By default, whatever Style or paragraph format applies to the paragraph that is selected when you insert a table defines the formatting for the table. So, if a cntred. bold paragraph was selected, that's what the table will have.

And yes, Word 2010 allows tables to have their own Table Styles. These are accessible via Table Tools|Design, but those don't affect the underlying paragraph formatting.

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Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Well, I must have done something to screw things up b/c I can open a new document with paragraph styles defaulting to left alignment and without changing anything, insert a table and have the alignment be justified within the table.

Even when I view the Normal style settings within the table (using modify style...) it shows the style is defined with left alignment, yet anything I type in the cell is justified. It's a total contradiction of the Normal style...

I'm getting the feeling that I'm alone with this problem...

jjmclell

Haha!! Fixed it!!!! There are separate paragraph styles for tables! In Tables/Design, I right clicked the design of the table and selected Modify Table Style. Within this dialogue box, there's a Format drop-down box in the bottom left corner...within there, selected paragraph and changed it to left and applied to all new documents.

Problem resolved!!

jjmclell