Formatting Issues

How to Fix Word Table Borders Changing Thickness When Exported to PDF

Guest Writer Oct 10, 2026 869 views

Question details

Vertical borders in a Word table appear uneven or change thickness near the top of rows after the document is converted into a PDF file.

How to Fix Word Table Borders Changing Thickness When Exported to PDF

Product: Microsoft Word
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Exporting or saving a Word document containing formatted tables as a PDF file.
Observed behavior: When viewing the exported PDF on a screen, the vertical table borders render unevenly, with varying thicknesses near row tops. However, the document often prints correctly, indicating a potential screen-rendering artifact.

Before you start

Before making extensive formatting changes, print a test page of the exported PDF. If the physical printout shows perfectly even borders, the issue is simply a visual display artifact in your PDF viewer rather than a document error.

Solution 1Recommended

Adjust Table Cell Margins and Paragraph Spacing

Remove the top margin from the table cells and use paragraph spacing instead. This prevents Word's rendering engine from overlapping cell boundaries during the PDF conversion.

Often, the PDF conversion process struggles to perfectly align border lines when specific cell margin values push the content too close to the borders. Zeroing out the top margin and relying on paragraph spacing resolves this visual conflict.

Select the affected table

Click anywhere inside the table, then click the crosshair icon at the top-left corner to select the entire table.

Open Table Properties

Right-click the selected table and choose 'Table Properties' from the context menu.

Modify Cell Options

Navigate to the 'Cell' tab, click on the 'Options' button, and uncheck the 'Same as the whole table' box.

Set Top Margin to Zero

Change the 'Top' margin value to 0. Click 'OK' to apply the changes.

Apply Paragraph Spacing

To maintain the visual space above your text, highlight the text in the cells, go to the 'Layout' or 'Home' tab, and increase the 'Spacing Before' value in the Paragraph settings.

Formatting Tip: Using paragraph spacing instead of cell margins ensures better compatibility and cleaner rendering across different PDF viewers.

Solution 2

Adjust PDF Viewer Rendering Settings

Modify the display settings in your PDF viewer to prevent it from artificially thickening thin lines on your screen.

Seamless PDF Conversion

Export Word to PDF Flawlessly with WPS Office

Avoid frustrating rendering artifacts and border thickness issues by using WPS Writer. Its built-in PDF conversion engine ensures that complex tables, margins, and borders are exported with pinpoint accuracy, looking perfect on both screen and paper.

1. Open Your Document in WPS Writer: Launch WPS Office and open your existing Word document containing the tables.
2. Click Export to PDF: Navigate to the 'Menu' button at the top left corner and select 'Export to PDF' from the dropdown list.
3. Configure and Save: Choose your desired save location, ensure the export quality is set to 'Standard' for optimal print and display, and click 'Export'.

Highly compatible with Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx) formats and table structuresNative, high-quality PDF exporter that eliminates visual rendering artifactsFree and lightweight office suite for Windows, Mac, and LinuxConsistent cross-platform document rendering

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do table borders look thicker on screen but print normally?

This is a common visual artifact caused by how PDF viewers handle low screen resolutions. To make thin lines visible, PDF readers often artificially enhance or anti-alias them. Printers operate at a much higher resolution, so they accurately reproduce the true thickness of the borders.

Will increasing the table border thickness in Word fix the PDF issue?

Sometimes. If your borders are set to a very thin weight (like 1/4 pt), PDF viewers struggle to render them consistently. Increasing the border weight to 1/2 pt or 3/4 pt in your Word Table Properties can reduce the likelihood of uneven on-screen rendering.

Does saving as PDF using 'Print to PDF' yield better results than 'Save As'?

It can vary. Using the 'Microsoft Print to PDF' virtual printer processes the document differently than the native 'Save As PDF' function. If you are experiencing persistent border issues, trying the Print to PDF method may bypass the specific rendering glitch.

Document & File Issues