In particular, make sure the alignment is set to “Center,” since “Left” can be quirky (remember that when the table is left-aligned, any “Indent from left” setting - whether 0″, a positive number, or a negative number - will position the table relative to the left margin). If the table still isn’t situated the way you want, reopen the Table Properties dialog and double-check all the settings. If you would like 1″ margins on both the left and the right, set the table width at 6.5″ (assuming standard paper that is 8.5″ wide, minus 1″ on the left and another 1″ on the right). What seems to work best is to choose center alignment rather than left alignment - a very important first step! - then set a “Preferred width” based on the margin settings you want. That is, it doesn’t matter how you configure the left and right margins if you have set a “Preferred width” in the Table Properties that extends beyond those margins. The reason is that the Table Properties settings appear to override the Page Setup settings. Clicked the “Apply to:” drop-down and chose “Selected Text” andĪlthough we achieved our desired results by using that method, it might not work in all circumstances. Set the left margin to 1″ and set the right margin to 1″ Ĥ. Often, that produces unexpected (and unwanted) outcomes.Īfter experimenting with a few different methods, we managed to get the table centered between a 1″ margin on the left and a 1″ margin on the right. Of course, it’s possible to drag the table margins, but with left-aligned tables, dragging one margin typically alters all of margins. As a result, the table was sticking out into the left margin by more than half an inch. Moreover, “Indent from left” (which really means “Indent from the left margin”) was set at minus 0.55 inches. Also, there was a check in the “Preferred width” box, and the width was set to 7.5 inches.
To get more information, I clicked within the table, then clicked the context-sensitive Table Tools Layout tab and clicked “Properties.” (Alternatively, I could have right-clicked anywhere within the table, then clicked “Table Properties.”) When the Table Properties dialog appeared, I noticed that the table was left-aligned - which, for some reason, is the default table alignment in Word.
It was wider than her preferred L/R margins (she wanted to apply page margins of 1″ all around), and she was having difficulty getting the table to fit even after applying 1″ margins via the Page Layout tab, Margins. She had created a table that spanned several pages.
HOW TO DO JUSTIFY RIGHT MARGIN IN WORD WINDOWS
This post was inspired by a problem encountered by one of the legal secretaries at the Los Angeles law firm where I’m providing floor support for Office 2010 and Windows 7. Centering a table within the L/R page margins in Word