how to remove or change background fills in all tables in a microsoft word document

Question

I have a bunch of large documents, with many tables that have different and inconsistent fill styles - some of them are not readable in black and white when printed.

I cannot change the background fill for all the tables at once. The problem I have is that when I open such a document, and Select All, the Table Properties are inactive.

Do you know a technique for selecting all the tables, or a method for applying global format of tables, with a script or some other way?

Answer 1

Create a macro in Word using the following code:

Sub SelectAllTables()
    Dim tbl As Table
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    For Each tbl In ActiveDocument.Tables
        tbl.Range.Editors.Add wdEditorEveryone
    Next
    ActiveDocument.SelectAllEditableRanges (wdEditorEveryone)
    ActiveDocument.DeleteAllEditableRanges (wdEditorEveryone)
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

Run the macro to select all tables, then you can modify their backgrounds in one go.

Answer 2

I believe Kutools for Word add-in allows you to select all tables at once. It's also compatible with Word 2003.