Tables > Formatting tables > Changing general table properties

You can make general settings for tables via the dialog box of the ribbon command Table | Properties. These always apply to the entire table. For example, this command allows you to change the borders and shading of all table cells at once. Furthermore, the command allows you to make settings for positioning the table.

To open this dialog box, position the text cursor in any table cell and then choose the ribbon command Table | Properties . (Click directly on the icon itself.)

Alternatively, open the dialog box by clicking on the small arrow of the icon and selecting Table properties from the dropdown menu.

The following settings can be made in this dialog box:

Properties tab

On this tab, you can change some general settings. For more information, see Object properties, Properties tab.

Note: The option Text locked mentioned there does not apply to tables because, in tables, you can use the command Table | Properties | Cell properties to protect each individual cell against changes (see the option Text locked in Changing cell properties). Of course, you can also protect the entire table from changes by selecting all its cells and then enabling the option Text locked for all cells.

Text direction: For text in Arabic script, you can also change the writing direction of the table. If you set the direction to right-to-left, the column on the far right becomes the first column (instead of the column on the far left). For more information, see also Working with Arabic text.

Layout tab

You can use this tab to make settings for positioning the table:

▪Alignment

Here, you can change the alignment of the table from left-aligned to centered or right-aligned.

Note: Of course, this is only visible for tables that do not span the entire page width.

Left indent: Here, you can indent the table to the right by the specified value.

▪Wrapping

Here, you can specify whether the body text in the document should or should not surround the table:

None: This is the default setting: The body text does not surround the table.

Surrounding: If you select this setting, however, the body text surrounds the table, similar to text that wraps around a text frame.

Furthermore, selecting the option Surrounding has the following additional effects:

1. An icon with four arrows is displayed at the top left corner of a table whenever the text cursor is inside the table. You can move the table freely by dragging this icon with the mouse.

2. In addition, the Position button becomes available in the dialog box. This opens another dialog box in which advanced settings for positioning the table can be made:

Horizontal and Vertical: Here, you can specify the exact horizontal and vertical positions of the table. Tip: Apart from entering fixed values into the Position field, you can also open its dropdown list and select one of the predefined settings. For example, the entry "Right" will position the table right-aligned with the right page margin.

Distance from surrounding text: Here, you can change the outside margins of the table – thus specify how much space should be left between the table and the surrounding text.

Move with text: When you insert a table, it is automatically anchored to the paragraph located below its top left corner. "Anchored" means that the table will always appear on the page where this paragraph is located. If you move this paragraph to the next page, the table will also end up there. If you disable this option, however, the table will always stay on the page where it is right now.

Borders tab

Here, you can change borders and gridlines for the entire table.

The options on this tab correspond to those in the dialog box of the command Home | Borders. For more information, see Borders and lines.

Note: Here, you can change the gridlines between the cells in addition to the outer borders.

Shading tab

Here, you can apply shading to the entire table.

The options on this tab correspond to those in the dialog box of the command Home | Paragraph shading. For more information, see Shading.