Tips, Tricks, and Answers

The following articles are available for the 'Editing Table Structure' topic. Click the article''s title (shown in bold) to see the associated article.

   Adding Table Columns to Columns with Merged Cells
Word's table editor allows you to modify the structure of tables in a wide variety of ways. If you want to add columns to a table in which some of your columns include merged cells, the process can be a bit tricky.

   Adjusting Column Width Using Menus
If you want to resize the width of your table columns, you can do it using a mouse, but you can get more precise widths by using the menus. This tip explains how to pull up the proper dialog boxes so you can adjust the width of each column.

   Adjusting Column Widths on Joined Tables
Each table in a document can have different numbers of columns and different widths for columns. If you want to join two tables into one, it is likely that the columns of the original tables won't quite line up. Here's how to fix that situation.

   AutoFitting Tables
Need to adjust the width of a bunch of table columns according to what is in the columns? Word provides a tool to do this, called AutoFit. Here's how to apply it to your tables.

   Copying Rows and Columns with the Mouse
Word allows you to do quite a few editing tasks using the mouse. If you want to copy rows or columns in a table, you can use the mouse-based technique described in this tip.

   Deleting Cells
You can modify the structure of a table by deleting cells. This tip shows just how easy it is to delete one (or more) cells from the middle of a table.

   Deleting Table Columns with Track Changes Turned On
If you are editing a document with Track Changes turned on, Word won't let you delete a column in a table and have it marked as a change. There are ways around this problem, which are discussed in this tip.

   Distributing Columns Evenly
When you want the horizontal space in a table to be divided evenly among the columns in the table, you'll love this tip. How you can accomplish this task is simple, but varies depending on the version of Word you are using.

   Erasing Table Lines
When creating tables, Word provides a handy tool that you can use. Once the table is in place, you can use the table eraser to get rid of lines between cells and merge them together. This tip explains how.

   Inserting Cells in a Table
You can enlarge a table by adding cells where they are needed. Just pick where you want the cells inserted, then use the commands described in this tip.

   Merging Table Cells
Want to create cells that span multiple columns or multiple rows? You do this in Word by merging cells together. Here's how to accomplish the task.

   Moving Rows and Columns with the Mouse
Like to use the mouse to help you with your document editing? You can move table rows and column with the mouse by using these few steps.

   Moving Table Rows Quickly
One of the most esoteric shortcuts available in Word is one that allows you to move table rows, either within a table or outside of a table. Here's a description of the shortcut and how it works.

   Putting Tables within Margins
When you first insert a table in your document, it extends from margin to margin. Later, after a bunch of editing and possible margin changes, you may need to again make the table fit within your margins. Here's a quick way to get the desired results.

   Quickly Accessing the Column Tab
If you need to quickly display the Column tab of the Table Properties dialog box, here are some handy tricks you can use. (Two tricks are provided in this tip.)

   Resizing Table Columns with the Mouse
Once a table is inserted in your document, you can use the mouse to adjust the width of columns. The effect the mouse pointer has on column widths depends, primarily, on your use of keys such as Shift and Ctrl.

   Selecting a Column or Row in a Table
Selecting rows and columns in tables is a common task. Because of this, Word provides a couple of ways you can accomplish it, as described in this tip.

   Spacing Table Rows Vertically
Want to get just the right amount of spacing above and below text in a table cell? A very easy way to do this is to adjust the paragraph spacing, as you do when formatting normal text.

   Splitting a Table
Table getting too long? Need to move part of a table to somewhere else in your document? You can easily split an existing table into pieces by using the Table menu, as described in this tip.

   Splitting Table Cells
When formatting tables, you can both merge and split cells. Here's a couple of ways you can easily perform the latter task and get your cells split apart.

   Working with Table Columns and Rows
Need to add or delete columns and rows from a table? It's easy to do using the tools provided in Word.