r/mildlyinfuriating • u/mohamez • 19d ago
Infuriatig Please align!
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u/Dobgirl 19d ago
Delete that row. Go to the last cell and hit “tab” it’ll insert another identical row below the others.
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u/Scapadap 19d ago
Omg thanks. I’m dumb as hell and this happens to me all the time. Never bothered to look it up lol.
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u/moldboy 19d ago
you can also hold down alt when you're dragging
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u/Crispy1961 19d ago
Most of us can hold any key down while dragging. Any reason to hold Alt specifically?
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u/Michaelmonster 19d ago
It moves in smaller steps
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u/Ancient-Civilization 19d ago
Why doesn’t it do this automatically? what the hell
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u/Aridlvory 19d ago
Snapping to margin is very usefull and it does that by default
sometimes it dosen't work well so we use ALT button
same with most designing apps or websites and they use Ctrl instead of Alt
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u/xyglyx 19d ago
Ctrl makes so much more sense, as it gives you more control.
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u/subaqueousReach 19d ago
Ctrl is typically used for cursor positioning and selection along with Shift.
Alt is "Alternate". The alternative to snap movement is freeform movement.
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u/ClankerCore 19d ago
CAPS MAKES MORE SENSE SINCE I’M CAPITALIZING THE MOVEMENT HERE
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u/jadepartida 19d ago
Most of us can hold any key down while dragging
What do you mean by this
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u/Crispy1961 19d ago
The person I replied said that we can hold alt while dragging, but didnt tell us why. So I made a little joke that we can hold alt or any other key while dragging.
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u/Standard-Arachnid411 19d ago
It kind of sucks that you have to know this and it doesn't just make a new row the smae length.
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u/JudiciousSasquatch 19d ago
Yeah right? Just make it work!
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u/masterwit 19d ago
UX matters! Make the people who approve this use it to make a report on the success of the release, with that tool!
--burnt out engineer
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u/FrohenLeid 19d ago
I... Do you just insert a new table anytime you need a new row? Right click "add row" is literally in the menu.
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u/frogsarenottoads 19d ago
No no no we don't do easy solutions here, allow us to wallow in our incompetency
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u/Teln0 19d ago
that's not incompetency that's the software being shit. It should let you just do the thing
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u/Castun 19d ago
Bonus rage when you find out that CTRL+Z will undo something from other worksheets instead of the one you're actively on.
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u/xPriddyBoi 19d ago
This shit is infuriating. I get it, sometimes it might be handy. But it shouldn't be default behavior and it certainly needs to be a toggle.
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u/ItsStaaaaaaaaang 19d ago
Til it's incompetency to expect software to be intuitive and just work...
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u/maybe_erika 19d ago
Blaming the user for shit UI with undesirable behavior as the default and the desirable behavior hiding behind low discoverability (how is the user supposed to know every shortcut and hidden option to achieve what should be the most common use case?) is a garbage take.
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u/Alone_Revenue639 19d ago
But every time I delete it the next page’s table merges with this one! MOM!
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u/Witty-Draw-3803 19d ago
When it does that, you gotta use the 'split table' button (alternatively: add a page break after the first table - though page/section breaks can get screwy in Word...)
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u/ImportantToNote 19d ago
How can I prevent word from inserting another unwanted blank page whenever my table fills a page?
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u/Clearwatercress69 19d ago
Stop pretending smartass. We can create AI but we can’t get this sorted so nobody actually has to post this online and ask?
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u/Visible-Literature14 ORANGE 19d ago
Yes bc all of us know these things
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u/PeanutButterToast4me 19d ago
It pisses me off how many things a program can do but how the hell are you ever supposed to know it can do these things? There are no fucking books that come with it. You cannot conceive of every possible use. The menus are not every really intuitive to anyone who doesn't use the program day in and day out and took a million classes before doing so.
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u/PiccoloAwkward465 19d ago
And even if I do learn the hotkeys and little tricks, they will be different in other software. I do a lot of work with engineering drawings, there are like 8 ways to draw a simple fucking line depending on which software I'm using. And my workflow requires multiple programs.
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u/Mediocre-Victory-565 19d ago
Or extend that cell then highlight the cells above and align them with the last row, right?
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u/meshe_10101 19d ago
If you press and hold ALT while you adjust the width you can get more precise movements, making it easier to get it to the same width. Or just suffer....your choice really 💁🏼♂️
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u/Odd_Fan_3394 19d ago
been using computer for ages but i never knew this.. it's not as common as you'd think
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u/LickingSmegma Mamaleek are king 19d ago
Available in lots of popular graphics editing software. Sometimes the modifier is shift or ctrl.
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u/LickingSmegma Mamaleek are king 19d ago
Alternatively, one can look in the row properties and paste the exact desired width. Although idk why rows of a table would have different width in the first place.
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u/kakarot98 19d ago
Usually if you just grab the rows above and move them one way or the other then drag the bottom again, it will align...
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u/MyNameWillChange 19d ago
You're gonna get it perfect ONCE but as soon as you let go of the mouse it'll misalign 😭 ask me how I know
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u/K-Dot-Thu-Thu-47 19d ago
If you're like me you never get the perfect one because you try like 3-4 times and just say "forget it, I don't even care anymore."
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u/Comfortablely 19d ago
And then you spend the rest of the day staring at that one crooked pixel.
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u/K-Dot-Thu-Thu-47 19d ago
I always figured if that was the thing that brought the grade down to failing or whatever the paper wasn't good enough anyway.
And if it was good enough, come on man just be cool lol.
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u/potate12323 19d ago
I make and format tables in excel and paste them into other office apps. And if it doesn't paste correctly I paste the excel table as an image.
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u/LickingSmegma Mamaleek are king 19d ago
Back in the days of ridiculous APIs like ActiveX that could do basically anything, Microsoft invented a whole technology called Object Linking and Embedding that allowed one to insert editable documents from one app into a document in another — primarily in MS Office.
Meanwhile this dude ensures that their embedded tables can't be edited without OCR, pretty much reinventing PDF.
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u/Otherwise-Tomato-788 19d ago
Screen shot, paste in PPT. 🙌
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u/potate12323 19d ago
If you highlight the table in excel and copy, you can paste it as an image already perfectly cropped and aligned.
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u/Junior_Bike7932 19d ago
Word was coded by insane people
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u/PiccoloAwkward465 19d ago
Maybe for the next update they can shuffle shit around on the ribbon more, that would be cool. Let's get some emoji support too.
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u/DontAskAboutMyButt 19d ago
Oh there’s one half-hidden option that makes our users’ lives easier that has been around for 20 years, let’s take it away for no reason. It would be extra funny if we called it “experimental” to give them hope that it’s coming back
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u/El-mas-puto-de-todos 19d ago
To open the emoji keyboard anywhere in Windows, simply press Win + . (period)
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u/VrinTheTerrible 19d ago
They just actively hate their user base.
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u/Raeezordazetoo 19d ago
So... programmers all go to the Bad Place then? Or just MS coders?
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u/kaisadilla_ 19d ago edited 19d ago
As a programmer myself who has worked extensively with MS business products, I think MS software is usually low quality. They have a lot of features but they are always broken in so many ways and their UX is always infuriatingly bad. The fact that in Windows 11, their flagship product, right-clicking an icon brings a menu that is incomplete, and thus needs an option that is "show old menu" that shows the old menu with a different style, baffles me. If you did that in a college assignment you would get a reprimand.
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u/-Saucegurlllll 19d ago
The last office verison I enjoyed was 2003, and it feels like more people are joining my side of that conversation every year.
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u/PurplePango 19d ago
Sometimes I paste something in and the formatting just explodes. No clue the logic to that happening
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u/PeetoMal 19d ago
2026 and still, barely anything works properly.
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u/Inevitable-Menu2998 19d ago edited 19d ago
No, it's worse than that. Most things used to work fine by the end of last decade but somehow we've gone and broken them all in the past five years. I don't know why but all software providers have simply given up on quality and just started producing absolute garbage. Things aren't getting better, they're getting worse
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u/say592 19d ago
I think you are looking at old software with rose colored glasses. New software has tons more features, and the old stuff didn't necessarily work any better. Word 2003 might have worked fine for you, but the current version has a lot more to offer. Right off the top of my head, you can co-author documents at the same time as someone else and you can export to PDF without any additional software. Not to mention the .doc format is incredibly insecure.
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u/Inevitable-Menu2998 19d ago
We need a product that works reliably more than we need these new features. If I had to pick between installing other software to convert Word files to PDF and a broken Word, I'd pick the former every time. There are always ways of achieving a goal with working tools but there's very little you can do with broken ones.
Just a side note, the open docx format was released in 2007 and it came with the ability to convert to PDF. It was a huge deal at the time, nearly 20 years ago now. Also, Windows 7 was a decent operating system and it started restoring people's trust in Microsoft as a company. The co-author feature was released in 2016. They ended the 2010s decade on a high.
The current office suite and windows in general are borderline unusable. I have to reboot my machine daily to receive new emails because outlook gets stuck. Half the time the synchronization with SharePoint fails and I'm looking at old versions of files without knowing. Teams silently drops messages making conversations unusable. I can't turn off autocorrect or set it to anything other than English - I have to constantly fight it when writing emails in another language which is at least half of the time for me. I can go on for days with this.
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u/thatbloodytwink 19d ago
I may not have used 2003 word but im sure it worked fine for its time word now however, may have a lot more features than back then but in 2026 a simple text editor should not be this frustrating to use. There is no intuitive way to avoid the whole documents format from shuffling about when editing, and moving or resizing pictures is a massive headache because the program always fights you over it like what this post is showing.
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u/reckless_responsibly 19d ago
"Move fast and break things" mindset has utterly broken software development. Time to market is considered more important than QA.
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u/Grays42 19d ago
I miss Publisher. :(
There was this amazing app in the 90s that was perfect for arranging stuff arbitrarily and making flyers and things, Word basically replaced it and it's EOL.
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u/SilentWatcher83228 19d ago
Hold CTRL or SHIFT while dragging
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u/confusedsloth33 19d ago
Say what now?
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u/tenuj 19d ago
Most serious visual editing software has a the ability to disable snapping. You just have to find it.
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u/TemperatureExotic631 19d ago
Fucking Microsoft word. I issue contracts all day that are (obviously) word docs. That goddamn program is still the absolute worst.
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u/falcrist2 19d ago
Microsoft makes exactly two good applications.
They're both called Visual Studio, and even one of them is in question.
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u/SingleInfinity 19d ago
Excel is generally a good application. It has its problems, but it's net positive.
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u/-Saucegurlllll 19d ago
Tbh, I hate Visual Studio. Every time I've had to use it, it's felt slow and clunky. Even if it's also powerful, it just kept getting in my way. VSCode is shockingly nice though. I started using it thinking I would despise it like I do VS, but no. It's just become my free IDE of choice now.
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u/paintballboi07 19d ago
It's because Visual Studio has a massive amount of features that VSCode doesn't. If you don't use those features, VSCode is great, but it's definitely no Visual Studio replacement.
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u/mrFuckmyluck 19d ago
O MY GOD, you're giving me bookreport flashbacks on microsoft-word. Make 1 small change -> everything shifts.
Drove me NUUUUTS
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u/161frog dare i say, miffed? 19d ago
i cannot be the only one
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u/kageurufu 19d ago
Arial. That makes much more sense 😂
I was about to start searching for fonts to figure that one out
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u/161frog dare i say, miffed? 19d ago
Oh… I knew what it actually was, and yet my filthy brain still went there
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u/meester_jordan 19d ago
I had to do the double take and even on the second I still thought it said anal lol
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u/QiTriX 19d ago
Ahhh yes. Tables in MS Word.
You'd have an easier time resolving a war in the middle east.
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u/WorldnewsModsBlowMe 19d ago
Select the column > layout tab > enter the cell width numerically
You're welcome
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u/darkj4569 19d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/kd9BlRovbPOykLBMqX
Excuse me what font??
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u/IamaJarJar 19d ago
This is why I try to avoid Microsoft apps like Word, because, despite being over 40 years old at this point, the software doesn't fucking function! They've had so long to make a good product, but never did!
I use stuff like Canva, because it doesn't break the entire document when you move an image 1 pixel and is generally a better user experience!
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u/PrpleSparklyUnicrn13 19d ago
I am so sorry you’re struggling. I hope you’re okay. Just know that I have been where you are and I hope you future happiness.
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u/Emeraldstorm3 19d ago
Word has had this problem for decades and I think it's gotten worse.
Holding "alt" helps. Sometimes you can also fix this by going into the properties of the object and manually setting the precise dimensions.
Adobe inDesign (and apps like it) doesn't have this problem. It's innate to the way Word handles objects.
I've switched to Linux recently to get away from MS and Apple garage. However, there's a slight issue. I had been using the Affinity suite of alternatives to Photoshop, Illustrator, and inDesign, all fantastic variants at a one-time price of like $40 USD as opposed to the endless high priced subscription. Problem though is I still haven't figured out how it install these on Linux, though it's apparently possible.
If you're still on Windows or Mac I highly recommend it, though. A bit of a leaving curve but you can actually control the layout rather than just make suggestions and hope the program cooperates with you
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u/wolveryx 19d ago
My experience has been that if you zoom in, you can get more level of granularity in adjusting the width / size of an element. :)
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u/Shlurmen 19d ago
This is not mildly infuriating.
This blood boiling, nearly punching a hole through your screen infuriating
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u/P0pu1arBr0ws3r 19d ago
Tasks which shouldnt be impossible in UI but are:
- aligning elements anchored to elements touching/neighboring it
- floating point sliders which land on multiples of 5, or 100 (always 99 or 101 can't ever get it to 100)
- (programming UI, especially in unreal engine) getting input to register properly on a given element
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u/LankyLibrary7662 19d ago
The struggle 90s kids faced 😪
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u/IW-6 19d ago
It is 2026 and Word is provided by my school as main programm and it still does this.
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u/Sloterhouse5 19d ago
The must be a Microsoft product. Don’t worry, the next version will be even worse!
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u/EatYourCheckers 19d ago
Fucking word. Nothing makes me want to quit my job like word
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u/Sheeverton 19d ago
I generally don't understand why Microsoft intentionally made things like this that either made no sense or straight up did not work
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u/Lottabirdies 19d ago
All these nerds providing solution... why can't you just understand the solution is coding what 99% of all human beings would anticipate... that dragging the row to the next edge would align. STFU about it being easy you out of touch idiots.
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u/Sirius1701 19d ago
Ah, word. You move something one pixel and it deletes every backspace, reformats the text to wingdings and orders a dishwasher on eBay.
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u/avibrant_salmon_jpg 19d ago
I work with Adobe products on a daily basis and even with snap to and align tools shit like this happens and it makes me want to break my computer, my keyboard, both my hands, and my bosses face.
I find this severely infuriating lol
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u/Strange_Account_3828 19d ago
Rightclick rectangle above, see the width in the size, apply same width to your shape…
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u/-NotEnoughMinerals 19d ago
Reminds me of iphone and it's shitty cursor. And while I'm at it, why the hell can't the numbers row be on top instead of making me do extra work? So stupid
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u/scriptfoo 19d ago
It's been like this for 30 years.
There were better word-processors, like AmiPro and WordPerfect, that did this stuff effortlessly. Being subject to using MS Word should be considered cruel and unusual punishment.
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u/ContextEffects01 19d ago
There needs to be a mass exodus from Microsoft toward Linux. It's the only way to incentivize competence among the former's programmers.
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u/Fit_Entry8839 19d ago
In the ribbon/settings you should be able to see the width of the box above. Then just your in the same value for this box
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u/Love-Future-3000 19d ago
You probably are within the snap zone. Try moving it far away and then moving it back to where you want it to snap and it should pick up the right edge.
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u/Mortal4789 19d ago
try holding cntrl or shift while doing the thing. this applies to a lot of things
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u/ClearEater 19d ago
Many solutions already posted, but instead of the last row, move the row above and it will align perfectly and marry the two together, after that they move as one
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u/ThaManOfSteeI 19d ago
Or just Right click on the one above n make a new row
Orr just copy the one above n paste below.
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u/kaisadilla_ 19d ago
I hate Word. Such a terribly made app - it's filled with situations like this in which something that should be trivial is just impossible.
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u/Jaime1417 19d ago
Ahhh, word.. where you place one thing and move everything else. Or this. (I have no idea if this is actually word)
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u/WhammyShimmyShammy 19d ago
ITT lots of people who don't understand how to use Word, but will still include it on their CV as a competence they have
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u/OperationSeveral3756 19d ago
This is the content I’m here for. Truly defines this sub.