In WORD, table rows are randomly shifting to the right clear off the page.

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In WORD, table rows are randomly shifting to the right clear off the page.

Anonymous

I work in a document control department for a large company. We use both doc and docx. Tables are a constant element in these documents.

We are currently using Office 365. We had this issued before going to 365.

This issue happens with track changes on or off; resolved or unresolved; however, with track changes on the problem is worse, and unfixable until the changes are resolved and the document SAVED. Track changes is mandatory so, unfortunately, we can't simply disable it to minimize the occurrence.

Someone had a theory that using the "+" to insert rows from the side of a table (this feature doesn't exist in earlier version of Word) might be the culprit. While this might be able to avoidable going forward, Is there a fix or workaround for this problem?

I have not been able to replicate this issue intentionally. Not sure what the cause is.

Columns generally are added and I have not witnessed this behavior with columns.

Having to manually resize all the cells by hand can be very time consuming. For us in doc control, it's a hassle as we know how to work within Word, but to others that don't live in that world, it can be a nightmare.

Thanks in advance.

Biff J.

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4 answers

Answer 1

Hi Biff:

Yes, strange behaviour in tables is an expected result of using tracked changes in tables. Word needs to display the "previous" and "current" state of the table together, and its ability to preserve the layout while doing this is limited.

I would NOT use the obsolete .doc format in such circumstances: it is not robust enough to cope reliably with the complexities involved with tracked changes in tables. The most likely (inevitable...) result will be that the document will corrupt and you will lose some or all of the content. Allow those old .docs to upgrade to .docx as soon as possible.

You might also suggest to your users that after a document has been updated and the final version approved, there is no purpose in keeping the tracked changes. They should Save As to a new (.docx) file, then ACCEPT all changes and Save. That way you have a clean document for the next round of updates, and your documents will likely last "forever".

Leaving tracked changes in documents will always cause problems eventually.

Hope this helps

Answer 2

Are you saying that adding a new row may cause the entire table, or just one or more rows, to shift over to the right hand side in such a way that part of the table disappears into the right margin of the page? I have not seen that myself.

When you, or a colleague, observes this, which commands are listed on the Undo drop down in Word? This may provide helpful clues.

Also, could you share a sample document in which this has happened?

Answer 3

Sorry Stefan, I'm not permitted to share an example. It's a work thing.

It doesn't seem to matter it's a new or old row. New rows seem to be more apt to move.

Movement can be anywhere from a couple of points to double the length of the row. (that's a guess)

I haven't checked the undo dropdown. I normally use ctrl+z so it hasn't occurred to me to look there. I'll take a look the next time I see it.

Answer 4

Anonymous

Thanks John. Unfortunately doc file format isn't my call. Transition will happen, but not for a while.

The movement happens with docx as well.

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In WORD, table rows are randomly shifting to the right clear off the page.

4 answers