As a regular Word user and an owner of a tablet PC, I was surprised one day to find that I could not select tables using the square table select block that usually shows up at the upper left of a table. Wondering why, I took to the internet to see why.
The table select block is actually called the Table Move Handle, as it allows one to move an entire table. Before now, I had thought it was only for selecting tables. The touch mode of Office plays a big role in whether it appears or disappears, apparently. Touch Mode users won’t see it, and Mouse Mode users will.
To enable or disable the Table Move handle, simple switch between modes as needed. More information can be found at Microsoft’s Forums.