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 February 14, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

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...

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What is 8 + 5?

2019-03-12 10:42:12

June Davis

How do you add cells so they stay on one page? (see Figure 1 below)

Figure 1. Cell issues

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