Using tables in Word allows you to display data in a tabular format. This is a great way to show your audience easily understandable data without having to incorporate numbers and often confusing explanations into your speech. With this step-by-step guide, you can learn how to add and customize a table in Microsoft Word within mere seconds.
Tip: Do you have access to Excel? Because of all Microsoft Office applications being designed to work together, you can easily copy parts of a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel and paste it into Word without losing any of the data or formatting.
Things you’ll need
- A device with Microsoft Word installed and activated.
And with that, let’s get right to learning.
How to Add and Customize a Table in Word
Adding a table
- Launch Word, then open an existing document or create a new one by using the buttons on the welcome screen.
- Place your text cursor where you want to insert a table.
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From the Ribbon on top of your screen, navigate to the Insert tab.
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You can see a section called Tables.
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Click on the Table button, then select how many rows and columns you want in your finished table by moving your mouse. You can see a live preview of how your table is going to look like in your document as you move your mouse. Left-click to insert the table into your document.
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If you want a larger or more customized table, you can click the Insert Table button where it’s possible to manually type in the size of your desired table.
Customizing a table
- After you’ve created a table, click into one of its cells.
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From the Ribbon on top of your screen, choose the Table Design tab which should automatically appear after you click into a table cell.
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In the Table Style Options section, you can choose what style you want your table to use when you apply a style. This includes options for turning on or off header rows, banded columns and much more.
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The next section is where you can choose your Table Styles. Word has a great number of pre-made styles installed and ready for you to use. You can expand this section by clicking the More button. Simply hover over a style to see how it’ll look like in your document, and left-click to select it for use.
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To change the color of a cell, click on the Shading icon and choose the color you want. Again, hovering over any of the colors gives you a preview that makes choosing a whole lot easier.
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In the next and last section, you can tweak the Borders of your table. Choose the style, size, alignment, and color of your desired border, then use the border painter tool to apply this style to your table.
We hope that this step-by-step guide was able to help you learn how you can add and customize tables in Microsoft Word. Do you know someone who’s starting out with Word and other Microsoft Office products? Don’t forget to share this article with them! Your friends, classmates, colleagues or employees can all get help in getting started with Word. If you want to learn more about Word or other Microsoft Office suite applications, feel free to browse our section of guides.
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