How to remove empty rows and columns from tables in Word?

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How can you remove the all empty rows and columns from tables in Word? This tutorial will show you several ways to remove empty rows and columns from tables in Word document.

Remove all empty rows and columns from tables with one click

Manually remove all empty rows and columns from tables

Microsoft Office Word does not provide a convenient way to remove empty rows and columns, and you need to remove them by manually select each empty row and column and then delete them one by one.

Step 1: Select the empty row or empty column you want to delete. See screenshot:

Step 3: Under Table Tools, click the Layout Tab;

Where Is The Eraser For Tables On Word Mac Download

Step 4: In the Rows & Columns group, click Delete Rows or Delete Columns.

Remove all empty rows and columns from tables by using VBA code

The Macro Function of Word provides a much more convenient way to remove all empty rows and columns from tables in document. You can remove all empty rows and columns as follows.

Step 1: Press “Alt-F11” to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Application window;

Step 2: Click Module on the Insert tab, copy and paste the following VBA code into the Module window;

Step 3: Then click Runbutton to apply the VBA.

The VBA code to remove all empty rows and columns from tables:

Sub DeleteEmptyTablerowsandcolumns()
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Dim Tbl As Table, cel As Cell, i As Long, n As Long, fEmpty As Boolean
With ActiveDocument
For Each Tbl In .Tables
n = Tbl.Columns.Count
For i = n To 1 Step -1
fEmpty = True
For Each cel In Tbl.Columns(i).Cells
If Len(cel.Range.Text) > 2 Then
fEmpty = False
Exit For
End If
Next cel
If fEmpty = True Then Tbl.Columns(i).Delete
Next i
Next Tbl
End With
With ActiveDocument
For Each Tbl In .Tables
n = Tbl.Rows.Count
For i = n To 1 Step -1
fEmpty = True
For Each cel In Tbl.Rows(i).Cells
If Len(cel.Range.Text) > 2 Then
fEmpty = False
Exit For
End If
Next cel
If fEmpty = True Then Tbl.Rows(i).Delete
Next i
Next Tbl
End With
Set cel = Nothing: Set Tbl = Nothing
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

Remove all empty rows and columns from tables with one click

Kutools for Word provides you the most convenient way to remove all empty rows and columns from tables in document. You just need to click once, and Kutools for Word' sDelete Rows/Columns utility will remove all empty rows and columns from all or selecetd tables for you quickly.

After installing Kutools for Word, please do as below:（Free Download Kutools for Word Now!)

1. Click Kutools Plus > Delete Rows/Columns on the Table pane.

2. Then a dialog pops out, choose the scope that you want to remove tables from in the Look in section, then check Row option and Blank row option, or check Column option and Blank row option as you need. If you want to delete all blank rows and columns, you need to apply this operation twice.

Now a dialog pops out to remind you how many tables have been dealed with, click OK to close, and the blank rows and columns have been removed from tables.

Demo : Remove blank rows and columns from tables in word

Tip.If you want to remove blank rows from Excel sheet, the Delete Blank Rows utility of Kutools for Excel can help you.

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• To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
  You just saved me a zillion hours of frustration, THANK YOU!
• To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
  u know you can just resize the table right? just filter and sort your data to top check how many rows have data, click table tools and the click resize and adjust the last number to whatever you need OR go to the bottom of the table the very last cell and use the tine blue triangle to drag and resize,

  • To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
    Except I have multiple page document with a table with varying information in each. Furthermore, it is a merge document so different each week. I need an automated method :)
• To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
  Hi, the macro is working, BUT:
  After deleting all rows, all the columns of the tables with empty rows open up very wide.
  How can i fix the code so that this does not happens?
  I am using Office 2016.
  Thank you!
• To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
  Hi All,
  I am looking for function in word wherein, if I remove specific word then it should remove that row as well.
• To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
  Thanks for the code, really useful.
• To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
  Is there a macro that will delete a row if only one of the cells in that row is empty or contains a zero?
• To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
  thanks for the macro, it was really helpful..
• To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
  Thanks for the macro. It worked like a charm!
• To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
  Hello developers - I have this macro which sits in a button and when clicked (the macro) removes the table directly above the button. Can this be fixed so that the macro only works once? Ie. if there are 2 tables in the document only 1 is deleted - then the macro ceases to work... can you advise?
  Sub tableDelete()
  '
  ' tableDelete Macro
  'Dim nTables As Integer
  nTables = ActiveDocument.Tables.Count
  ActiveDocument.Tables(nTables).Delete
  '
  End Sub

  • To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
    [quote name='Andy Harris']Hello developers - I have this macro which sits in a button and when clicked (the macro) removes the table directly above the button. Can this be fixed so that the macro only works once? Ie. if there are 2 tables in the document only 1 is deleted - then the macro ceases to work... can you advise?
    Sub tableDelete()
    Dim nTables As Integer
    nTables = ActiveDocument.Tables.Count
    ActiveDocument.Tables(nTables).Delete
    End Sub[/quote]
    Please try to use this VBA to delete all tables from current document in Word.
    [i]Sub tableDelete()
    Dim aTable As Table
    For Each aTable In ActiveDocument.Tables
    aTable.Delete
    Next
    End Sub[/i]

On this page:

• Column headings

Overview

In Microsoft Word, it is important to make sure all tables are accessible to those using screen readers. This helps those using screen readers to make sense of the data contained in a table. You should only use a table when it's necessary to convey relationships between pieces of data, and not for layout purposes. When using tables in a Word document, keep them as simple as possible. If necessary, split complex tables into multiple smaller tables. Be sure to designate a header row and use column headings to help describe the data in the table, as well as repeat the column headings on each page the table appears on. You should also ensure the table has alternative text, to describe the contents of the table for those using screen readers.

Designate a header row

Where Is The Eraser For Tables In Word

There are multiple parts to the process of making a table accessible. The first involves making sure the table has a header row designated. The 'Table Style Options' section of the ribbon on the Table Tools contextual tab lets you indicate that your data has a header row.

To add a table with a header row to a Word document:

1. On the ribbon, click Insert, and then click Table.
2. Choose how many rows and columns you want for your table.
3. On the ribbon, in the 'Table Tools' group, click Design.
4. In the 'Table Style Options' group, make sure Header Row is checked.

Column headings

Column headings help describe the content in a table, and should be present to help users understand the content.

To add column headings to a table in Word:

1. Place your cursor in the first cell of the top row of the table.
2. Type the name for the first column, and press Tab to move to the next column.
3. Repeat step 2 for the remaining columns.

Repeat column headings

Column headings should be repeated at the top of a table if the table spans multiple pages.

To repeat the column headings:

1. Right-click the table, and then click Table Properties.
2. In the 'Table Properties' dialog box, click the Row tab.
3. In the 'Options' group, make sure Repeat as header row at the top of each page is checked.
4. Uncheck the box next to Allow row to break across pages.
5. Click OK to accept the changes.

Alternative text

To add alternative text for tables, use the Alt Text tab of the 'Table Properties' dialog box:

1. Right-click the table, and then click Table Properties.
2. In the 'Table Properties' dialog box, click the Alt Text tab.
3. Fill in the description for the table and, if necessary, add a title for the table.
4. Click OK to accept the changes.

Prior versions of Word

For instructions for creating an accessible table in Word 2013, see the section on tables in WebAim's Microsoft Word 2013 accessible documents guide.