Navigating and Selecting within a Table

Making selections and moving your insertion point within a Word table requires unique key combinations. Within a table, the Tab key is used to move between cells, rather than its traditional Word function of inserting tabs. Other helpful keyboard shortcuts for moving around and selecting within a table are explained in this document.

Using the Tab Key for Alignment To Move To... Keys To Select...

Using the Tab Key for Alignment

Within a table, the Tab key is used to move between cells, rather than its traditional function of inserting tabs in Word documents. To use tabs for alignment within a table cell, use the following: 1. Windows: To insert tabs within cells, press [Ctrl] + [Tab] Macintosh: To insert tabs within cells, press [control] + [tab]

To Move To... Keys

You can use the keyboard to navigate through your table. The following table illustrates these keyboard shortcuts and their functions. To Move to... next cell previous cell next row previous row end of cell first cell in a row last cell in a row first cell in a column Press... [Tab] or right arrow until you are in the cell [Shift] + [Tab] or the left arrow until you are in the cell [Down Arrow] [Up Arrow] [End] Windows: [Alt] + [Home] Macintosh: [control] + [home] Windows: [Alt] + [End] Macintosh: [control + [end] Windows: [Alt] + [Page Up] Macintosh: [control] + [page up]

tab stop within a table cell [Ctrl] + [Tab] (after setting the tab stop)

last cell in a column

Windows: [Alt] + [Page Down] Macintosh: [control] + [page down]

To Select...
You can use the keyboard and mouse to select data in your table. The following table illustrates these steps. To Select... next cell previous cell entire row Tab] [Shift] + [Tab] Drag the I-beam across the row OR Hold your cursor to the left of the row and when an arrow appears, click entire column Drag the I-beam down the column OR Hold your cursor at the top of the column and when a down arrow appears, click Windows: On the 10-key pad with the number lock off, press [Alt] + [5] Macintosh: Press [command] + [option] + [T] Steps

entire table

multiple contiguous Drag across the cells cells, rows, or columns multiple noncontiguous cells, rows, or columns Windows: Make your first selection; then [Ctrl] + drag across additional cells, rows, or columns Macintosh: Make your first selection; then [command] + drag across additional cells, rows, or columns