Cutting text from a table in Word

Select the whole table. Go to the Table Layout ribbon (which appears only when a table is selected). Click the Convert to Text button at the far right. In the dialog that opens, select the character you want to use in place of the column boundaries.

Another way is to use the Paste Options. Cut the entire table and paste it back in. There will be a small tag to the right of the pasted table with the paste icon and the label "(Ctrl)". Either press the Ctrl key or click the tag to open its menu, and click the Text Only icon (the one with an A):

The table structure will be removed and the text will be retained. You may have to rearrange some of the text, depending on how the table's columns were converted; that can usually be done with the Replace dialog (e.g., replace tabs with paragraph marks).

If I remember correctly, a wrapped table in document converted to *.doc format and opened in an older version of Word may be displayed inside a frame.

The Convert to Text operation should not result in a "text frame" (whatever that really is) unless the text in the table is inside some other structure such as a content control.

If you can copy a complete table from the original document and paste it into a new blank document, and remove any sensitive material, email it to me at the address shown in https://jay-freedman.info/contact/contact.htm. I'll investigate what's causing the problem and how to deal with it.

Convert to Text should work. What did you select as the separator character? The usual one is Tab, which maintains your columns. If it's resulting in the text inside a table, it's possible your table was nested to begin with; make sure you check the box for "Convert nested tables" when you convert.

Thanks, I tried that, but it didn't solve anything. The 'convert to text' doesn't really do that at all--it just essentially merges all the text into one frame, but keeps it (instead of Excel's problem, which keeps only the text in the top left hand frame).

With Convert, I get the text in a text frame, not all of which is visible, and I essentially end up with the same problem.  If I try to copy all of it (even that on other hidden pages--hidden because the page isn't long enough to display all of it, and stretching the box won't go over multiple pages) I get yet another text box.  If I want JUST the text, I again have to cut the visible parts, paste those outside the frame (or in another document), then cut the next visible part, paste that, etc, until I have all of the text I want outside the frame. Very VERY tedious when there are thousands of lines.  

I shouldn't be surprised, but I always am when basic issues like this between Word and Excel are still ongoing after 30 years!