Copying, pasting, and deleting cells

You can copy, paste, or delete a single table cell or multiple cells at once, preserving the cells’ formatting.

You can paste cells at the insertion point or in place of a selection in an existing table. To paste multiple table cells, the contents of the Clipboard must be compatible with the structure of the table or the selection in the table in which the cells will be pasted.

To cut or copy table cells:

1. Select one cell or multiple cells in a contiguous line and in the shape of a rectangle.

   In the following illustration, the selection is a rectangle of cells, so the cells can be cut or copied.

   

   In the following illustration, the selection is not a rectangle, so the cells can’t be cut or copied.

   

2. Select Edit > Cut or Edit > Copy.

   NOTE

   If you selected an entire row or column and you select Edit > Cut, the entire row or column is removed from the table (not just the contents of the cells).

To paste table cells:

1. Select where you want to paste the cells:
   • To replace existing cells with the cells you are pasting, select a set of existing cells with the same layout as the cells on the clipboard.

     For example, if you’ve copied or cut a 3 x 2 block of cells, you can select another 3 x 2 block of cells to replace by pasting.

   • To paste a full row of cells above a particular cell, click in that cell.
   • To paste a full column of cells to the left of a particular cell, click in that cell.

     NOTE

     If you have less than a full row or column of cells in the clipboard, and you click in a cell and paste the cells from the clipboard, the cell you clicked in and its neighbors may (depending on its location in the table) be replaced with the cells you are pasting.

   • To create a new table with the pasted cells, place the insertion point outside of the table.
2. Select Edit > Paste.

   If you are pasting entire rows or columns into an existing table, the rows or columns are added to the table. If you are pasting an individual cell, the contents of the selected cell are replaced. If you are pasting outside a table, the rows, columns, or cells are used to define a new table.

To remove cell content but leave the cells intact:

1. Select one or more cells.

   NOTE

   Make sure the selection does not consist entirely of complete rows or columns.

2. Select Edit > Clear or press Delete.

   NOTE

   If only complete rows or columns are selected when you select Edit > Clear or press Delete, the entire rows or columns--not just their contents--are removed from the table.

To delete rows or columns that contain merged cells:

1. Select the row or column.
2. Select Modify > Table > Delete Row or Modify > Table > Delete Column.