Can tables be permanently set to Fixed Column Width?

[fountasc]

By default a table produced within MS Word is set to "Autofit to Contents".
Is there any way I can change this so that any further tables produced within
MS Word are "Fixed column width"?

 

[Stefan Blom]

According to Word Help, selecting "Set as default for new tables" when
inserting a table should work even for the AutoFit options. Have you
tried this?

 

[fountasc]

Thanks for your responce Stefan although this is not the case when using the
table button, not choice is given.

 

[Stefan Blom]

A different way to accomplish what you want is to record a macro with
the desired settings and then attach it to a toolbar button.

 

[Klaus Linke]

A different way to accomplish what you want is to
record a macro with the desired settings and then
attach it to a toolbar button.

I use a macro that
-- sets AutoFit to contents (so the column widths are optimized),
-- then sets AutoFit to window (so the table width gets set to the page
width),
-- then sets AutoFit to fixed (so the column widths stay fixed, and Word
doesn't slow down from re-adjusting them all the time).

' applies to the table the cursor is in:
With Selection.Tables(1)
.AutoFitBehavior (wdAutoFitContent)
ActiveDocument.Repaginate
.AutoFitBehavior (wdAutoFitWindow)
ActiveDocument.Repaginate
.AutoFitBehavior (wdAutoFitFixed)
End With

Regards,
Klaus