selected just the first row of the table, then re-selected the ‘Repeat Header Rows’ icon.
FIXED !!!
I tried the solutions listed above. The only one that worked was copying and pasting the table into a new document. That worked… you might want to try that one first actually.
Turning the wrapped text option didn’t work for me until I figured out that the row “I” was calling the “header row”, because it was the one with my labels so the one I wanted to repeat, was not the header row that the “program” counted as the header row. I had to delete the first two rows that had my identifying information and PICO question in them in order for my preferred row to be seen by the program as the header row to make the repeater turn dark and become available. When I followed instructions and highlighted the 3rd row, which was the one I wanted to repeat, the option stayed grey, but when I chose the “TOP” row as the one I wanted to repeat, wallah!, it was available. Wasn’t exactly how I wanted the formatting to turn out, but I adjusted so I had the row I wanted as a repeating header. What a headache!
Thanks, that was exactly my problem. The power of the interweb :)
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
Thank you
Thank you!!!!!!! That worked!!!!!!
This turned out to be the problem in my document as well, now fixed. Thank you!
You saved my LIFE!!! Thank you!
Thank You browww.
Thank you very much!
Thanks so much – have just spent far too long trying to sort this out. Much appreciated
OMG. You’re my hero!!!! Thanks so much. Just fixed the stupid thing!!!!!
Still helping! Thank you!
I really appreciate you it is useful
Thank you – took 2 seconds very straightforward
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
thanks! perfect solution
Problem solved – thank you so much
Thank you, it worked. I never would have figured that out!
Thank you, it works for me too!
This one is still a winner! Big help, thankyou.
Thank you, awesome tip in a frustrating situation. I never would have figured that out on my own.
Thank you for this tip! I was so frustrated and ready to give up until I googled this and found your page.
Finally, this works!! Thanks a lot for commenting this…
There’s one more (at least one) method worth checking: select whole table (by clicking on it’s handle in upper-left corner), then in table properties UNCHECK header row repeating. Back to table – select 1st row only and in table properties CHECK header row repeating.
Works (for me at least) when this solution doesn’t help (probably some other problem -large table c&p from other document with merged cells – c&p into wordpad and back as other solutions suggest ends up with total mess)
Thank you! It worked! I was getting sooooo frustrated. Why did I not know this already :D
Worked for me! Thanks so much!!
Yay! You’re awesome – thank you for the solution and saving me from wasting time unnecessarily.
Thanks 😊
thank you. love u
Thank you very very much
GREAT!!! It’s woork!!
Immense thanks!
Wow! Just tried this in Word 2016 (full patched) and worked!
Thanks for time saving tip !!!
Hi,I’m using MS-10
I have tried all the above options but still not able to get the headers repeat on the pages. rtf has table inside the grid and it was developed in Arabic.
Original rtf has Repeat as header row at the top of each page as deselected and greyed out. rtf also looks to setup with multiple grid lines.
Please help me to solve the issue. I’ve performed the below steps.
1. Changed the text wrapping to NONE
2. Selected the required header row and split the table.
Hi Sabarish
You say that the table is inside a grid — I’m not I understand what you mean by that. If you mean it’s inside another table, then I don’t think you can repeat the header row of a nested table, only the main table.
–Rhonda
Thank you very much for helping me. Yes, the properties were on around, as soon as I turned it into none the command worked.
Thanks for the tip. If what the author suggests still doesn’t work, try this:
1. Turn header row off.
2. Save the document and close.
3. Open the document again and turn header row on.
This worked for me.
This just worked for me…this is helpful
WOW! Thank you so much, greatly appreciate the fix. This was the only thing that worked!
YOU ARE A GENIUS!!!
Thank you!
Thank you!!!
Thank you. This is really a lifesaver! Okay, maybe not my life, but my time and my sanity (both of which are in short supply).
Thank You! This is the best tip ever. Who knew.
YOU ARE A GENIUS THANKYOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you!!! You saved another lowlife’s day!
this worked perfectly for me and I doubt that I would have figured it out on my own. thank you!
it is very helpful,
thank you
Thank You. Thank You. Thank You!
You are a wonderful person, thank you!
Many thanks!!!
You have saved me a lot of frustration. This was driving me mad! Thank you so much.
Thanks for the tip! 8 years later it helped me solve this issue.
Dan
Ditto, 8 years later your tip is still relevant. Well done!
One of the most useful tip I’ve read in a while. Thank you.
THANK YOU! The word wrapping fixed the problem. So weird. You are awesome!
Thank you so much! Worked perfectly!
Proof of a great tip–it’s still relevant 5 years (plus!) later. Thank you! You saved the day!!!
you could also check if the table is split anywhere – unsplit it, that might work, did for me
Thank You. This tip helped to resolve the problem.
Thank you! You saved the day.
THANK YOU!!!
Amazing, thank you, this worked!!!!!
Thank you. Have been stuck for months.
Thank you so much. That was the real solution!
I struggled for months if not years; after reading this, all is well.. Thank you!
Just don’t know how to thank you for this Tip.
Many… thanks
Literally saved my sanity. thank you
Fixed the problem straightaway, I would never have worked this out. Thank you :)
Thanks Rhonda!
There was no way anyone could have figured this out! Another weird word bug?
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! :)
Thank you so much! Nearly 10 years later and this tip is still saving lives! Incredible!
I owe you a drink of your choice. Contact me to claim this anytime you are in London. And thank you for sharing your solution – humanity needs more people like you.
A Comment attached to content inside the header row also appears to prevent repeating.
You helped me a lot. Thank you very much.
Thank you!
Thanks. I have just wasted a very frustrating hour, but thanks to you it is now sorted.
You saved my life thanks for this!
sangat membantu…Terimakasih Banyak Ilmuinya….
Thank you so much. ^_____^
At least I’m not the only one this has happened to by the look of it.
Another Microsoft wonder!
Very helpful, thank you!
ty you are my hero
My hero too! thank you thank you thank you!
Its working thank you….:-)…!
Thank you. It was very helpful
Excellent!
thank you so much, it was a great help.
Fist pump!
Thanks! That works. :)
And another tip for when nothing else works :) ==> you may want to cancel “Preferred width” in the Table Properties, for the Table, Column and Cell tabs – and/or “Preferred Height” for the Row tab – as one or all of those properties may be keeping the formatting and preventing the header row from repeating. strange but true…
Thank you ….this solved my issue.
This worked for me! Thanks for the description and instructional pics.
Thank you so much, I had spent a lot of time but your instruction worked!!!
thank you so much very helpful
Thank you for this.
You are a fregging genius!
OMG, so glad I found this answer! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thanks, it solve my issue.
Thank you ;), :)
Cheers the both tips wrap text and preferred width both helped in different circumstances – cheers
Thank you for re entering the No. 491 in your post. That worked like a charm. The problem was the whole table was clicked as a header row.
Saved me too! thank you!
thank you.
9 years saving people from the same problem!
Thank you.
People like you “make” the internet.
Ditto! Thank you many times over !!
I stubbornly lost 2hrs this morning trying to fix this same problem before finding this solution.
Legend!
What a star!
Excellent! You solved my problem. Thanks. — Pam
Bless you! This has been driving me crazy!!!
It worked, but the entire table moved to the next page. How do I fix that please?
Hi Leah
Try some of these possible solutions: https://cybertext.wordpress.com/2014/09/18/word-table-or-table-row-goes-to-next-page/
–Rhonda
Thank you so much!
Thank you! I have been researching this for a few weeks to no avial; tuning the ‘text wrapping’ off fixed the issue!
hello, like you all, I also had the same problem for quite a long time and here are some hints that I found it works to share:
1. funny clumsy – I happened to choose a table style without header and without realizing it, I kept trying in different ways to repeat my table header. Changing table style which has header and click on header and then ‘repeat header row’ makes perfect
2. Like above, text wrapping in row tab of table properties is also sometimes cause the issue of not repeating the header row. You need to choose ‘none’
3. The most weird thing is in ‘Home’ tab, paragraph, go to paragraph setting detail by clicking small arrow at the right bottom, then go to ‘Line and Page breaks’ and then check on ‘Page break before’ – I use this when I also need to split the table in some certain points
Hope some of you find this useful!
Thank you so much for this tip. It solved my problem that I thought I’d have to live with. Hard to believe that 10 years later this problem can still exist.
You are brilliant! Text Wrapping was my problem!!!
Than you so much
thank you! this was driving me nuts!
Thank you so much, this was exactly what I want to know. Then it’s solved, thanks a bunch.
I simply selected the row I want to repeat and then apply the option Repeat Header Row. It works for me. when I was doing the same by selecting whole table it was not responding.
been driving me nuts too – text wrap who would have thought ? solved . thankyou
This just worked for me, thanks for the advice.
Thank you, this worked!
legend thanks!
Thank you very much, the problem just get solved instantly… I have been looking at everywhere incl. MS official page without clue on this…
Terrific, Thank You!!
This is the most active comment section in an article I’ve seen, ever. Thanks guys for helping me out! The
Thank you very much, this really solved the mystery!!!
This did it! you are a star – thank you!
Thank you for the tip!! My table wasn’t repeating the header row because of that! Again , thank you.
Ten years later, still helping! :) Thanks!
One of the most helpful tips in my life. Have been trying to fix this for years
Many thanks
Thank you!
So glad that I found this! Saved my bacon!!
THANK YOU!!!!! Works even though the solution was so long ago!
Thank you so much for sharing this info. It saved my day! :)
Very glad this solution worked for everyone. One slight issue for me: the Table properties optino would not work after fiddling around for 10 minutes. What did work was using the Table Design / Layout settings which showed a “Repeat Header Rows” tile that could be toggled on and off. Worked! Thanks and best wishes
Thank you so much, I was so frustrated, this really helped. This is the only way it works especially tables received from someone else and a different person ends up working on it.
I have to leave a comment to express my gratitude. Thanks a lot !!
Word 2016 here, I tried your solutions but these didn’t work out. But, they are good clues. I noticed that header repeating does not work if anything in the table is selected when editing table properties > repeat as header. My table was “corrupted” by this. The solution I used is to select all cells in the table, then turn off the checkbox for repeat as header. Then I clicked in a cell (not selected), and again turn on repeat as header. I tried all of this selecting the whole table, and also only selecting the header row. But I had to undo these things to arrive at a solution. Gasp!
It was of great help. Thank you
Thank you so much, this was frustrating me to no end.
Thank you very much!!!
Your tip is still working – and still needed – nearly 12 years later Thanks! (Word 2016 user)
Thank you so much. Was a great help!
Marvelous! You’re a goddamn genius.
Well done. The longest living help line, and still going strong. Thank you!