How do I add an extra column to a Writer table, without changing the width of any of the other columns?

I’ve got a table in Writer with all the columns neatly sized, and I simply want to add an extra column, without changing the width of any of the other columns, and messing up all my very careful formatting.

Similarly I also want to be able to change the width of a column, but again without changing the width of any of the other columns.

Ideally I’d prefer to do these things using a mouse rather than the keyboard.

Essentially I want columns in Writer to behave as they do in Calc, so that column widths are entirely independent of each other. This seems to be such a straightforward requirement, but whatever I try I find that the width of one or more of the other columns always changes too, which is intensely frustrating, and I would be really grateful for some help!

(LibreOffice 5.4.1.2, Windows XP SP3).

I’m afraid you can’t do that the way you want it. When inserting new column, total table width is not increasing which means all other columns needs to shrink to fit one more column within that table width.

You need to add one extra column (or row) and adjust widths the way you like it. Don’t know how big is the table, but that’s the way it is (as far as I know).