Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007 and 2010. 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 Cell Alignment.

Changing Cell Alignment

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 8, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007 and 2010


4

If you desire, you can independently specify the alignment of every cell in a Word table. Originally, the cell alignment matches the alignment of the paragraphs from which the table was created. You can override this, however, by using the paragraph alignment tools in the Paragraph group of the Home tab of the ribbon. Simply position the insertion point in the cell whose alignment you want to adjust, and then click one of the tools.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6027) applies to Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Changing Cell Alignment.

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

Shading Rows with Conditional Formatting

If you need to shade alternating rows in a data table, you'll want to examine how you can accomplish the task with ...

Discover More

A Shortcut for Switching Focus

While not technically an Excel-only tip, the shortcuts described in this tip will help you switch focus from your ...

Discover More

Seeing the Difference on the Status Bar

Do you often need to know the difference between two values in your worksheet? This tip shares a quick little macro that ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Squaring Table Cells

Inserting a table is fast and easy in Word. You may want to make sure that the cells in the table are as square as ...

Discover More

Hiding Table Gridlines, by Default

The edges to table cells are shown two ways in Word: gridlines and borders. Table gridlines are only seen in Word; they ...

Discover More

Headings On Your Printout

If you've got a table that spans multiple printed pages, you probably want to repeat a row or two of that table as a ...

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.

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.

What is one minus 0?

2021-11-10 16:00:14

Tomek

@Kieren:
Just to be clear, when you have a table in the document and click inside it, two new tabs appear: Table Design and Layout. So you have two different tabs named the same, somewhat confusing. The one further right has the Table tools including alignment buttons.

This is for Word in MS365, but probably is the same for earlier versions.


2015-03-04 12:02:52

Rick.G.

Kieren, in Word 2010, in the Ribbon's Layout tab (for tables), in the Alignment group there are 9 buttons to align text in cells. I suspect it is the same for Word 2007. Or if you don't need to change the vertical alignment, you can use the 4 buttons that Peter refered to. They are in the paragraph group on the home tab.


2015-03-03 13:57:19

Peter Kirkpatrick

By "paragraph alignment tools" he means the various buttons and settings that control alignment. eg the 4 buttons for left/centre/right/full justification are all "alignment tools". As far as I know there isn't a button with that specific name.


2015-03-03 08:05:23

Kieren Beasley

http://wordribbon.tips.net/T006027_Changing_Cell_Alignment.html?awt_l=7nvfE&awt_m=JEvPg5T7frkF4X
If you desire, you can independently specify the alignment of every cell in a Word table. Originally, the cell alignment matches the alignment of the paragraphs from which the table was created. You can override this, however, by using the paragraph alignment tools in the Paragraph group of the Home tab of the ribbon. Simply position the insertion point in the cell whose alignment you want to adjust, and then click one of the tools.

Where are the Paragaph Alignment Tools in Word 2007? I have looked in the aragraph group.


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.

Videos
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.