Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Changing Table Cell Text Direction.

Changing Table Cell Text Direction

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated July 25, 2015)

1

Word allows you to quickly change the direction in which the text in a cell faces. For instance, you may want the text to be vertical instead of horizontal. You can change text direction by following these steps:

  1. Right-click your mouse on the cell whose text direction you want to change. A Context menu appears.
  2. Choose Text Direction from the Context menu. The Text Direction dialog box appears. (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The Text Direction dialog box.

  3. Select the Orientation you want used for your text.
  4. When satisfied, click on OK.

You can also do the same task using the Layout tab of the ribbon. Follow these steps:

  1. Position the insertion point in the cell whose orientation you want to change.
  2. Make sure that the Layout tab of the ribbon is displayed. (This tab is only visible if you perform step 1.)
  3. Click the Text Direction tool in the Alignment group on the ribbon. Word changes the orientation of the text in the cell.
  4. Continue clicking on the Text Direction tool until the orientation is exactly as you want it.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (5978) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, and 2013. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Changing Table Cell Text Direction.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Determining Page Layout

Getting your document onto paper is the whole purpose of word processing. Here are some concepts that are important when ...

Discover More

Determining If a File Exists

Before you have your macro open and read a file from disk, you'll want to check to make sure it is really there. Here's ...

Discover More

PivotTables for the Faint of Heart (Special Offer)

PivotTables for the Faint of Heart shows you how to condense huge amounts of data so you can make sense of it. ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Table Won't Flow to Second Page

Have you ever created a table that never seems to flow to a second page, even when it should? This could be caused by any ...

Discover More

Printing Only Selected Rows from a Table

Tables are a great way to organize the information in a document. If your table gets quite long, you may not want to ...

Discover More

Jumping to a Table Row

Need to jump to a particular row in a table? Word provides an easy way to jump to all sorts of things, but it doesn't ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

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}] 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.

What is 8 + 0?

2018-03-28 02:29:01

A J BARRY

Item 2 is not quite true. A Layout tab is displayed even without clicking on the table. It even contains an Align option but not Text Direction option under it.
But when clicking in the cell a SECOND layout menu appears (in orange on my Mac, and THAT is where a Text Direction option is found (there is no Alignment group).
Thanks for the help though as it got me started, just knowing it was possible.

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2019 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.