Decreasing table row height in Word 2011 (possibly specific issue with end of row formatting)

Question

I am working with a Microsoft Word 2011 (for Mac) document with some tables that have small row heights (what I want), and some tables with larger row heights (that I want to change). The "incorrect" tables were pasted into the document.

• When I drag cell borders in the UI, the row height is not decreased.
• When I set an exact row height in table properties, table contents are cut (despite an abundance of space).
• Line spacing is 1, so it can't be used to decrease row height

The "incorrect" tables have end of row formatting signs that are misaligned with the table contents formatting signs, while the good tables have aligned formatting signs. I illustrated this in two screenshots:

Aligned:

Misaligned:

The alignment issue is the only consistent table property of the "incorrect" tables that I can find.

How can I decrease table row heights in this case? How can I fix the formatting signs alignment issue?

Solution

How can I decrease table row heights in this case?

You need to check your paragraph formats:

1. Open the "Paragraph" dialog

2. Select "Indents and Spacing" tab

3. In the "Spacing" section make sure "Before" and "After" are set to "0 pt"

See below for instructions and (Windows) screenshots.

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Paragraph Formatting and Creating Lists

You can control paragraph behavior and appearance using the “Paragraph” tab. This tab has several notable features including increase/decrease indent, line spacing, borders, and more. There are many more options than are first apparent. To access that click on the icon at the bottom corner of the paragraph tab.

The “Paragraph” dialog will give you further, more fine-grained control. You can affect indenting, line spacing, as well as line and page breaks.

Source Lesson 2: Paragraph Formatting and Creating Lists

Comments

[DavidPostill]

Check the paragraph formatting - space settings - before, after and line spacing

[CarlAH]

Format/Paragraph.../"Indents and spacing"/before was at 13 pts, and changing it to 0 pts solved the issue. Thanks. Write up a solution and I will accept it.

[DavidPostill]

Answer written.