Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. 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: Aligning Decimal Numbers in Tables.
When working in tables, there is no documented way of aligning decimal numbers. You can, if desired, add a decimal tab stop in a cell and then press Ctrl+Tab to align the number to the tab stop, but there is an even easier way. All you need to do is follow these steps:
Figure 1. You can control the type of tab stop by clicking here.
Presto! The numbers get aligned as per the tab stop. You should note, however, that this is the only tab option (decimal) that works in this manner.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11852) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Aligning Decimal Numbers in Tables.
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2020-08-24 10:12:47
Julie C.
Worked beautifully - thank you!
2020-02-17 19:10:28
Scott H Davis
Hi, Allen. Thank you for this article. Could you please add whether or not you need a tab (^t) in front of each tab-delimited value for it to work in a table cell?
2019-09-13 08:06:15
Nick
It didn't work. My first cell (in every table has immovable boundary markers (triangles on the ruler).
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. 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: 
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