How to delete a row in Google Docs on a Mac

Google Apps and Microsoft Office include comparable programs for a number of different productivity tasks. You can use Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel to create spreadsheets, Google Slides or Powerpoint to create slideshows, and Google Docs or Microsoft Word to edit documents.

Both MS Word and Google Docs give you a handful of formatting options that you can use to create tables and adjust the way they look, but you can also delete tables that you no longer need in your document.

A table can be a helpful element in a document that needs to present data to its readers. But data that you initially thought would be best served by a table may later prove to be better in a paragraph.

This can leave you with a document that contains an unwanted table, which you may ultimately decide to delete. Fortunately, Google Docs has a number of different table-related tools and commands, and one of those options lets you delete a table from your document. Our tutorial below will show you how to remove a document in Google Docs that you dont need.

How to Delete a Table from a Google Docs Document

1. Open the document from Google Drive.
2. Click inside the table.
3. Choose the Format tab.
4. Select Table.
5. Click Delete table.

Our guide continues below with more information on deleting a table in Google Docs including pictures of these steps.

Google Docs Delete Table Instructions (Guide with Pictures)

The steps in this article assume that you already have an existing Google Docs document with a table and that you want to remove the entire table from the document. This doesnt hide the table but actually deletes it.

Therefore you wont be able to get the table back later unless you choose to restore a version of the document that contained the table. If youre deleting your table because you need it to be bigger, you may want to consider landscape orientation instead of portrait.

Step 1: Sign in to your Google Drive and open the document containing the table that you would like to remove.

Step 2: Click inside the table to select it.

Step 3: Select the Format tab at the top of the window.

Step 4: Select the Table option, then choose Delete table.

If you would like to add a new table to your document after deleting the existing one, then this article will show you how. You have the ability to create a table with the layout that you need, but you can also edit elements of that table later if you find that you need to add, remove, or reformat parts of it.

How to Remove Borders from a Google Docs Table in a Google Docs File

While you should now know how to delete Google Docs tables from a Google document, that may not be all that you want to do to a table.

Whether you choose the Delete table option from the Format dropdown menu or if you select Delete table from the right-click menu, you can also find an option for Table properties.

If you select that option it will open a new window where you can specify a number of other table elements as well. These include options like customizing table borders with a border color, setting a table border size, or setting table alignment options and dimensions.

If you click the table properties option for the border size you can choose the 0 pt option, which will remove the table border. This means that there wont be any lines around your table cells, and you will only see the table contents in the Google doc.

More Information on How to Delete a Table in Google Docs

When you complete the steps in this guide you will delete a table from Google Docs. This includes both the structure of the table and the data contained within it.

If you dont want to delete the entire table, but would rather just delete a row or delete a column, then you have the ability to do that as well.

If you right-click on a cell in the table it will open a shortcut menu with a number of options. Included among these options is a button to Delete column or Delete row.

If you use your mouse to select multiple rows or multiple columns then you will be able to delete those ranges as well. The options in the right-click menu will just be changed to Delete rows or Delete columns instead.

We mentioned earlier that you can revert to an older version of your document if you decide that you want to go back to a point before you created the table or before you removed the table in your Google Docs document. You can do this by clicking the File tab at the top of the window, then choosing Version history and See version history. You will see a list of your document versions in the column on the right side of the window. You can click one of those versions then click the blue Restore this version button at the top of the window.

Another way that you can get rid of a table in your Google Docs document is to use your mouse to select every table cell in the table. You can then press the Delete key or the Backspace key on your keyboard to eliminate the table from the document.

You can read here for information on removing a text box from Google Slides if you have been working on a presentation but having trouble removing unwanted elements.

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