How are multi-row headers handled?

Collapsed into a single header row with a separator: Q1 / Revenue, Q1 / Cost, etc. This preserves the meaning while satisfying GFM's single-header constraint. The original two-row header is preserved as a comment if you need to re-expand it later.

Does this preserve merged cells?

Functionally yes — the merged value is repeated across the cells it spans, so the GFM table renders correctly. This is best-effort: the merge metadata itself is dropped (Markdown doesn't represent merges natively), but the displayed content stays consistent.

What if my Word table has paragraphs inside cells?

Multiple paragraphs inside a single cell are joined with HTML <br> tags. GFM allows this. Bullet lists inside cells are flattened to comma-separated text — true nested lists inside table cells aren't representable in GFM.

Are nested tables (table inside table) converted?

The outer table stays a table; the inner table flattens to plain text inside the parent cell. A comment marks where the nested table was. Nested tables are rare in practice but common in legal docs and government forms — be aware of this limitation.

My financial reports have lots of tables. Will this work?

Yes for typical balance sheets, P&L statements, and cap tables. Complex spreadsheet-style tables (300+ rows, conditional formatting, formulas) are better exported from the source spreadsheet rather than from a Word doc embed — the structure survives better.

Word Tables to Markdown — Complex Tables Converted

What survives the conversion

Single-header tables with simple cells: perfect output. Multi-row headers: collapsed into a single header row with separator (Q1 / Revenue). Merged cells: the merged value is repeated across the cells it spans, so the table renders correctly in any viewer. Cells with multiple paragraphs: joined with <br> so structure is hinted at without breaking the GFM table parser.

What's simplified or lost

Cell background colours, border styles, custom widths: dropped (no Markdown equivalent). Rotated text in headers: emitted as horizontal text. Tables nested inside table cells: flattened to plain text inside the parent cell, with a comment marker. Conditional formatting: lost. If your workflow depends on these, keep the .docx as a fallback for layout-critical content.

Word Tables to Markdown — GFM Tables, Preserved

What survives the conversion

What's simplified or lost

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