How to Add Captions to Tables in Microsoft Word

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This wikiHow guide will teach you how to add captions to Microsoft Word tables like you see on tutorial screenshots and textbook diagrams. You can format table captions however you'd like, and even cross-reference them in other parts of your document.

• To add a caption, select the entire table, then right-click or ctrl-click the selection and select "Insert Caption".
• You'll also find the Insert Caption icon on the References tab at the top of Word.
• You can label and number your captions and customize their location in reference to the table.

How to Add a Caption

Select the table to which you want to add a caption. Using your mouse, click and drag over the entire table to select it.

• If you still don't see this option, click the References tab and select Insert Caption on the ribbon.

• If you don't want a label in your caption, check the box next to "Exclude label from caption."

• If you want captions to be added to tables automatically, click the AutoCaption button, then choose your parameters.

Choose where to place your caption. Click the "Position" drop-down menu, and choose whether to place the caption above or below the table.

Format your captions. Captions appear italicized above or below the table in the default font. You can easily change the format of the caption by selecting it and choosing a new font face, font size, color, or other option from the Home tab as you would other text.

Cross-Referencing Captions

• This can be helpful if you want readers to refer to a captioned table for more information, or if you want to link to the table in your sources.

• If you labeled your captions with "Figure" or "Equation" instead, select that option here.
• You can also cross-reference other elements of your document, including headers and footnotes.

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Choose how to label the link. If you want to insert the entire caption, select Enter caption from "Insert reference to." Or, if you just want to insert the caption number and label, choose Only label and number.

• To follow the link to the captioned table, hold down Ctrl as you click the cross-referenced text.
• You can highlight the label or caption in the cross-reference and change its style to make it more obvious that it's a link. For example, you can make the text bold or underline it.

Creating a Caption List (Table of Figures)

• If you're not already on the page where you want to insert your caption list, go to a blank page and click the desired location.

• If you don't see it, try maximizing the Word window to view all options.

Choose how to format your table of figures. You can choose to show or hide the page number of each captioned table, use hyperlinks instead of page numbers, and even choose a style from the "Format" menu.

• If you add or remove any captions, you'll need to update the table of figures. To do so, highlight the table of figures, click the References tab, and then click Update Table.

Community Q&A

Select the caption and go into the Home tab. Select the arrow by paragraph and go over to formatting; select "Keep with Next." (This is assuming that your caption is above the table.)

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