Working with Tables in Microsoft Word

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1 Working with Tables in Microsoft Word Microsoft Word offers a number of ways to make a table. The best way depends on how you like to work, and on how simple or complex the table needs to be. 1. Click where you want to create a table. 2. Click Insert Table on the Standard toolbar (toolbar: A bar with buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. To display a toolbar, press ALT and then SHIFT+F10.). 3. Drag to select the number of rows and columns you want. Use the Insert Table command Use this procedure to make choices about the table dimensions and format before the table is inserted into a document. 1. Click where you want to create a table. 2. On the Table menu, point to Insert, and then click Table. 3. Under Table size, select the number of columns and rows. 4. Under AutoFit behavior, choose options to adjust table size. 5. To use a built-in table format, click AutoFormat. Select the options you want. Draw a more complex table: You can draw a complex table for example, one that contains cells (cell: A box formed by the intersection of a row and column in a worksheet or a table, in which you enter information.) of different heights or a varying number of columns per row. 1. Click where you want to create the table. 2. On the Table menu, click Draw Table. The Tables and Borders toolbar appears, and the pointer changes to a pencil. 3. To define the outer table boundaries, draw a rectangle. Then draw the column and row lines inside the rectangle. 4. To erase a line or block of lines, click Eraser on the Tables and Borders toolbar, and then click the line you want to erase. 5. When you finish creating the table, click a cell and start typing or insert a graphic. Note Hold down CTRL to automatically apply text wrapping while you draw the table.

2 Create a table inside another table Create nested tables (nested table: A table inserted within a table cell. If you use a table to lay out a page, and you want to use another table to arrange the information, you can insert a nested table.) to design Web pages. Think of a Web page as one big table that holds other tables placing text and graphics inside different table cells helps you to lay out the different parts of your page. 1. On the Table menu, click Draw Table. The Tables and Borders toolbar appears, and the pointer changes to a pencil. 2. Position the pencil in the cell where you want the nested table (or a table inside another table). 3. Draw the new table. To define the table boundaries, draw a rectangle. Then draw the column and row lines inside the rectangle. 4. When you finish creating the nested table, click a cell, and start typing or insert a graphic. Editing Tables The following steps use the shortcut menu to quickly insert or delete rows. Apply the same procedure to insert or delete columns. Select one or more rows and right-click to access the shortcut menu. Note that the end-of-row mark is included in the selection, indicating that the entire row is selected. You must select an entire row to see the applicable Insert and Delete options when you right-click. Click Insert Rows or Delete Rows. Add one or more rows or columns: Start with your insertion point where you want to add a new column or row. On the Table menu, point to Insert, and then click Rows Above or Rows Below, or Columns to the Left or Columns to the Right. Tip To add multiple columns or rows, select the same number of columns or rows in your existing table as you want to insert, before following the insert steps. Delete one or more rows or columns Select the rows or columns to delete, and then, on the Table menu, point to Delete, and then click Rows or Columns. Tip To quickly delete a column or row, select the entire column or row and press BACKSPACE.

3 Resizing Columns & Rows Manually Resizing a column by dragging. You can also resize more precisely by holding the ALT key down while you drag. You'll also see the column width change on the horizontal ruler. Resizing a row by dragging. To resize more precisely than dragging alone allows, hold the ALT key down while you drag. As you do this, you can also see the row height change on the vertical ruler. If you want a different width or height for a column or row, rest the pointer over the right edge of the column or the bottom edge of the row until your pointer changes to a double-backed arrow, as shown in the illustrations. Then just click and drag to resize. Resizing Columns & Rows Manually The Column tab of the Table Properties dialog box. If the column width shown on the Column tab of the Table Properties dialog box is different from the width shown on the ruler (when you use the method described earlier in this lesson), the reason may be the cell margins, which are included in the value you'd see in this dialog box. You'll learn more about cell margins in the next lesson. The Row tab of the Table Properties dialog box. When you use the Exactly option for setting row height, the row will not expand, regardless of what content you add to the cell. To quickly resize a row or column to a specific measurement, or to easily resize several rows or columns, use the Table Properties dialog box. This dialog box has tabs for formatting a table, a column, a row, and a cell. With your insertion point in the first column or row that you want to resize, on the Table menu, click Table Properties. On the Column tab, select the Preferred width check box and then enter the width you want. In the Measure in box, select either your default unit of measurement (such as inches or millimeters) or Percent if you want the width to be a percentage of the entire table. Click Next Column or Previous Column to resize multiple columns of the same table without exiting the dialog box. On the Row tab, select the Specify height check box and then enter the height you want. In the Row height is box, select Exactly if you want exactly that height, or At least if you want the height to grow taller if the content requires.

4 Resizing & Realigning Tables Use the Table tab in the Table Properties dialog box to change alignment. Click Left, Center, or Right as desired. When the table alignment is set to Left, you can also specify an Indent from left. Resize a table To resize the entire table to a specific width or a specific percentage of the page, start with your insertion point anywhere in the table. Then, on the Table menu, click Table Properties, and then click the Table tab. As shown in the illustration, select your preferred option in the Measure in box (Percent or your default unit of measurement), select the Preferred width check box, and enter the width you want for the table. Then click OK. Align a table on the page By default, tables are aligned against the left margin of the page. Tables can also be indented from left, centered, or right-aligned on the page. To quickly left-align, center, or right-align a table on the page, select the entire table and then use the paragraph alignment buttons Autofit Table Contents on the Formatting toolbar, or the corresponding keyboard shortcuts. To change the AutoFit setting, start with your insertion point anywhere in the table. Then, on the Table menu, point to AutoFit, and then click either AutoFit to Contents, AutoFit to Window, or Fixed Column Width. By default, new Word tables are set to automatically fit between the margins that setting is called AutoFit to Window. When a table has this setting, the size of the columns will automatically adjust to accommodate any content you add to the table, in order to keep the table within the margins. To keep column widths from changing to accommodate table content, or to fit the table to its content, use the appropriate AutoFit setting, shown in the illustration. Distribute columns or rows evenly Also included in the AutoFit options are the options to Distribute Columns Evenly and Distribute Rows Evenly. Distributing columns evenly is a timesaver when you need contiguous columns to be exactly the same width. To use this feature, just select the columns to distribute and, on the Table menu, point to AutoFit, and then click Distribute Columns Evenly.

5 Splitting & Merging Table Cells This simple form uses a Word table for layout. The cells of the top row were merged to create the heading. Splitting the cells of the bottom row made it easy to put two pieces of information on the same row. If multiple columns in your table need to share the same heading or you need extra cells in just one row (see illustration), merge or split cells within the table. Keep in mind, however, that because a table is an organizing tool, simplicity is important. Split and merge cells only for small alterations like those shown in the illustration. For larger customization, consider nesting your tables (creating one table inside another) instead of complicating a single table's construction. You'll save time editing and get better-looking results when you keep your organizer organized. Split cells: Click into the cell that you want to split and then, on the Table menu, click Split Cells. In the Split Cells dialog box, select the number of columns and rows desired for the resulting split, and then click OK. Merge cells: Select the cells to merge and then, on the Table menu, click Merge Cells.