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: Adjusting Table Row Height.

Adjusting Table Row Height

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 2, 2018)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Word allows you to independently adjust the height of every row in a table. For many table uses, you can rely on Word to select an automatic row height. There may be other times when you want to take charge and specify your own row height. You can do so by following these steps if you are using Word 97 or Word 2000:

Select the table row whose height you want to specify.
Choose the Cell Height and Width option from the Table menu. You will see the Cell Height and Width dialog box. The Row tab should be selected.
In the Height of Row box, select the way you want row height to be determined. You can use Auto row height, At Least row height, or Exactly row height.
If you selected At Least row height or Exactly row height, specify a measurement in the At dialog box.
Click on OK.

In Word 2002 and Word 2003, the steps are slightly different:

Select the table row whose height you want to specify.
Choose Table Properties from the Table menu. Word displays the Table Properties dialog box.
On the Row tab, choose the Specify Height check box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Row tab of the Table Properties dialog box.

Specify a height and how you want that measurement interpreted (At Least or Exactly).
Click on OK.

You can also adjust row height by using the mouse, as described in other issues of WordTips.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1667) 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: Adjusting Table Row Height.

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

Default Numbering Format for Endnotes

The default format for endnote numbers is lowercase Roman numerals. If you want the numbers to use a different format, ...

Discover More

Freezing Top Rows and Bottom Rows

Freezing the top rows in a worksheet so that they are always visible is easy to do. Freezing the bottom rows is not so ...

Discover More

Creating Custom Underlines

Word provides a wide assortment of underlines that you can apply to your text. If the assortment isn't wide enough for ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (menu)

How to Stop a Table Row from Splitting Over Two Pages

Do you want your table rows to be split between pages? Word allows you to format the table so that rows stay together and ...

Discover More

Aligning Decimal Numbers in Tables

Need to align numbers around their decimal point within a table? It's easy to do by using the three simple steps provided ...

Discover More

Pulling Tables Back Into View

If you make structural changes to your table by adding new columns here and there, you could easily end up with a table ...

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 five more than 1?

2022-12-30 04:25:45

MCT

Sometimes it's not possible to reduce the height of a row or rows because of the font size set within the rows. Setting the font size to a really low value will often resolve this, even if there is no text in the row or cells affected.

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.