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: Deleting Cells.

Deleting Cells

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 18, 2026)

Word contains a very powerful table editor that allows you to create very complex tables. If desired, you can delete individual cells in your table, even though such an action would make the table asymmetrical. To delete a cell, follow these steps:

Position the insertion point in the cell you want to delete.
Choose Delete from the Table menu, then choose Cells. (In Word 97 you simply choose Delete Cells from the Table menu.) Word displays the Delete Cells dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Delete Cells dialog box.

Select which way you want the cells to be adjusted.
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 (1766) 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: Deleting Cells.

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

Rounding to the Nearest Half Dollar

When working with financial data, it's easy to round values to the nearest dollar. What if you want them rounded to the ...

Discover More

Extracting E-mail Addresses from Hyperlinks

If you have a list of hyperlinked e-mail addresses in a worksheet, you may want to extract the addresses from those ...

Discover More

Hiding Spelling Errors

When you are typing in a document, Word normally checks your spelling in the background, marking possible spelling errors ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

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 ...

Discover More

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. ...

Discover More

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

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 seven more than 1?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

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.