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What do you want to do?
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Drag a table to a new location
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Copy a table and paste it in a new location
Drag a table to a new location
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In Print Layout view, rest the pointer on the table until the table move handle
appears. -
Rest the pointer over the table move handle until the pointer becomes a four-headed arrow, and then click the table move handle.
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Drag the table to a new location.
appears.Top of Page
Copy a table and paste it in a new location
When you paste a table in a new location, you can copy the table or cut it. When you copy a table, the original table remains in place. When you cut a table, the original table is deleted.
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In Print Layout view, rest the pointer on the table until the table move handle
appears. -
Click the table move handle to select the table.
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Do one of the following:
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To copy the table, press CTRL+C.
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To cut the table, press CTRL+X.
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Place the cursor where you want the new table.
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Press CTRL+V to paste the table in the new location.
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See also
Insert a table
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It can be sometimes tricky to move a table to a different location within your Word document.
In this tutorial, I’ll teach you how to move or reposition tables in Word. Though, below is a quick solution:
To move a table in Word, click anywhere in the table or hover the mouse pointer over the table to display the Table Move Handle at the top left corner of the table. Using this handle, click and drag the table to your desired location within the document.
For a more step by step guide, please obey the following instructions/options.
- How to move or reposition a picture in Word
Move tables in Word using move table handle
To move a table in Word:
- Click anywhere inside the Table.
- The Table Move Handle will appear at the top left corner of the table.
- Using the mouse, click and drag the table to move it anywhere you want.
This is how you may reposition a table in Word using the mouse.
Reposition a Table Using Table Properties.
With just some simple settings in the table properties, you can reposition your table in no time. Whether you want to reposition your table to the center, left or right of your Word document, it can all be done in the settings.
Without further ado, below are the steps.
- Right-click inside the table and choose Table Properties from the shortcut menu.
- In the Table Properties dialog, click on the Table tab.
- Under the Alignment group, click on the type of alignment you want. If you want your table to be centered, click on the Center option.
- Under the Text wrapping group, click Around if you want your text to flow around the table. Click on None if you want the text to flow on top and bottom of the table.
- After making all these settings, click on the OK button.
This is another way you may reposition your table in Word.
Tables aren’t simply stuck where they are when you first insert them. You can move them around manually or let Word position them automatically for you.
Align a Table
You can position a table the same way that you position regular text, using the alignment controls.
- Select the table by clicking the Move handle () that appears above the top left corner of the table.
- Select an alignment option in the Paragraph group on the Home tab.
) that appears above the top left corner of the table.It’s important that the whole table is selected. If only certain cells are selected, the text in those cells will be aligned instead of the table.
The table is aligned to the left, center, or right margin of the page, just like text would be.
Move a Table
If the basic alignment options don’t position the table where you want it to be, you can move the table around the page manually.
- Click the table’s Move handle () and drag it to where you want to move the table.
The table moves, and the text on the page moves around to make room.
Adjust Text Wrapping
Text wrapping controls how text in your document flows around a table.
- With the table selected, click the Layout tab in the Table Tools ribbon group.
- Click Properties.
- None will clear the areas to the left and the right of the table.
- Around will let the text wrap around the table on the left and right sides.
- Make your text wrapping selection.
- Click OK.
In the Text Wrapping section of the dialog box, you can choose from two text wrapping options.
The text wrapping is changed to the selected setting.
Resize a Table
You can also easily resize a table to fit within a certain space.
- Click and drag the Sizing box in the bottom-right corner of the table to make your table larger or smaller.
The table is resized, with the columns and rows resizing proportionally.
You can also specify a preferred table width, but not height, in the Table Properties dialog box.
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Although you probably strive to format your Word document as you compose it, there may be a time when you need to rearrange items. This is common if you use images, objects, and for this guide, tables.
If you find that your table would work better in a different spot in your document, we’ll show you a couple of ways to move it. Once you change its location, you may need to make adjustments to the text around it as well. Let’s have a look.
The easiest way to move a table in Microsoft Word is by dragging it. This lets you place the table pretty much anywhere you want.
RELATED: How to Prevent Accidentally Dragging and Dropping Text in Microsoft Word
Select your entire table by clicking it and then grabbing the table handle that displays on the top left. You should see your whole table and its contents highlighted.
Drag the table handle to move the table. As you do, you’ll see a dotted outline so that you can release when you find the right spot.
This method works best if you’re moving your table a short distance or within a few pages.
Cut or Copy and Paste to Move a Table
Sometimes dragging to move a table isn’t convenient. For instance, you might want to move the table from page 20 to page 10. Rather than dragging through all those pages, you can cut or copy and paste the table.
RELATED: How to Cut, Copy, and Paste in Microsoft Word
Select your entire table by clicking the table handle. Right-click and choose “Cut” or “Copy” or use the Cut or Copy button in the Clipboard section of the Home tab.
If you pick “Cut,” this removes the table from its location. If you pick “Copy,” this keeps a copy of the table in its original spot.
Place your cursor in the document where you want to insert the cut or copied table. Right-click and select “Paste” or use the Paste button in the Clipboard section of the Home tab.
This gives you a clean way to move your table without dragging through tons of paragraphs or pages.
Adjust the Table to the Text
After you move your table, you may need to adjust the surrounding text depending on where you place it. You can wrap the text around the table or do the opposite to keep the table in its own space.
Select the table, right-click, and choose “Table Properties.”
On the Table tab, you’ll see the Text Wrapping options at the bottom. You can pick “None” to keep the table and text in their own locations or “Around” to wrap the text around the table.
If you pick “Around,” you can then click “Positioning” to do things like enter an exact position relative to the paragraphs or margins, choose the distance from the text, or move the table with the text.
For more details on wrapping text around your table, check out our how-to.
RELATED: How to Wrap Text Around a Table in Microsoft Word
Want to do more rearranging in your Word document? Take a look at how to freely move pictures or how to move or copy text.
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We will talk about how to move a table in Word in this chapter. Microsoft Word lets you move a table and all of its contents from one place to another. This chapter will show you how to move a table within the same document. You can also use the cut and paste operation to move a table from one document to another.
In this article, we talk about why you might want to move a table in Word and show you different ways to move or change a table.
Table of contents
- Why move a table in Word?
- How to Move Table in MS Word
- Moving a table with your mouse
- Summary
The table insertion tool in Microsoft Word lets you make accurate tables that can hold information like financial data. You might move these tables to different places in the same document in some situations. Moving a table might be for the following reasons:
- Increasing or decreasing table size
- Adding new text
- Inputting new graphical elements
You can easily move a table in Word by dragging it with your mouse cursor and dropping it somewhere else. During this process, you may also change the alignment of the text, create word wrap, or change the size of the table.
How to Move Table in MS Word
The following steps will help you learn how to move a table in MS Word within the same document.
- Step 1 − Place the mouse pointer over the table you want to move from one place to another. As soon as you move your mouse pointer inside the table, a small Cross icon will appear in the top-left corner of the table, as shown below.
- Step 2 − If you click on the small Cross icon, the whole table will be chosen. Once the table is chosen, you can use the Cut button or the Ctrl + X keys to move it away from where it was.
- Step 3 − Place the insertion point where you want to move the table, and then either use the Paste button or the Ctrl + V keys to paste the table there.
Moving a table with your mouse
Moving a table with your mouse is a method that works well when moving a table a short distance. For example, instead of moving it to a new page, you could put it a few lines down in your text.
Follow these steps to move a table by dragging it with your mouse in a Microsoft Word document:
- Move your mouse over the table until you see a small box with a four-way handle in it.
- Use your left mouse button to click on this small box.
- To move the table, hold down the mouse button and drag the mouse across the page.
- When you’ve found the right spot for your table, let go of the mouse button.
Summary
In summary, we’ve learned how to move table in MS word step by step, as well as what those terms mean. Furthermore, we understand that there are different ways of moving table. It can be used in our document to make it more presentable and professional.
Meanwhile, if you want to learn more about working on tables, see the previous tutorial on how to create tables and how to add rows and columns in Microsoft Word. You can browse those guides if you are having a hard time working with your tables in a document.
We hope this tutorial helps you as you format your documents in MS Word.
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