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Margin outside table in MS Word

Anonymous
2023-10-09T13:09:29+00:00

In Word, is it possible to specify a margin above or below a table?

As an alternative, is there a way to create a custom border style comprising a double line lines, one of which would be white, to mimic a margin? The double line styles I see don't enable setting color and thickness of each element individually.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For business | Windows

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  1. Stefan Blom 339K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2023-10-09T13:16:59+00:00

    You can apply Spacing After to the text paragraph immediately above the table and/or Spacing Before to the text paragraph immediately below the table.

    The screen shot below provides an example. I have used the Spacing After control in the Paragraph group on the Layout tab to add 18 points of spacing below the text in the preceding text paragraph. (The screen shot is made with nonprinting marks displayed.)

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  2. Stefan Blom 339K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2023-10-11T12:23:29+00:00

    There is no way to do this that wouldn't be less than elegant, I'm afraid.

    I would recommend that you use a particular paragraph style, which is apparently one of the things you are already doing. (In Word, using styles to apply formatting is generally a good thing.)

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-10-11T12:10:46+00:00

    Hello Stefan,

    I know how to add paragraph space before/after, but I am trying to avoid manual formatting or having too many styles (I already have too many).

    My body text paragraph style only has Space Before to avoid problems when it is used before various other styles that also have Space Before (shame that Word doesn't let you define Space Between pairs of styles). I could make a separate paragraph style for body text before tables, but as I said, I'm trying to avoid too many styles.

    At the moment I have two workarounds, but I'm not happy with either one.

    1. I have a paragraph style called Small, with a 4-point font, that I use for blank lines before tables, or wherever else I need some extra space. Not elegant, but effective.
    2. Sometimes I make a very small row at the top of the table to act as a margin, and place my top border between that row and the next one. Also not elegant.

    I'd like to find a better solution if possible.

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