Word 2016 - Cannot Change Table Cell Options

Question

Hello. If you select a cell or group of cells in a table in Word 2016 and want to change the CELL options for those cells only (not the entire table), Word 2016 will not allow it. Put your cursor over a cell or group of selected cells, right-click and select TABLE PROPERTIES from the shortcut list. Once the TABLE PROPERTIES dialog box opens, select the CELL tab then click on OPTIONS on the lower right corner of the box. Uncheck SAME AS THE WHOLE TABLE and change the internal margins of those selected cells. Click OK. The OPTIONS dialog box closes. If you click on OPTIONS again, you can see that nothing has changed; it reverts back to the checkbox being checked and the internal margins the same as the entire table!!!!! If you click OK to get out of the TABLE PROPERTIES dialog box, you can see that your changes still were not made. This is a very useful feature when it works...can you please fix this dysfunctionality? It is SOOO frustrating!! Thanks!

Answer 1

What version of Office are you using?

While the issue that you mention was the case in the initial version of 2016, it is no longer the case in the latest version, which is 16.0.6568.2025.

If you system has not yet been updated to that version, you can force the update by going to File>Account>Update Options

Answer 2

Thank you very much...I am going to update now!

Answer 3

Have you applied the latest updates? I believe this has been fixed in a recent update.

Answer 4

Thank you! I will try that!