WD2002: Unable to Center Text in a Column of an Inserted Table (286889)

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Word, when you attempt to center the text in a column of an inserted table, you may be unable to do so.

For example, when you click Centered in the Pick formatting to apply list of the Styles and Formatting task pane, the centered formatting is not applied to the selected text as expected.

NOTE: If you have not yet applied centered formatting to any text in your document, Centered does not appear in the Pick formatting to apply list.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs when you apply centered formatting to either of the following:

The first column of the table.

-or-
Any other text contained in the document.

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, use one of the following methods:

Select the text that you want to center, and then click the Centered button on the Formatting toolbar.

-or-
Select the text that you want to center, and then click Paragraph on the Format menu. On the Indents and Spacing tab, change the setting in the Alignment box to Centered, and then click OK.

-or-
Apply the centered formatting to the other columns in the table that you want centered before you apply it to the first column.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.