Cannot create new table with number formatting

Question

I am struggling with creating a new table inside a existing table in word and using auto labelling to number the first column. Everytime when I tried to label one column, the first letter/number appears on one line above the table and duplicate on the first row. A lot of times contents would have gone missing and tables all collapsed to one side of the page.

It is fine if I copy and paste another already labelled table to the interior of this table. Just cannot create a new one, which is very inconvenient. I am using the version 16.106.1 on mac mini and 16.106 on macbook. Both have the same issue. My other device is on 2025 version. The 2025 version has no issue with creating tables at all.

Has anyone experienced the same thing? How can I fix it?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

This issue has been reported to Microsoft. See https://learn.microsoft.com/en-my/answers/questions/5769186/ .

Answer 2

Hi Hannah,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum! 

Have a good day and I hope you're doing well! 

I completely understand how frustrating it is when formatting glitches interrupt your workflow, especially with complex documents involving nested tables. 

I have tested this in my virtual environment running Word for Mac version 16.106, and I can confirm that I was able to reproduce the exact same behavior. It appears to be a rendering issue specific to how this version handles auto-numbering indents within a nested table cell. 

Regarding a solution, your discovery is actually the most viable workaround at the moment. Creating the child table outside, applying the formatting, and then copy-pasting it into the parent table seems to bypass the calculation error that occurs when typing directly inside. 

Alternatively, if the list inside your table isn't very long and you don't strictly need the "automatic" feature (where pressing Enter generates the next letter), you can disable the auto-format trigger to prevent the layout from breaking. Here is a quick trick: 

1. Type a. and press Space. 
2. Word will automatically convert it to a numbered list (triggering the glitch). 
3. Immediately press Cmd + Z (Undo). 
4. Word will revert the "auto-formatting" action but keep the text a. as Plain Text. You can now type your content without the table collapsing or text jumping, though you will need to type b., c. manually for subsequent rows. 

Since this is a peer-to-peer community and as a forum moderator, I do not have the direct capability to modify the software code or patch this issue. In this case, I highly recommend you send this report directly to the engineering team so they can investigate this regression in version 16.106. 

You can do this easily by going to Help > Feedback within the Word app or visiting the Microsoft Feedback Portal. This ensures the product developers see the issue and can work on a fix for future updates. 

I hope this helps clarify the situation, at least partially. If you have any updates, further questions, or if anything is unclear, please feel free to reach out anytime. 

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