Copying and pasting a table in Word 2021

Question

Copying and pasting a table in Word 2021

Charlie Salloum 0

I have a Word 2021 document that has a separate table on each page. I have always just copied any of the previous tables I have created, inserted a page break and then just pasted the copied table onto that new page. For some reason now (this started happening last week), the only way I can insert the new table in it's original format is by showing the "paragraph marks" on ten page and then I have the option to paste it in it's original format. Otherwise the pasted table looks like it merges with the previous table. The paste options change to what I've always used when I show the "paragraph marks". Any ideas?

Charles Kenyon 168.3K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-07-11T01:21:27.24+00:00

Whenever you need to have a portion of text (including a table) start on a new page, use paragraph formatting of "page break before" on the first paragraph in the table, at least one cell in the top row in the case of a table. You can save such a table as a Quick Table for easy insertion. https://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/tables.htm#QuickTables
Charlie Salloum 0 Reputation points

2026-07-11T01:49:14.94+00:00
I have always done the following until something has changed recently:

Copied the table that I want to paste

Placed my cursor in front of the text in the beginning of the first table

Inserted a page break

Pasted the copied table selecting "Keep source formatting". I have never had to show the "paragraph marks"

The paste options have changed in the last week or so unless I show the paragraph marks

I hope this makes sense
Charles Kenyon 168.3K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-07-11T02:32:10.4533333+00:00

What you say makes sense, yes. It can be frustrating.

No one here can tell you why anything changes in Word. We are your fellow users who can help you use Word, as it is. I have been using Word for more than thirty years.

I do not know of anything changed in how Word works with pasting tables. The ideas I gave will work, though so long as you are using the desktop Word application.

I select an entire table by clicking on the table box at the top left corner.

I virtually always display non-printing formatting marks (i.e., paragraph marks). However, displaying or not displaying them has never, for me, changed anything about how Word works. It does help me be more precise in the directions I give Word and helps me understand what is going on. https://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/basic_formatting.htm#RevealCodes

3 answers

Your answer

Charles Kenyon 168.3K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-07-11T01:21:27.24+00:00

Whenever you need to have a portion of text (including a table) start on a new page, use paragraph formatting of "page break before" on the first paragraph in the table, at least one cell in the top row in the case of a table. You can save such a table as a Quick Table for easy insertion. https://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/tables.htm#QuickTables
Charlie Salloum 0 Reputation points

2026-07-11T01:49:14.94+00:00

I have always done the following until something has changed recently:

Copied the table that I want to paste

Placed my cursor in front of the text in the beginning of the first table

Inserted a page break

Pasted the copied table selecting "Keep source formatting". I have never had to show the "paragraph marks"

The paste options have changed in the last week or so unless I show the paragraph marks

I hope this makes sense
Charles Kenyon 168.3K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-07-11T02:32:10.4533333+00:00

What you say makes sense, yes. It can be frustrating.

No one here can tell you why anything changes in Word. We are your fellow users who can help you use Word, as it is. I have been using Word for more than thirty years.

I do not know of anything changed in how Word works with pasting tables. The ideas I gave will work, though so long as you are using the desktop Word application.

I select an entire table by clicking on the table box at the top left corner.

I virtually always display non-printing formatting marks (i.e., paragraph marks). However, displaying or not displaying them has never, for me, changed anything about how Word works. It does help me be more precise in the directions I give Word and helps me understand what is going on. https://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/basic_formatting.htm#RevealCodes

Answer 1

Stefan Blom 345.2K MVP Volunteer Moderator

Thanks for the sample document. Maybe I am missing something, but I don't see anything unusual happening in the document. If I add a manual page break (Ctrl+Enter) and then paste, the pasted table will normally paste as expected, that is, it won't merge with an existing table on the following page.

If there is a table at the beginning of the next page, you may have to press Enter twice to add a couple of extra paragraph marks, and then paste above those extra paragraph marks. Is that something you haven't noticed before?

Charlie Salloum 0 Reputation points

2026-07-11T00:55:05.9266667+00:00

Yes that's weird Stefan. I noticed that as well when I tested the document after I uploaded it onto the Onedrive. However, when I just tried creating a new table in a new document I had the same issue and it merged tables. There must be a setting somewhere at my end that has changed?
Stefan Blom 345.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-07-11T06:47:43.11+00:00

Yes that's weird Stefan. I noticed that as well when I tested the document after I uploaded it onto the Onedrive. However, when I just tried creating a new table in a new document I had the same issue and it merged tables. There must be a setting somewhere at my end that has changed?

If there is a setting, I don't know what it could be, I'm afraid.

I am wondering if the presence or absence of merged cells could be relevant for the copy/paste behavior. I didn't test specifically for that, though.

Answer 2

Stefan Blom 345.2K MVP Volunteer Moderator

The default behavior is that a pasted table merges with an existing table unless there is at least one paragraph mark (¶) between the existing table and the location into which you paste.

A manual page break is not always accompanied by a page break; this is especially true for older documents in compatibility mode. That may explain inconsistencies you have observed.

The setting for Text Wrapping ("None" or "Around") on the tables involved may also be relevant here.

Consider sharing a sample document in Word format (upload it to OneDrive, for example, and post a download link in this thread) so that we could take a closer look. It might help us diagnose this more in detail.

P.S. To show/hide paragraph marks (¶) as well as other nonprinting marks, click the ¶ icon on the Home tab. Or you can press Ctrl+Shift+8 if you prefer to use the keyboard.

Charlie Salloum 0 Reputation points

2026-07-10T00:25:13.9866667+00:00

Thanks Stefan. This is the link with a sample table in the doc.

https://1drv.ms/w/c/d2560ff11ab1347c/IQBavXZySNPkS74xrT-maKMlAZVZ2Mm6Od99k_eX-pyjy8w?e=uZVt5u

Please let me know how you go.

Answer 3

Dora-T 15,315 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Charlie Salloum

Based on your description, I tested the same workflow in my environment. Unfortunately, I don't have a Word 2021 environment available, so I performed the test using Microsoft 365 Word (Version 2606, Build 20131.20112, Current Channel). I was unable to reproduce the issue, as the table pasted correctly after inserting a page break, regardless of whether Show/Hide paragraph marks was enabled.

To help narrow down what might be causing this, could you please provide the following information?

-What Word 2021 version and build are you currently using? You can check this under File > Account > About Word.

-Could you send us screenshots showing:

The Paste Options that appear before turning on Show/Hide paragraph marks.
The Paste Options that appear after turning on Show/Hide paragraph marks.
A screenshot of the document when the issue occurs, showing how the pasted table appears to merge with the previous table.

To help protect any personal or organizational information, please send these screenshots via Private Message rather than posting them publicly.

-When you turn on Show/Hide paragraph marks, do you notice anything different between the two tables, such as a paragraph mark or another formatting mark that wasn't visible before?

-Does this behavior occur in all Word documents, or only in this particular document? If you create a brand new document with two simple tables, does the same issue occur?

Please understand that our initial reply may not always immediately resolve the issue. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.

I look forward to your update.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Charlie Salloum 0 Reputation points

2026-07-09T04:15:31.68+00:00

Thanks Dora. The Word Version is 2606 Build 20131.20112.

When I open a new document I can paste ok but as soon as I create a page break and try to copy and paste that table again I get the same problem. I've tried creating a new table in a new doc as well and I still get the same issue.

These are the screenshots I could take. Hope they help.
Dora-T 15,315 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-09T07:12:15.8233333+00:00

Hi Charlie Salloum

Thank you for your quick update and for providing the additional screenshots.

Based on the screenshots you shared, I performed some additional testing in my environment and was able to reproduce similar behavior.

I also noticed that I could only reproduce the behavior when the page break was inserted before the table, causing it to move to the next page. Under those conditions, I observed the same behavior that you described. However, when the page break was inserted after the table instead, the copied table pasted normally without merging into the existing table.

With that scenario, I observed the same behavior shown in your screenshots. When Show/Hide paragraph marks was turned off, Word initially displayed four Paste Options. Moving the cursor all the way to the beginning of the line changed them to three Paste Options. However, regardless of which Paste Options were displayed, the copied table was still merged into the existing table.

In my testing, I was only able to paste the copied table as a separate table by turning on Show/Hide paragraph marks, placing the cursor immediately before the Page Break, and then pasting the table. This matches the behavior you described.

I spent some additional time looking into this, but so far I haven't found any Word setting that controls this behavior or forces the copied table to always be pasted as a separate table after a page break.

You mentioned that this behavior only started occurring recently. However, as a moderator, I don't have access to Microsoft's internal systems, so I can't confirm whether this behavior is expected or whether it might be related to a change in Word.

If you believe this behavior has changed recently, I'd recommend submitting feedback through Ideas · Community so it can be reviewed by the Word product team.

In the meantime, I'd recommend continuing to use Show/Hide paragraph marks as a temporary workaround, since it allows the copied table to be pasted as a separate table as expected.

I realize this may not be the answer you were hoping for, and I sincerely appreciate your understanding.
Charlie Salloum 0 Reputation points

2026-07-09T07:35:07.19+00:00

Thanks you so much Dora for putting in so much effort in trying to find a solution for this. I'll definitely post my query to the forum you suggested. In the meantime at least I can insert the page break after thye table and get it working somewhat normally. Cheers.
Dora-T 15,315 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-09T23:18:30.1633333+00:00

Hi Charlie Salloum

Thank you for your response! I appreciate you taking the time to submit feedback to the Word product team.

If you have any other questions in the future, please feel free to reach out again.

Best regards,