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...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Adding Up Tops and Bottoms

When you are working with sequenced values in a list, you'll often want to take some action based on the top X or bottom ...

Discover More

Understanding WordArt

One of the small graphical features provided with Word is the ability to apply artistic treatment to words or phrases. ...

Discover More

Printing Only Selected Pages

I often need to print only select pages of a document, rather than the whole thing. Word makes it easy to be judicious in ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Adjusting Table Row Height

When working with tables, you can adjust the height of individual rows. How you go about such adjustments depends on the ...

Discover More

Copying Fill Color in a Table

You may spend some time getting the color in a portion of a table just right, only to be faced with the task of copying ...

Discover More

Fitting Text Into Cells

Need a way to make sure your text fits within the space available in a table cell? Word has a handy setting that will ...

Discover More

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 4 + 8?

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).

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.