How to delete a column in TextEdit

textedit

Using TextEdit, I created a table in a RTF document. Now I want to delete one of the columns in the table, and I see no option anywhere to delete a column. How do I delete a column in a table in TextEdit?

Best Answer

RTF table support is quite limited in TextEdit.

If the column you want to get rid of is not the last column in the table (in which case grgarside's answer above is your best option) you can try the procedure below:

  1. Let's say you want to delete column "c" below:

    enter image description here

  2. Hold down Option to mark the contents of the column (note that the cursor changes shape to a cross):

    enter image description here

  3. Now you can either:

    • Press Delete to delete its contents:

      enter image description here

    • Position the cursor in every empty cell and press the fndelete key combination (you can also use the delete ⌦ key, but you will have to rearrange columns later):

      enter image description here

      until you have deleted all of them:

      enter image description here

    or:

    • Press Merge in Format > Table...:

      enter image description here

    • Select the contents of the column and delete them by pressing Delete:

      enter image description here

    • Place the cursor in the empty column and press the fndelete key combination (you can also use the delete ⌦ key, but you will have to rearrange columns later) to delete it.

I wish it were more straightforward, but unfortunately it isn't.

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