Although you probably strive to format your Word document as you compose it, there may be a time when you need to rearrange items. This is common if you use images, objects, and for this guide, tables.
If you find that your table would work better in a different spot in your document, we’ll show you a couple of ways to move it. Once you change its location, you may need to make adjustments to the text around it as well. Let’s have a look.
Drag to Move a Table
The easiest way to move a table in Microsoft Word is by dragging it. This lets you place the table pretty much anywhere you want.
RELATED: How to Prevent Accidentally Dragging and Dropping Text in Microsoft Word
Select your entire table by clicking it and then grabbing the table handle that displays on the top left. You should see your whole table and its contents highlighted.
Drag the table handle to move the table. As you do, you’ll see a dotted outline so that you can release when you find the right spot.
This method works best if you’re moving your table a short distance or within a few pages.
Cut or Copy and Paste to Move a Table
Sometimes dragging to move a table isn’t convenient. For instance, you might want to move the table from page 20 to page 10. Rather than dragging through all those pages, you can cut or copy and paste the table.
RELATED: How to Cut, Copy, and Paste in Microsoft Word
Select your entire table by clicking the table handle. Right-click and choose “Cut” or “Copy” or use the Cut or Copy button in the Clipboard section of the Home tab.
If you pick “Cut,” this removes the table from its location. If you pick “Copy,” this keeps a copy of the table in its original spot.
Place your cursor in the document where you want to insert the cut or copied table. Right-click and select “Paste” or use the Paste button in the Clipboard section of the Home tab.
This gives you a clean way to move your table without dragging through tons of paragraphs or pages.
Adjust the Table to the Text
After you move your table, you may need to adjust the surrounding text depending on where you place it. You can wrap the text around the table or do the opposite to keep the table in its own space.
Select the table, right-click, and choose “Table Properties.”
On the Table tab, you’ll see the Text Wrapping options at the bottom. You can pick “None” to keep the table and text in their own locations or “Around” to wrap the text around the table.
If you pick “Around,” you can then click “Positioning” to do things like enter an exact position relative to the paragraphs or margins, choose the distance from the text, or move the table with the text.
For more details on wrapping text around your table, check out our how-to.
RELATED: How to Wrap Text Around a Table in Microsoft Word
Want to do more rearranging in your Word document? Take a look at how to freely move pictures or how to move or copy text.
