WD: Pressing Tab in a Table in a Protected Form Inserts a Tab

ID: Q167618

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you press TAB in a table to move to the next cell of the table, a tab character will be inserted in the cell where the insertion point is located instead of moving to the next cell, when all of the following are true:

There are at least two sections in the document.

-and-

The document is protected for forms, but has an unprotected section containing a table.

- and -

The insertion point is located in a table cell in the unprotected section of the document.

WORKAROUND

Method 1: After the Document Is Protected

Place the insertion point outside of the table cell. Then, click back into the original table cell.

Pressing TAB will advance the insertion point to the next cell of the table.

Method 2: Before You Protect Your Document

Make sure the insertion point is not in a table cell before you protect the document.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

Navigating from cell to cell in a table is normally done by pressing the TAB key on the keyboard. Inserting a tab character in a table cell is normally done by pressing CTRL+TAB on the keyboard.

REFERENCES

For more information about working with protected documents, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q115607 WD: How to Update Fields in a Protected Form

Q146247 WD: Background Proofing Doesn't Function in Unprotected Section

Q117209 WD: How to Use AutoText as a Result of a Form Field Entry

Q110014 Calculation Text Fields Within Forms Fail to Update

Q157935 WD97: Keyboard Shortcuts for Word 97

Q112167 WD: Insertion Point Disappears in Table Cell

For more information about working with online forms, click the Office Assistant, type "online forms," click Search, and then click one of the topics.

For more information about tabs in tables, click the Office Assistant, type "tabs in tables," click Search, and then click "insert a tab in a table cell."

NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the Standard toolbar. If Word Help is not installed on your computer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q120802 Office: How to Add/Remove a Single Office Program or Component

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbusage kbtable kbformat
Version : WINDOWS:6.0,6.0a,6.0c,7.0,7.0a,97
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug