Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Moving Rows and Columns with the Mouse.

Moving Rows and Columns with the Mouse

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 12, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

As long as you have Drag-and-Drop Text Editing turned on (in the Edit tab of the Options dialog box), Word allows you to use the mouse for many routine editing tasks. One such task involves moving rows or columns within a table.

To move a row or column using the mouse, follow these steps:

Select the entire row or column that you want to move.
Click on the highlighted row or column, and hold down the mouse button. Shortly the pointer should change to a "ghost" insertion point with a small box next to the pointer arrow.
Drag the row or column to the place where you want it to be. You should position the insertion point in the row or column before which your moved row or column will appear.
Release the mouse button. The row or column is moved.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1199) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Moving Rows and Columns with the Mouse.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Rotating a Page of Text

Beginning with Word 2000, you can rotate a page of text by using the Far East language support built into Word. This tip ...

Discover More

Leap Years and Fiscal Periods

Need to figure out when a fiscal year ends when that period does not correspond to the calendar year? Here are some ways ...

Discover More

Changing the Color of a List of Words

The Find and Replace tool is very powerful. If you need to use it many, many times in a row, however, it can quickly get ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (menu)

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 ...

Discover More

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 ...

Discover More

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 ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 0 + 7?

2017-01-25 13:45:37

Sonia

im studying 2016 word

2016-06-27 06:33:26

GeordieLad

I have a problem with column movement - or rather the vertical lines between columns. When I hover, click and move the column lines with a mouse, the movement is much coarser than I'd like. What determines the amount by which the column line moves: is it a Word function or a mouse function? My mouse is a USB optical device with resolution 800dpi. Changing to a different mouse type does not show any difference.

Any views on the subject will be appreciated.

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.