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FLJerry's avatar
FLJerry
Copper Contributor
Sep 10, 2021

Can't adjust table column width

Working in windows 10, MS Word 2019 and built a pretty long table with 4 columns. Unable to keep columns adjusted to a new width.  I tried all the standard procedures in MS Word, and even went on the...
Jay Freedman's avatar
Jay Freedman
MVP
Sep 12, 2021
Set the column widths as you want them to be -- either by dragging the column borders or the markers on the ribbon, or using the numeric settings on the Table Layout ribbon or in the Table Properties > Column dialog. Then click Table Layout > Autofit > Fixed Column Width. The widths should stay as you set them unless you deliberately change the settings again.
  • April-ACNB's avatar
    April-ACNB
    Copper Contributor
    Dec 12, 2022

    Jay Freedman The posted solutions did not work for me. I had added a column to the left in an existing table. The right edge of the column to the right went off the page (it was a two-column table).  The fix that worked for me was to change the orientation to landscape and select a paper size large enough for the whole table to appear on the page. For me, that meant selecting tabloid (11" x 17").  Then I could grab the right edge of the table and size that column so that the whole table would appear on a portrait-oriented 8.8" x 11" page. I then changed to size and orientation back to portrait, letter size.

    • rehan128's avatar
      rehan128
      Copper Contributor
      Jan 25, 2025

      thanks this solution worked. all other solution mentioned do not work 

    • mwhittdivertinccom's avatar
      mwhittdivertinccom
      Copper Contributor
      Jan 12, 2023

      April-ACNB 

       

      Thanks for your post!  It gave me some inspiration so that I was able to solve the same problem by right-clicking on the table, selecting 'AutoFit' from the dropdown list, and selecting 'Fixed Column Width' from the options.  After that, I was able to change the column width as needed.

      Hope that helps someone else!

       

      • Lady_Gwyneth's avatar
        Lady_Gwyneth
        Copper Contributor
        Jul 03, 2024
        Yes, this helped me! I am often working on tables that others create, and although I'm an MS Word SME, this is a setting I was unaware of. I was tearing my hair out trying to change column widths in a table, and this fixed my problem in an instant! Thank you so much!

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