Resizing a table column

Folks - I'm at my wits end. I've read every thread I can find about resizing
a column width in a table. So far, nothing has worked. As a side note, I've
been using Word since the very first commercial version and consider myself
to be quite knowledgable. But, this one has me pulling my hair out.

I have a table that has 8 columns and 10 rows. The table is completely
empty, except for the header row - which contains column heading text. I
have verified that the "preferred width" option is turned off for the table,
column and cell.

For some reason, Word will not allow me to resize the columns. I have tried
dragging the cell border within the table (as well as shift+, ctrl+, alt+).
Nothing happens. I have alo tried using the ruler to change the column
width. Again, nothing happens.

I've tried Googling for some help, but so far, have not found anything.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

-Neal

Make sure you don't have "Automatically resize to fit content" checked
(Table Properties | Table | Options). As a last resort, you can drop back to
the Cell Height and Width dialog. See
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFm...ePropProbs.htm

Also, if you didn't create the table yourself (and especially if it was
pasted from the Web), make sure it is not embedded in another table. Some
Web tables are like this: the whole table is embedded in one large cell of a
container table, and the column width for *that* table is specified.
Sometimes the only way to get out of this situation is to convert the table
to text and back again, which might solve your problem regardless of what is
wrong with the table.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Neal Fuerst" wrote in message
...
Folks - I'm at my wits end. I've read every thread I can find about
resizing
a column width in a table. So far, nothing has worked. As a side note,
I've
been using Word since the very first commercial version and consider
myself
to be quite knowledgable. But, this one has me pulling my hair out.

I have a table that has 8 columns and 10 rows. The table is completely
empty, except for the header row - which contains column heading text. I
have verified that the "preferred width" option is turned off for the
table,
column and cell.

For some reason, Word will not allow me to resize the columns. I have
tried
dragging the cell border within the table (as well as shift+, ctrl+,
alt+).
Nothing happens. I have alo tried using the ruler to change the column
width. Again, nothing happens.

I've tried Googling for some help, but so far, have not found anything.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

-Neal

I verified that the "automatically resize to fit" was not checked. So, in a
fit of desparation, I closed all of the running applications, then re-started
Word and reloaded the document. Now I can re-size the table as expected.
Beats me. Perhaps someday there will be a debugging mode that can be
initiated by the user to enable detailed help.

-Neal

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Make sure you don't have "Automatically resize to fit content" checked
(Table Properties | Table | Options). As a last resort, you can drop back to
the Cell Height and Width dialog. See
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFm...ePropProbs.htm

Also, if you didn't create the table yourself (and especially if it was
pasted from the Web), make sure it is not embedded in another table. Some
Web tables are like this: the whole table is embedded in one large cell of a
container table, and the column width for *that* table is specified.
Sometimes the only way to get out of this situation is to convert the table
to text and back again, which might solve your problem regardless of what is
wrong with the table.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Neal Fuerst" wrote in message
...
Folks - I'm at my wits end. I've read every thread I can find about
resizing
a column width in a table. So far, nothing has worked. As a side note,
I've
been using Word since the very first commercial version and consider
myself
to be quite knowledgable. But, this one has me pulling my hair out.

I have a table that has 8 columns and 10 rows. The table is completely
empty, except for the header row - which contains column heading text. I
have verified that the "preferred width" option is turned off for the
table,
column and cell.

For some reason, Word will not allow me to resize the columns. I have
tried
dragging the cell border within the table (as well as shift+, ctrl+,
alt+).
Nothing happens. I have alo tried using the ruler to change the column
width. Again, nothing happens.

I've tried Googling for some help, but so far, have not found anything.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

-Neal

I think the "debugging mode" is (1) quit Word, (2) close down all running
applications, (3) restart Windows, and (4) try again. g

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Neal Fuerst" wrote in message
...
I verified that the "automatically resize to fit" was not checked. So, in
a
fit of desparation, I closed all of the running applications, then
re-started
Word and reloaded the document. Now I can re-size the table as expected.
Beats me. Perhaps someday there will be a debugging mode that can be
initiated by the user to enable detailed help.

-Neal

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Make sure you don't have "Automatically resize to fit content" checked
(Table Properties | Table | Options). As a last resort, you can drop
back to
the Cell Height and Width dialog. See
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFm...ePropProbs.htm

Also, if you didn't create the table yourself (and especially if it was
pasted from the Web), make sure it is not embedded in another table.
Some
Web tables are like this: the whole table is embedded in one large cell
of a
container table, and the column width for *that* table is specified.
Sometimes the only way to get out of this situation is to convert the
table
to text and back again, which might solve your problem regardless of
what is
wrong with the table.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Neal Fuerst" wrote in message
...
Folks - I'm at my wits end. I've read every thread I can find about
resizing
a column width in a table. So far, nothing has worked. As a side
note,
I've
been using Word since the very first commercial version and consider
myself
to be quite knowledgable. But, this one has me pulling my hair out.

I have a table that has 8 columns and 10 rows. The table is
completely
empty, except for the header row - which contains column heading text.
I
have verified that the "preferred width" option is turned off for the
table,
column and cell.

For some reason, Word will not allow me to resize the columns. I have
tried
dragging the cell border within the table (as well as shift+, ctrl+,
alt+).
Nothing happens. I have alo tried using the ruler to change the
column
width. Again, nothing happens.

I've tried Googling for some help, but so far, have not found
anything.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

-Neal

AHHHHH! Finally someone else has this issue. It is driving me crazy. This is
the second time it has happened to me. I don't know what I did to fix it the
first. but after it fixed itself, it was working until yesterday.

Now that it has again stopped allowing me to resize by dragging, I can't
drag any of the previously created tables columns to a width I want, either
in this doc or in any doc - even a new doc I create with a new table. I can
resize the columns the manual way (table properties - slow and tedious) or
via the ruler. But I cannot resize by dragging the column widths.

I have tweaked with all the automatic/non-automatic settings. I closed Word.
I did the Office 2003 update. I shut down the computer & re-started. I
created tables with various table settings and sizes. All have no affect.

I emailed the document home and opened it on my home computer - all worked
fine. I saved the doc there, emailed it back, opened it here, and NOT FINE.

Like Neal, I have used MSWord forever - for creating manuals, for creating
doc's, etc. I am EXTREMELY familiar with Word. Word 2003 is the first version
in which I encountered this issue. If I can't resolve this soon, I fear I
will have to just go back to Office 2000 or something because it is so
frustrating. I have searched the web, searched MS, searched everywhere to no
avail. Please help.......


"Neal Fuerst" wrote:

Folks - I'm at my wits end. I've read every thread I can find about resizing
a column width in a table. So far, nothing has worked. As a side note, I've
been using Word since the very first commercial version and consider myself
to be quite knowledgable. But, this one has me pulling my hair out.

I assume you've got all the AutoFit settings disabled?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"ChristieD" wrote in message
...
AHHHHH! Finally someone else has this issue. It is driving me crazy. This
is
the second time it has happened to me. I don't know what I did to fix it
the
first. but after it fixed itself, it was working until yesterday.

Now that it has again stopped allowing me to resize by dragging, I can't
drag any of the previously created tables columns to a width I want,
either
in this doc or in any doc - even a new doc I create with a new table. I
can
resize the columns the manual way (table properties - slow and tedious) or
via the ruler. But I cannot resize by dragging the column widths.

I have tweaked with all the automatic/non-automatic settings. I closed
Word.
I did the Office 2003 update. I shut down the computer & re-started. I
created tables with various table settings and sizes. All have no affect.

I emailed the document home and opened it on my home computer - all worked
fine. I saved the doc there, emailed it back, opened it here, and NOT
FINE.

Like Neal, I have used MSWord forever - for creating manuals, for creating
doc's, etc. I am EXTREMELY familiar with Word. Word 2003 is the first
version
in which I encountered this issue. If I can't resolve this soon, I fear I
will have to just go back to Office 2000 or something because it is so
frustrating. I have searched the web, searched MS, searched everywhere to
no
avail. Please help.......


"Neal Fuerst" wrote:

Folks - I'm at my wits end. I've read every thread I can find about
resizing
a column width in a table. So far, nothing has worked. As a side note,
I've
been using Word since the very first commercial version and consider
myself
to be quite knowledgable. But, this one has me pulling my hair out.

Yes - I've tried it with it on and off. As I mentioned, I've tried every
variation I can find.

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

I assume you've got all the AutoFit settings disabled?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"ChristieD" wrote in message
...
AHHHHH! Finally someone else has this issue. It is driving me crazy. This
is
the second time it has happened to me. I don't know what I did to fix it
the
first. but after it fixed itself, it was working until yesterday.

Now that it has again stopped allowing me to resize by dragging, I can't
drag any of the previously created tables columns to a width I want,
either
in this doc or in any doc - even a new doc I create with a new table. I
can
resize the columns the manual way (table properties - slow and tedious) or
via the ruler. But I cannot resize by dragging the column widths.

I have tweaked with all the automatic/non-automatic settings. I closed
Word.
I did the Office 2003 update. I shut down the computer & re-started. I
created tables with various table settings and sizes. All have no affect.

I emailed the document home and opened it on my home computer - all worked
fine. I saved the doc there, emailed it back, opened it here, and NOT
FINE.

Like Neal, I have used MSWord forever - for creating manuals, for creating
doc's, etc. I am EXTREMELY familiar with Word. Word 2003 is the first
version
in which I encountered this issue. If I can't resolve this soon, I fear I
will have to just go back to Office 2000 or something because it is so
frustrating. I have searched the web, searched MS, searched everywhere to
no
avail. Please help.......


"Neal Fuerst" wrote:

Folks - I'm at my wits end. I've read every thread I can find about
resizing
a column width in a table. So far, nothing has worked. As a side note,
I've
been using Word since the very first commercial version and consider
myself
to be quite knowledgable. But, this one has me pulling my hair out.

So dang it. Now it fixed itself again. That is a good thing, but I sure wish
I knew what was causing it.

I feel your pain. I just spent an hour on the phone with a Dell tech support
person trying to troubleshoot an intermittent noise that of course wouldn't
manifest itself on cue. g

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"ChristieD" wrote in message
...
So dang it. Now it fixed itself again. That is a good thing, but I sure
wish
I knew what was causing it.