Forum Discussion
Word Table Style paragraph and line spacing not applied
In my Word document, I have set the Normal Style's paragraph and line spacing. I have also set the document's default spacing.
I use Body Text Style for all my text paragraphs in my document, and this Style as different spacing settings than Normal and the document's default.
I have created a custom Table Style which is customized to have its own unique spacing settings.
However, all tables inherent Body Text Style spacing, even when I apply the custom Table Style.
You would think maybe because the Table Style is "based on" "Table Normal", that Normal would dictate the go-to spacing settings, but it doesn't, it gets the Body Text spacing by default when creating the table, and then when applying the custom Table Style, it can't overwrite that spacing. You still have to go do it manually.
What am I missing or how can I force the table to use the Table Style's spacing settings?
1 Reply
Try this:
- Align Document Defaults with Normal Style
- Press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + S to open the Styles pane.
- Click the Manage Styles icon (bottom left).
- Go to the Set Defaults tab.
- Make sure the paragraph spacing and font match your Normal style.
- Click OK.
- Avoid Using Body Text Style in Tables
- Word may apply the Body Text style to table content by default.
- Instead, create a custom paragraph style (e.g., TableText) with your desired spacing.
- In your custom Table Style, set this paragraph style as the default for table text:
- Right-click your table style → Modify Table Style → Format → Paragraph → Set spacing.
- Then go to Format > Style and assign your custom paragraph style to the table text.
- Use AutoText as a Template
- Create a table with the correct spacing manually.
- Select the table → go to Insert > Quick Parts > AutoText > Save Selection to AutoText Gallery.
- Use this as a reusable template.
