Chapter - 5

Adding Tables:
Tables are very useful tools in creating and formatting documents. For example, with a table
you can:

• Align Text, Numbers, and Graphics: Tables make it easy to align text, numbers, and
graphics in columns and rows. Many users prefer using tables to align text instead of tab stops,
because text can wrap to multiple lines in a table.

• Create a Form: You can use tables to store lists of telephone numbers, clients, and employee
rosters.

• Share Information: You can use tables to share information between programs. For
example, you can copy and paste a table’s information into a Microsoft Excel worksheet or
Access database.

Create a Publication: Tables make it easier to create calendars, brochures, business cards,
and many other publications

Insert a Table:
To create a table, you must first specify how many columns (which run up and down) and rows
(which run left to right) you want to appear in your table. Cells are small, rectangular-shaped
boxes where the rows and columns intersect. The number of columns and rows determines the
number of cells in a table. If you don’t know how many columns and rows you want in your
table, take an educated guess—you can always add or delete columns and rows later.

1. Click the Insert tab on the Ribbon and click the Table button in the Tables group.

A grid appears, representing rows and columns in the table. As you move the cursor inside the
grid, the number of rows and columns that will appear in the table is updated at the top of the
list. A preview of how the table will look in the document also appears as you drag your cursor
across the grid.
2. Select the number of columns and rows you want to
The table is inserted with the number of columns and rows you selected.
 Other Ways to Insert a Table: Click the Insert tab on the Ribbon and click the Table
button in the Tables group. Select Insert Table from the list and select the number of

columns and rows you want to use in the Insert Table dialog box. Click OK.

Working with a Table:

In order to work with a table, you need to learn a few basic skills: how to move the insertion
point between cells, how to enter or edit table data, and how to select items.

Move between cells:

There are several ways to move between cells in a table:

• Click in a cell with the mouse.

• Use the up, down, left, and right arrow keys.

• Press <Tab> to move forward one field or cell, and press <Shift> + <Tab> to move back one

field or cell.

Modify a Table:
1. Click a cell in the table.

The insertion point appears in the cell.

2. Enter or edit text or numerical data as desired.

If you enter more text than fits in a cell, the cell height expands automatically to hold it.
Select cells, rows, columns, and tables
Just like other elements in Word, you have to select the parts of a table in order to work with
them.

Enter or edit information in a table:

1. Position the insertion point in the cell, row or column you want to select.

2. Under Table Tools on the Ribbon, click the Layout tab and click the Select button in the
Table group.
3. Choose the table item you want to select: Cell, Column, Row or Table.
Other Ways to Select:
 Cells: Click the left edge of the cell.

Multiple Cells: Drag across the cell, row, or column. Or select a single cell, row, or column
and hold down the <Shift> key while you click another cell, row, or column.

Row: Click to the left of the row (outside of the table).

Column: Click the column's top border (the pointer will change).

Table: Click the move handle next to the table (must be in Print Layout view).

Resizing and Moving a Table:

You can quickly and easily resize or move a table in Word.

Resize a table:
You can use the mouse to resize a table.

1. Make sure you are in Print Layout view.

2. Click anywhere inside the table, if necessary.

The table’s resize handle appears in the lower right- hand corner of the table until the table is
the desired size.

As you resize the table, a dotted outline appears to show you the new outline of the table.

Move a table:
Moving a table is very similar to resizing it.

1. Make sure you are in Print Layout view.

2. Click anywhere inside the table, if necessary.

The table’s move handle appears in the upper left hand corner of the table.

3. Click and drag the table’s move handle to a new location on the page.

As you move the table, a dotted outline appears to show you the new location of the table.
 Adjusting Table Alignment and Text Wrapping:
In the Table Properties dialog box, you can adjust the alignment of a table within the
document, as well as the way document text wraps around a table.

1. Select the table.

2. Under Table Tools on the Ribbon, click the Layout tab and click the Properties button in the

Table group.

The Table Properties dialog box appears.

Tip: Click the Options, Positioning, or Borders and Shading buttons for even more
detailed table options.

3. Select the Table tab if it isn’t already selected.

Here you can adjust table alignment within the document—select from Left, Center, or Right
alignment—as well as whether or not you want the document text to wrap around the table.

4. Select an Alignment or Text wrapping option and click OK.

The table alignment or text wrapping is adjusted.

Trap: If your table is as wide as the page, or if you don’t have any text in the surrounding
document, you won’t notice any difference between the alignment or text wrapping options,
respectively.

Tip: The Table Properties dialog box also includes tabs for Row, Column, and Cell properties.
Here you can adjust row and column size, as well as individual cell size and alignment of cell
contents.

Format a Table:
Split a table:
You can also split a table into two separate tables.

1. Select the table row where you want to split the table.
 The row you select will become the first row of the new table.

2. Under Table Tools on the Ribbon, click the Layout tab and click the Split Table button in the
Merge group.

The table is split into two tables. If the new table overlaps or obstructs the original table, you
may need to move the tables in order to view them.

Inserting and Deleting Rows and Columns:

In this lesson, you will learn how to delete entire columns and rows and how to insert new
columns and rows. You’ll also learn how you can repeat the header row on tables that span
multiple pages.

Insert a row:

1. Place your insertion point in the row that is above or below where you want to insert the new
row.

2. Under Table Tools on the Ribbon, click the Layout tab and click the Insert Above or Insert

Below button in the Rows & Columns group. Other Ways to Insert a Row:
Place the insertion point in the bottom-right cell of the table and press <Tab> to insert a new

row at the bottom of the table. Or, right-click a row, point to Insert, and select Insert Rows

Above or Insert Rows Below from the contextual menu.

Insert a column:

Place your insertion point in the table in the column that is left or right of where you want to
insert the new column.
1. Under Table Tools on the Ribbon, click the Layout tab and click the Insert Left button or the

Insert Right button in the Rows & Columns group.

Other Ways to Insert a Column: Right-click and point to Insert and select Insert
Columns to the Left or Insert Columns to the Right from the contextual menu.
 Delete a row or column:

1. Select the column(s) or row(s) you want to delete.

2. Under Table Tools on the Ribbon, click the Layout tab and click the Delete button in the
Rows & Columns group.

3. Select Delete Rows or Delete Columns from the list.

Other Ways to Delete Rows or Columns: Select the row(s) or column(s), right-click,
and select Delete Rows or Delete Columns from the contextual menu.

Tip: You can also delete individual cells in a table. Select the cell(s) you want to delete and
click the Delete button in the Rows & Columns group. Select Delete Cells and click OK.

Repeat header rows:

If you have a table that extends across several pages, you can repeat the header row at the top
of each page of the table.

1. Select the rows you want to use as headings.

2. Click the Layout tab under Table Tools on the Ribbon.

3. Click the Repeat Header Rows button in the Data group.

Tip: You can also keep a table row from breaking and separating the row’s contents onto two
pages. Right-click the table and select Table Properties from the contextual menu. On the

Row tab of the Table Properties dialog box, deselect the Allow row to break across pages
option.

Adjusting Row Height and Column Width:

When you create a table, all of the rows and columns are the same size. As you enter
information in a table, you will quickly discover that some of the rows and columns are not
large enough to properly display the information they contain.
 Adjust row height:
You will seldom need to change a row’s height because, unless you specify otherwise, rows
automatically expand to the tallest cell in the row—the one that contains the most lines of text.

1. Select the row(s).

2. Under Table Tools on the Ribbon, click the Layout tab.

3. Click the Table Row Height text box in the Cell Size group and specify the row height.

Other Ways to Adjust Row Height: In Print Layout view, click and drag the row’s bottom
border up or down.

Tip: You can distribute selected rows evenly so they are the same height. Select the rows, click
the Layout tab under Table Tools, and click the Distribute Rows button in the Cell Size

group.

Adjust column width:

1. Select the column(s).

2. Under Table Tools on the Ribbon, click the Layout tab.

3. Click the Table Column Width text box in the Cell Size group and specify the column width.

Other Ways to Adjust Column Width:

In Print Layout view, click and drag the column’s right border to the left or right. Or, double-
click the column’s right border. Or, click the AutoFit button and select an option to
automatically resize the columns to fit their contents or the size of the window.

Tip: You can distribute columns evenly so that they are the same width. Select the columns,
click the Layout tab under Table Tools, and click the Distribute Columns button in the Cell
Size group.
 Using Table Drawing Tools:
In Word, you can draw and modify tables the same way you would use a pencil to draw a table
on a piece of paper. You may find the table drawing tools to be especially helpful when creating
or modifying complicated or irregular tables.

Draw borders:

1. To draw a table from scratch, or add lines or borders to an existing table, click the Layout tab

under Table Tools on the Ribbon and click the Draw Table button in the Draw Group.

The pointer changes to look like a pencil.

2. Click and drag to draw boundaries, rows, columns, or table cells.

Tip: Use the Line Style, Line Weight, and Pen Color commands in the Borders group on the
Design tab to determine how the borders appear.

1. Under Table Tools on the Ribbon, click the Layout tab and click the Eraser button in the Draw
group.

The pointer changes to look like an eraser.

2. Click and drag across table lines to erase the lines.

The border is erased.

Working with Borders and Shading:

Borders improve a table’s appearance, giving it a polished, professional look. Borders can make
it easier to read the information in a table, especially when the information is numerical.

Adding shading to a table is similar to adding borders— you select the cells and then select
shading options.

Apply a table border:

When you create a table, Word automatically adds borders or lines around every cell in the
table, but it’s very easy to change, add, or remove your table’s borders.
1. Select the cells where you want to adjust the borders.

Tip: To select the whole table, click the table’s Move handle.

2. Under Table Tools on the Ribbon, click the Design tab, and click the Borders list arrow. Here
you can choose from several border options.

Tip: Select No Border to remove a border from the selection.

3. Select the border type you want to apply to the selected cells.

The border is applied.

Other Ways to Apply a Table Border: Right-click the selection and select Borders and
Shading from the contextual menu. Use the commands on the Borders tab in the Borders and
Shading dialog box. View gridlines

Gridlines are dashed lines that show you the location of the table cell borders. They do not
appear by default. You can easily display and hide table gridlines, but the gridlines won’t be
visible if the table is in the default table format because the black border covers the gridlines.

1. Select a table.

2. Under Table Tools on the Ribbon, click the Layout tab and click the View Gridlines button

in the Table group.

Gridlines are displayed in all tables in the document.

Tip: Gridlines do not print.

Now let’s hide the gridlines.

3. Click the View Gridlines button again.

Gridlines are hidden.

Apply a fill color:

Shading includes fill colors and also patterns that you can apply to table cells.

1. Select the cells where you want to apply a fill color.

 The Table Tools tab appears on the Ribbon.

2. Click the Design tab and click the Shading list arrow in the Table Styles group.

A palette of fill colors appears.

3. Select a fill color from the list.

The color is applied.

Using Table Styles:

You can easily spice up your tables by applying built-in table formatting styles.

Apply a table style:

By default, a table is created with the Table Grid style, which includes a basic black border
around each cell in the table. Word includes many built-in styles that include more interesting
formatting.

1. Select the table.

2. Under Table Tools on the Ribbon, click the Design tab.

Here you can see the Table Styles group. You can use the arrow buttons to scroll through the
table styles in the gallery.

3. Select the style you want to use in the Table Styles group.

Tip: To display the entire Table Styles gallery, click the More button in the Table Styles group.

Remove a table style:

You can easily remove table styles.

1. Select the table from which you want to remove the style.

2. Under Table Tools on the Ribbon, click the Design tab and click the More button in the Table
Styles group.
3. Select Clear.

The Table Normal style, which doesn’t have any formatting, is applied.

Converting or Deleting a Table:

If you don’t want table data to appear in a table any longer, preferring that the contents are
part of the other text of the document, you can convert a table to text. You can also simply
delete a table.

Convert a table to text:

1. Place your insertion point in the table.

2. Under Table Tools on the Ribbon, click the Layout tab and click the Convert to Text button

in the Data group.

The Convert Table To Text dialog box appears.

3. Select the character you want to use to separate the text contained in each cell.

You can select one of the options to separate text or define your own separation character in
the dialog box.

4. Click OK.

The table disappears and the table’s contents appear as document text—although the text is
contained inside a frame. The contents of each table cell are separated by the character you
selected.

Delete a table:

1. Place your insertion point in the table.

2. Under Table Tools on the Ribbon, click the Layout tab and click the Delete button in the
Rows & Columns group.

A list appears.
3. Select Delete Table.

The table is deleted from the document.

Other Ways to Delete a Table: Right-click the selection and select Delete Table from
the contextual menu.

Using Quick Tables:

Insert a formatted table quickly by inserting one of Word’s built-in Quick Tables.

1. Click the Insert tab on the Ribbon and click the Table button in the Tables group.

A list of table options appears.

2. Point to Quick Tables.

A gallery of built-in tables appears.

As you point to each built-in table, a description of the table and how it might best be used is
shown.

3. Select the table you would like to insert.

The table is inserted in the document. All you have to do is modify the table contents to your
needs.

Tip:

 The selection of built-in tables is dependent on the current document theme.

Convert Text to a Table:

1. Insert separator characters—such as commas or tabs—to indicate where to divide the text
into table columns.
2. Use paragraph marks to indicate where you want to begin a new table row.

3. Select the text that you want to convert, and then click Insert > Table > Convert Text to
Table.
4. In the Convert Text to Table box, choose the options you want.
 Under Table size, make sure the numbers match the numbers of columns and rows you want.

Under AutoFit behavior, choose how you want your table to look. Word automatically chooses a
width for the table columns.

Under Separate text at, choose the separator character you used in the text.

5. Click OK.

Convert a table to text:

1. Select the rows or table you want to convert to text.

2. Under Table Tools, on the Layout tab, click Convert to Text.

3. In the Convert to Text box, under Separate text with, click the separator character you want

to use in place of the column boundaries. Rows will be separated by paragraph marks.
4. Click OK.