Filetonic / I use Microsoft Office Word 2007. I have tables which I have saved but can’t delete. When I want to start typing, the table is on the page which should be blank and I can’t see to type. Help?

I use Microsoft Office Word 2007. I have tables which I have saved but can’t delete. When I want to start typing, the table is on the page which should be blank and I can’t see to type. Help?

Celeste Stewart It sounds like we have two issues. The first one is how to delete tables and the second one is why your blank document contains the tables in the first place. Both are easy to do.

How to Delete Tables in Word

When you have a table that you no longer want in Word, the familiar Delete key on your keyboard doesn’t always work. For example, if you highlight the text within the table and click press “delete,” only the text within the table is deleted, not the table itself. Instead, you can select a blank line above and begin highlighting from there to the bottom of the table with your mouse. This selects the entire table. Now, press the Delete key and the table should disappear.

Another way you can do this is to “cut” the table out. First, click inside the table or hover over it with your mouse briefly. See the tiny square box with a cross mark in it that appears on the upper left just outside of the table? Click that. That will select the entire table. Now, right click it and choose “Cut.” The table will disappear.

How to Change the Normal.Dot Template

For some reason, it appears that your default blank page has a table in it. Whenever you load Word, it opens the Normal.dot template which is basically a blank page. The easiest thing to do is to delete the existing Normal.dot file and let Word create a new one which it will do the next time you start Word. This new Normal.dot file will have the default settings from Word which should not include a table.

Normal.dot is located in C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates. Simply close Word, locate and delete this file, and restart Word.

Another option is to go into Word, open the Normal.dot file, delete the table, and then save it with the change. While you’re editing the Normal.dot file, you can make changes such as the default font type, too. For example, if you prefer Times New Roman over the default Calibri font, simply change the font in the font list to Times New Roman before saving the document.