Selecting Table Cells

In many cases, to format the contents of table cells or restructure a table, you must begin by selecting the cells you want to change. Selecting table cells is very similar to selecting other document text, but Word offers some tricks to make it easier.

To select a cell

1.	Position the mouse pointer in the far-left side of the cell so it points to the right (Figure 19). This is the cell's selection bar. Figure 19. Position the mouse pointer in the cell's selection bar.
2.	Click once. The cell becomes selected (Figure 20). Figure 20. Click to select the cell.

Or

1.	Position the mouse pointer at the beginning of a cell's contents. The mouse pointer must look like an I-beam pointer (Figure 21). Figure 21. Position the I-beam pointer at the beginning of the cell's contents.
2.	Press the mouse button down and drag through the contents of the cell. When you release the mouse button, the cell is selected (Figure 22). Figure 22. Drag through the cell's contents to select it.

Or

1.	Position the insertion point anywhere within the cell you want to select.
2.	Choose Table > Select > Cell (Figure 23). Figure 23. The Select submenu under the Table menu offers commands for selecting all or part of a table.

To select a row

1.	Position the mouse pointer in the selection bar of any cell in the row (Figure 19) at the far-left side of the window.
2.	Double-click. The entire row becomes selected (Figure 24). Figure 24. Double-click in a cell's selection bar to select the entire row.

Or

1.	Click to position the blinking insertion point in any cell in the row (Figure 25) or select any cell in the row (Figure 22). Figure 25. Position the insertion point in any cell in the row.
2.	Choose Table > Select > Row (Figure 23). The entire row is selected (Figure 26). Figure 26. When you choose Table > Select > Row, the entire row is selected.

To select a column

1.	Position the mouse pointer over the top boundary of the column that you want to select. It turns into an arrow pointing down (Figure 27). Figure 27. Position the mouse pointer over the top boundary of the column.
2.	Click once. The column is selected (Figure 28). Figure 28. Click once to select the column.

Or

Hold down while clicking anywhere in the column that you want to select.

Or

1.	Click to position the blinking insertion point in any cell in the column (Figure 25) or select any cell in the column (Figure 22).
2.	Choose Table > Select > Column (Figure 23). The entire column is selected (Figure 29). Figure 29. When you choose Table > Select > Column, the entire column is selected.

To select an entire table

Hold down while double-clicking anywhere in the table. The table is selected (Figure 30).

Figure 30. A selected table.

Or

In Page Layout view, click the table move handle (Figure 16). The entire table is selected (Figure 30).

Or

1.	Click to position the blinking insertion point in any cell in the table (Figure 25) or select any cell in the table (Figure 22).
2.	Choose Table > Select > Table (Figure 23). The entire table is selected (Figure 31). Figure 31. Another selected table.

Tip

• Although the table move handle's true purpose is to enable you to move a table by dragging it, clicking the move handle automatically selects the entire table.