Ask a new question

Can't Remove Mystery Table

All the text in my 74-page document is in a table. The table is preventing my book from being published by Smashwords. I use Word 2007, but the document has to be saved as Word 97-2003. Other books formatted at the same time, using the same Styles menu have published OK. In this one, each paragraph seems to be in a row. When I click on borders, the table shows. If I click in the table, the table tools ribbon does not appear, so I can't convert to text. No table menu appears if I right click. Pasting to Notepad & back does not destroy the table. Pasting to Excel and back as un-formatted text does not remove the table.  Pasting one line of the text from Notepad to Word brings the table formatting back with it, so I can't even rescue the text a line at a time. I would be so grateful for help.
Here's something to at least try:  Make sure your paragraph marks are showing on screen.  Select everything EXCEPT for the last paragraph mark and copy everything.  Paste into a blank document and then try to select the table to convert to text.  If you can't convert the table, try paste special/Unformatted text and see if the text comes in without the table.

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Select the table, which will cause the contextual Table Tools tab to be displayed. On the Table Tools | Layout tab, at the far right end, choose Convert to Text. If the table is a single column with a row for each paragraph, then it won't matter much what character you choose for "Separate text with," but select "Paragraph marks" just to be on the safe side.
Microsoft MVP (Word) since 1999
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://ssbarnhill.com
http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com
Screen shots captured with TechSmith's Snagit

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Thanks for the suggestion, but it still didn't work.

 

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Suzanne, the problem I have is that selecting the table, or any part of it, does not cause the table menu to appear. I have no idea why this may be.  I have tried dragging the 'convert to text' to my own toolbar, but it is greyed out when I'm in this table.

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Louise, is it possible that this is not a table at all, but simply borders around text?  Try selecting all the text and the border option.

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Hi Mike - the borders option is switched off in all the places I can see. The message from Smashwords said 'problem with text inside a table'. I only turned on the lines to try to find the table. Turning the lines off seems to make no difference. Each paragraph return appears to be inside a separate row - in desperation I tried to remove a paragraph by cutting it out of the row and pasting it to a new document, but the row comes with it. I'm in despair! Thanks for your ideas.

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Could there be a gremlin in my Styles formatting? I opened an old document, one which has been published OK, clicked on borders, and there is the same formatting. I'm so baffled - and now I've corrupted yet another document. Any Style wizards out there?

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Mike, you could be on to something. I inserted a table, and see that there is a symbol at the end of each row which is not showing at the ends of the lines around my paragraphs. What kind of formatting puts lines around each paragraph? Does anyone know?

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Simple border formatting (not borders in table menu, but the borders in Paragraph menu).   Border formatting could be in the style definition.  Take a look at your style definition and see if it mentions borders.  If so remove the border formatting and update the style.

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Can you post a small portion of the document at a sharing site (SkyDrive, DropBox)? Or send it to me at ssbarnhill at gmail dot com, and I'll take a look.
Microsoft MVP (Word) since 1999
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://ssbarnhill.com
http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com
Screen shots captured with TechSmith's Snagit

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

 
 

Question Info

Last updated April 14, 2025 Views 114 Applies to: