AHHHHH! Finally someone else has this issue. It is driving me crazy. This is
the second time it has happened to me. I don't know what I did to fix it the
first. but after it fixed itself, it was working until yesterday.

Now that it has again stopped allowing me to resize by dragging, I can't
drag any of the previously created tables columns to a width I want, either
in this doc or in any doc - even a new doc I create with a new table. I can
resize the columns the manual way (table properties - slow and tedious) or
via the ruler. But I cannot resize by dragging the column widths.

I have tweaked with all the automatic/non-automatic settings. I closed Word.
I did the Office 2003 update. I shut down the computer & re-started. I
created tables with various table settings and sizes. All have no affect.

I emailed the document home and opened it on my home computer - all worked
fine. I saved the doc there, emailed it back, opened it here, and NOT FINE.

Like Neal, I have used MSWord forever - for creating manuals, for creating
doc's, etc. I am EXTREMELY familiar with Word. Word 2003 is the first version
in which I encountered this issue. If I can't resolve this soon, I fear I
will have to just go back to Office 2000 or something because it is so
frustrating. I have searched the web, searched MS, searched everywhere to no
avail. Please help.......


"Neal Fuerst" wrote:

Folks - I'm at my wits end. I've read every thread I can find about resizing
a column width in a table. So far, nothing has worked. As a side note, I've
been using Word since the very first commercial version and consider myself
to be quite knowledgable. But, this one has me pulling my hair out.

[WordBanter AI]

I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble resizing table columns in Word 2003. It sounds like you've tried a lot of troubleshooting steps already, so let's see if we can find a solution for you.

First, let's make sure that you're using the correct method for resizing columns. To resize a column by dragging, you should hover your mouse over the vertical line between two column headers until the cursor changes to a double-headed arrow. Then, click and drag the line to the left or right to adjust the column width. If this isn't working for you, try the following steps:

1. Click anywhere inside the table to select it.
2. Click the "Layout" tab in the ribbon at the top of the screen.
3. Click the "AutoFit" button in the "Cell Size" group.
4. Choose "AutoFit Contents" from the dropdown menu.

This should adjust the column widths to fit the contents of each cell. If you still need to adjust the widths manually, try dragging the column lines again to see if they are now responsive.

If that doesn't work, you can also try resetting Word's preferences to their default settings. Here's how:

1. Close all open Word documents.
2. Click the "Start" button and type "run" in the search box.
3. Click the "Run" program that appears in the search results.
4. Type "%appdata%\Microsoft\Word" (without the quotes) in the "Open" field and click "OK".
5. Right-click the "Options" folder and choose "Rename".
6. Rename the folder to "Options.old".
7. Close the window and restart Word.

This will reset Word's preferences to their default settings, which may resolve the issue with resizing table columns.

I hope one of these solutions works for you. Let me know if you have any other questions or if there's anything else I can help with.

I assume you've got all the AutoFit settings disabled?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"ChristieD" wrote in message
...
AHHHHH! Finally someone else has this issue. It is driving me crazy. This
is
the second time it has happened to me. I don't know what I did to fix it
the
first. but after it fixed itself, it was working until yesterday.

Now that it has again stopped allowing me to resize by dragging, I can't
drag any of the previously created tables columns to a width I want,
either
in this doc or in any doc - even a new doc I create with a new table. I
can
resize the columns the manual way (table properties - slow and tedious) or
via the ruler. But I cannot resize by dragging the column widths.

I have tweaked with all the automatic/non-automatic settings. I closed
Word.
I did the Office 2003 update. I shut down the computer & re-started. I
created tables with various table settings and sizes. All have no affect.

I emailed the document home and opened it on my home computer - all worked
fine. I saved the doc there, emailed it back, opened it here, and NOT
FINE.

Like Neal, I have used MSWord forever - for creating manuals, for creating
doc's, etc. I am EXTREMELY familiar with Word. Word 2003 is the first
version
in which I encountered this issue. If I can't resolve this soon, I fear I
will have to just go back to Office 2000 or something because it is so
frustrating. I have searched the web, searched MS, searched everywhere to
no
avail. Please help.......


"Neal Fuerst" wrote:

Folks - I'm at my wits end. I've read every thread I can find about
resizing
a column width in a table. So far, nothing has worked. As a side note,
I've
been using Word since the very first commercial version and consider
myself
to be quite knowledgable. But, this one has me pulling my hair out.

Yes - I've tried it with it on and off. As I mentioned, I've tried every
variation I can find.

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

I assume you've got all the AutoFit settings disabled?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"ChristieD" wrote in message
...
AHHHHH! Finally someone else has this issue. It is driving me crazy. This
is
the second time it has happened to me. I don't know what I did to fix it
the
first. but after it fixed itself, it was working until yesterday.

Now that it has again stopped allowing me to resize by dragging, I can't
drag any of the previously created tables columns to a width I want,
either
in this doc or in any doc - even a new doc I create with a new table. I
can
resize the columns the manual way (table properties - slow and tedious) or
via the ruler. But I cannot resize by dragging the column widths.

I have tweaked with all the automatic/non-automatic settings. I closed
Word.
I did the Office 2003 update. I shut down the computer & re-started. I
created tables with various table settings and sizes. All have no affect.

I emailed the document home and opened it on my home computer - all worked
fine. I saved the doc there, emailed it back, opened it here, and NOT
FINE.

Like Neal, I have used MSWord forever - for creating manuals, for creating
doc's, etc. I am EXTREMELY familiar with Word. Word 2003 is the first
version
in which I encountered this issue. If I can't resolve this soon, I fear I
will have to just go back to Office 2000 or something because it is so
frustrating. I have searched the web, searched MS, searched everywhere to
no
avail. Please help.......


"Neal Fuerst" wrote:

Folks - I'm at my wits end. I've read every thread I can find about
resizing
a column width in a table. So far, nothing has worked. As a side note,
I've
been using Word since the very first commercial version and consider
myself
to be quite knowledgable. But, this one has me pulling my hair out.

So dang it. Now it fixed itself again. That is a good thing, but I sure wish
I knew what was causing it.

I feel your pain. I just spent an hour on the phone with a Dell tech support
person trying to troubleshoot an intermittent noise that of course wouldn't
manifest itself on cue. g

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"ChristieD" wrote in message
...
So dang it. Now it fixed itself again. That is a good thing, but I sure
wish
I knew what was causing it.

[GG Bodge]

AArrgghh!!!! Please help. I woke up this morning and gremlins attacked my computer overnight. I'm having the same problems with my table resizing as the previous posts - "....stopped allowing me to resize by dragging, I can't drag any of the previously created tables columns to a width I want, either in this doc or in any doc - even a new doc I create with a new table. I can resize the columns the manual way (table properties - slow and tedious) or via the ruler. But I cannot resize by dragging the column widths".. Even more strangely, I can click and drag to adjust row height, but not column width.

I have done all the tweeking and restarting etc. of the computer with no success. I am a long-term user of Word and consider myself to know the ins and outs of the program. But I can't figure this one out and yes this drives me crazy.

Anyone else had this problem and solved it since the last post all those years ago.

[Creeper1313]

Interesting. We have one user (so far) reporting this same behavior today on her Word 2003/Windows XP system at our 50 person company (got to this forum/thread via google).

Odd that it would have seemingly reared it's head in 2005 and then waited until January 2011 to crop up again. Perhaps some bug introduced in this week's Windows Updates? If so, strange that it's affecting her Word but not mine and another co-worker's. I had her send me a file she was experiencing it in as a test... columns resize fine in my copy of Word 2003 (same behavior that ChristieD reported 6 years ago).

I'd be interested in anyone else has any ideas on a cause/fix. Probably going to resort to reinstalling Office on her machine if this persists.

GG, have you installed any other--even 3rd party--software recently before this cropped up? My user couldn't think of any, but maybe some common thread can be found if you name something that jogs her memory.

Originally Posted by GG Bodge

AArrgghh!!!! Please help. I woke up this morning and gremlins attacked my computer overnight. I'm having the same problems with my table resizing as the previous posts - "....stopped allowing me to resize by dragging, I can't drag any of the previously created tables columns to a width I want, either in this doc or in any doc - even a new doc I create with a new table. I can resize the columns the manual way (table properties - slow and tedious) or via the ruler. But I cannot resize by dragging the column widths".. Even more strangely, I can click and drag to adjust row height, but not column width.

I have done all the tweeking and restarting etc. of the computer with no success. I am a long-term user of Word and consider myself to know the ins and outs of the program. But I can't figure this one out and yes this drives me crazy.

Anyone else had this problem and solved it since the last post all those years ago.

[handeiere]

Originally Posted by Creeper1313

Interesting. We have one user (so far) reporting this same behavior today on her Word 2003/Windows XP system at our 50 person company (got to this forum/thread via google).

Odd that it would have seemingly reared it's head in 2005 and then waited until January 2011 to crop up again. Perhaps some bug introduced in this week's Windows Updates? If so, strange that it's affecting her Word but not mine and another co-worker's. I had her send me a file she was experiencing it in as a test... columns resize fine in my copy of Word 2003 (same behavior that ChristieD reported 6 years ago).

I'd be interested in anyone else has any ideas on a cause/fix. Probably going to resort to reinstalling Office on her machine if this persists.

GG, have you installed any other--even 3rd party--software recently before this cropped up? My user couldn't think of any, but maybe some common thread can be found if you name something that jogs her memory.

I'd be interested in anyone else has any ideas on a cause/fix. Probably going to resort to reinstalling Office on her machine if this persists.

[Paul_In_Tbilisi]

Originally Posted by handeiere

I'd be interested in anyone else has any ideas on a cause/fix. Probably going to resort to reinstalling Office on her machine if this persists.

A workaround and clue to the underlying problem...

I just got this same problem today using Word 2003. I'm still not sure what the root problem was but - in my case - I had two documents open which were nearly identical. These were document templates I'd been sent to use with a heavily tabulated cover sheet.

I had to close one of these down before I could drag columns by their border lines again.

This didn't just affect documents based on that template - I opened a blank document and inserted a table. So long as I had both of those other documents open I couldn't drag columns in my new blank document either (or in any other open documents). Closing one of those two near-identical documents cleared the problem in all other open documents.

So, I found a work around which might give someone a clue as to why it happened. There were no macros that I could see in any of these documents, though the two document templates did include a few cold fields linked to the document properties sheet. Other than something screwy going on with the column width settings in these documents somehow causing a conflict, that's the only thing which was out of the ordinary with these docs.