Forum Discussion
Table Style - Top Left Cell
Hi
This worked previously, but now does not
I have a Customer Table Style where "Header Row" Font is White and "First Column" Font is Purple
My Issue is that Neither seems to change the Top Left Cell - value "AAA"
Whole Table Font is Orange - So it seems None of the "Apply Formatting to" Changes the Top Left Cell
Am I missing something?
Thank you
6 Replies
I seem to have a problem with text colour in the top left cell of tables in Word:
- Create empty table -> enter text in top left cell -> apply style – everything works
- Create empty table -> apply style -> enter text in top left cell – top left text is black, regardless
Also, this problem seems to have been caused by setting a coloured table style as the default. I confirmed this with another machine.
Create empty table -> apply style -> all good -> set coloured style as default -> create empty table -> top left cell broken.
Having tried this, I set the default style back to the base Word style, but the problem persisted. I now have two instances of Word where this seems to be borked.ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
I have been round and round the loop with web searches and LLM’s, I’ve reset my local profile, Normal.dotm, all sorts and no dice.
The table can be fixed using Ctrl+Space to clear direct formatting on cells, allowing the style to come through. But I want it to work how it should. This is a style template for others to use, so telling them there is a cumbersome workaround for a failing of Microsoft won’t fly…
To be clear, the issue happens whether I am applying my own custom style or a built-in style.
Have you also set the first row as a repeated header row in the Table Properties dialog box? That way, the formatting from "header row" should be used in the table.
I don't know which formatting takes precedence but I suspect that "header row" is prioritized over "first column."
Text formatting in Word tables (and table styles) is unnecessarily convoluted, and it is also connected to the document defaults associated with your template.
Select the first cell of the table and use the Font Colour facility in the Font section of the Home tab of the Ribbon to select the desired font colour.
But thats changing it manually, I wanted to utilize Styles so that all my Tables look the same
Any ideas please?
I have the same issue (04/03/2026). I can fix it on an individual basis by selecting the table and pressing Ctrl+Space to clear formatting, then reapplying the custom style. But, like the OP I want the core problem solved.
In my case, there is a wrinkle:
Create a table -> enter text into top left cell -> apply table format = everything works
Create a table -> apply table format -> enter text into top left cell = text in top left cell is black
The problem only seemed to arise after I set a coloured table style as default, triggering Word to apply that style before the table had any contents. It seems to be a one way street though, and now I have the problem I can't get back to how things were.
I have confirmed by using a second machine. I could apply a built in coloured style to an empty table and it worked as expected. After setting a coloured style to default the problem appeared. Having reset the default style to the base built-in style, BOTH machines now exhibit the problem.
I've been round and round and round with web searches and LLM's to no avail. ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
