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How do I delete the contents in a column without deleting the column?

Anonymous
2012-02-16T18:40:31+00:00

Greetings!

I'm a new mac user, and am trying to get used to office for mac. I am so glad I found this site. I've search through some other but didn't find what I was looking for.

Currently I'm working within a table, when I go to delete the contents in a column (or row) it deletes the entire row.

Also, when I try to move the items in one column & copy them into another column, it adds a whole new column to the table - which isn't what I'm trying to do (I'm simply trying to move the items from say the first column to the second column - without creating a third column) I hope that all made sense! :)

Is there a way to change these default settings? So when I hit delete it deletes the contents not the column? And when I try a move an item it moves the contents without adding the whole column?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 434.8K Reputation points
    2012-02-16T21:28:43+00:00

    If you just want to remove the content of the cells use the Edit> Clear command. On a full keyboard use the del [not delete] key, or on a laptop use fn+delete. You also have the option of assigning your own keyboard shortcut to the EditClear command.

    Because of how tables work in the structure of a document you can't actually move content from one row or column to another if an entire Column or Row is involved. Cut the column then click in the first cell of the column you want the new column to be inserted to the left of when you paste [Insert As New Column].

    Regards,

    Bob J.

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-02-17T04:27:00+00:00

    Further to Bob's recommendations, there is a setting that might be of use.

    If you enable Word > Preferences > Edit > Drag-and-drop text editing (hover your mouse over it to read a description at the bottom, in the "Description of preference" frame), you can select a column, row, cell or text, pause, then drag it to another position.

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