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: Centering a Table.

Centering a Table

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated January 15, 2022)

By default, Word automatically left-justifies a table in your document. If you want to quickly center the table between the page margins, follow these steps:

Right-click on the table. Word displays a Context menu.
Choose Table Properties from the Context menu. Word displays the Table Properties dialog box.
Make sure the Table tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

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

Click on Center.
Click on Close.

The above steps won't work if you are using Word 97. If that is the case, then you should follow these steps:

Position the insertion point somewhere within the table.
Choose Select Table from the Table menu. This selects the entire table.
Choose Cell Height and Width from the Table menu. This displays the Cell Height and Width dialog box with the Row tab selected.
Click on the Center radio button.
Click on OK.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1733) 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: Centering a Table.

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...

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