How to Insert a Caption in Word (Desktop, Mac and Web)

A report or thesis with twenty charts needs labels like “Figure 1” and “Table 3” that renumber themselves when you add or move one. In the Word desktop app, select the picture, go to References > Insert Caption, pick the label and position, type your description, and click OK. Word for the web has no Insert Caption command, so the web section below explains what to do there instead.

Insert a numbered caption in the Word desktop app

These steps match Microsoft’s page on adding, formatting and deleting captions, which covers Word for Microsoft 365 and recent standalone versions on Windows.

1. Click the picture, chart, equation or table you want to caption. For a table, select the whole table by clicking the small move handle at its top-left corner, so Word knows the caption belongs to the table and not to one cell.
2. Go to the References tab and, in the Captions group, click Insert Caption. You can also right-click the item and choose Insert Caption.
3. In the Label list, choose Figure, Table or Equation. The Caption box at the top already shows the label and number, such as “Figure 1”.

4. Click at the end of the Caption box and type the punctuation and description you want, for example “: Survey responses by year”. Word doesn’t add a colon or period for you, and you shouldn’t edit the number itself, since Word manages it.
5. Open the Position list and choose Above selected item or Below selected item.
6. Click OK. The caption appears as its own paragraph in the Caption style.

Each label keeps a separate count, so a document can have Figure 1, Figure 2 and Table 1 at the same time. When you insert a new caption earlier in the document, Word numbers it correctly and later numbers adjust when fields update.

Choosing labels, position and number format

Make a label of your own

If your style guide wants “Chart”, “Exhibit”, “Photo” or “Fig.”, click New Label in the Insert Caption dialog, type the label, and click OK. The new label joins the list and starts its own sequence at 1. To remove a custom label you no longer use, select it in the list and click Delete Label.

Above or below

A common convention puts table captions above the table and figure captions below the picture, and that is how many university and business templates work. Some style guides, such as APA, put both the number and title above. Pick one rule per label and stick with it so a list of figures reads cleanly.

Letters or Roman numerals

Click Numbering in the Insert Caption dialog to switch from 1, 2, 3 to a, b, c, A, B, C, or i, ii, iii. The change applies to every caption with that label.

Add chapter numbers (Figure 2-1)

Long documents often number figures within each chapter. Word builds this from your chapter headings, so the headings need list numbering first. Microsoft’s chapter-number steps boil down to:

1. Pick one heading style, such as Heading 1, and use it only for chapter titles.
2. Click in a chapter heading, go to Home > Paragraph > Multilevel List, and choose a list that numbers the headings (Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and so on).
3. Select the item to caption and open References > Insert Caption.
4. Click Numbering and check Include chapter number.
5. In Chapter starts with style, choose the heading style from step 1.
6. In Use separator, pick a character. A hyphen gives “Figure 2-1”; a period gives “Figure 2.1”.
7. Click OK twice.

If captions show “Figure 0-1” or an error, the chapter heading isn’t numbered with a multilevel list, or a different heading style is being used for chapters.

Let Word caption new items automatically

If you insert a lot of tables or equations, AutoCaption saves clicks. Open the Insert Caption dialog and click AutoCaption. Check each item type you want captioned when it is inserted (for example a Microsoft Word table), choose a label and position, and click OK. From then on, Word adds a numbered caption each time you insert one of those items, and you just type the description. AutoCaption only affects items you insert after turning it on; existing items need captions added by hand.

Change how every caption looks

All captions use the built-in Caption style. To change the font, size, color or italics in one go, go to the Home tab, find Caption in the Styles gallery (open the gallery’s More arrow if it’s hidden), right-click it, and choose Modify. Every caption in the document updates. A long caption title can be split onto a second line with Shift + Enter (a line break) instead of Enter, which keeps it a single caption paragraph.

Keep a caption with a floating picture

A picture set to In Line with Text behaves like a large character, and its caption paragraph simply follows it. A picture with text wrapping (Square, Tight and the rest) floats, and a caption can end up in a separate box that drifts away when you edit. Microsoft’s order of operations prevents that:

1. Select the picture, click Layout Options, and choose a wrapping style under With Text Wrapping before you add the caption.
2. Insert the caption as usual.
3. Click the caption, hold Shift, and click the picture so both are selected.
4. Right-click either one and choose Group > Group. They now move together.

For in-line pictures near a page break, the caption can still land on the next page. Select the picture’s paragraph, open the Paragraph dialog, and on the Line and Page Breaks tab check Keep with next (for captions below the picture) so Word keeps them on the same page. For more on in-line versus floating layout, see how to align pictures in Word.

Update, delete or repair caption numbers

Caption numbers are fields. Inserting a new caption updates numbering, but deleting or moving a captioned item doesn’t refresh the rest until fields update.

• Update every number: press Ctrl + A to select the document, then press F9. You can also right-click a selected caption number and choose Update Field.
• Delete a caption: select the whole caption, including label and number, press Delete, then press Ctrl + A and F9 so the others close the gap.
• Caption shows { SEQ Figure \* ARABIC } instead of a number: field codes are displayed. Press Alt + F9 to switch back to results.
• Every picture says “Figure 1”: those captions were typed by hand or pasted as plain text. Delete them and insert real captions with Insert Caption so Word can count them.

Captions in Word for the web

Microsoft’s feature comparison of Word for the web and the desktop app lists Captions as a desktop-only feature. The References tab in the browser has tools such as table of contents and footnotes but no Insert Caption button, so you can’t create a numbered caption field, a custom label, chapter numbering or AutoCaption online. Captions that were added in the desktop app still display in the browser.

Two practical options:

1. Open the file in the desktop app. If you have Word installed through Microsoft 365, open the document in the desktop app (Word for the web usually offers this from the Editing menu or the file’s open options). Add captions there, save, and reopen or refresh the browser tab. The captions stay real, numbered fields.
2. Type a plain caption. Click just below the picture, press Enter if needed for a new line, and type “Figure 1: description” yourself. Format it with italics or a smaller size on the Home tab. This is ordinary text: it won’t renumber, and a table of figures won’t find it unless someone later replaces it with a real caption in the desktop app.

Alt text, which you can add to a picture in either version, is read by screen readers but isn’t a visible caption. Use both if the document needs to be accessible.

Word for Mac

Word for Mac has the same References > Insert Caption command, and you can Control-click a picture to reach it from the shortcut menu. In the Mac dialog, the number format options may sit behind a button named Format rather than Numbering. Chapter numbering, custom labels and AutoCaption work the same way.

Put your captions to work

Real captions pay off once the document is long:

• Table of figures: click where the list should go and choose References > Insert Table of Figures. Word lists every caption of the label you pick with page numbers. After edits, select the table and use Update Table or F9. Full steps, including separate lists for figures and tables, are in how to add a table of figures in Word.
• Cross-references: to write “see Figure 4” in the text and have it update, go to References > Cross-reference, set Reference type to the label, choose whether to insert just the label and number or the whole caption, pick the caption from the list, and click Insert. Press Ctrl + A, then F9 after rearranging to refresh them.

Word caption questions

Can a caption sit beside a picture instead of above or below?

Not with Insert Caption’s position list. Put the picture and caption in a two-column table without borders, or use a floating picture with the caption grouped beside it.

Why did my table caption land inside the first cell?

Only part of the table was selected. Undo, select the whole table with its move handle, and insert the caption again.

Can I caption a table I just built?

Yes. Once you create a table in Word, select the whole thing and use Insert Caption with the Table label.

Will captions survive if I save as PDF?

Yes, as text. Update fields with Ctrl + A and F9 before exporting so the numbers in the PDF are current.

Add one caption with Insert Caption, check that the number and punctuation look right, then caption the rest; a quick Ctrl + A and F9 before you hand the document in keeps every number in order.