Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. 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: Deleting a Table.

Deleting a Table

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 23, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021

If you create a table in a Word document and later want to delete, the way in which you do so depends largely on the version of Word you are using. To delete an entire table regardless of the version you are using, follow these steps:

Select the entire table you want to delete.
With the table selected, display the Layout tab of the ribbon.
Click Delete in the Rows & Columns group.
Click either Delete Table or Delete Rows.

You can also use the Cut option from the Clipboard group on the Home tab of the ribbon to remove the table. Pressing Del will have no effect, however, other than to clear the contents of the cells in the table. (You should note that pressing Del actually deletes a table if you select at least one paragraph in addition to the table.)

You can also delete a table by hovering the mouse pointer over the table so that the table's handle (a small box with a four-headed arrow in it) appears at the upper-left corner of the table. Click on this handle to select the entire table, and then press the Backspace key.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11624) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Deleting a Table.

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 2 + 2?

2023-12-26 10:22:02

Andrew

With reference to "Del will have no effect, however, other than to clear the contents of the cells in the table."

Can I say that maybe the BEST tip I ever got here was that while Del deletes contents of cells, Backspace deletes the spells themselves!

Andy.

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