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.

Aligning Decimal Numbers in Tables

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated April 8, 2017)

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:

Select the cell or cells whose contents you want decimal aligned.
Make sure the cell alignment is left. (If the cells are centered or right aligned, you cannot get the decimals to align.)
Click repeatedly on the tab stop marker at the left edge of the ruler, stopping when you see the symbol for a decimal tab. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. You can control the type of tab stop by clicking here.

Click on the ruler above the selected cells, at the location where you want the numbers aligned.

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.

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 five minus 4?

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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