The best way to present a bunch of data at one time is to do it in a table. Provided that the row labels and column headings are descriptive, a table is the easiest way to present information. However, as everyone who has worked on tables knows, tables are a chore. Getting all the columns to fit, making columns and rows the right width and height, and editing the text in a table is not easy. So problematic are tables that Word has devoted an entire menu to constructing them: The Table menu. This article explains how to create tables, enter text in tables, change the number and size of columns and rows, and format tables. To start you off on the right foot, this article starts with explanations of table jargon.

Talking Table Jargon

As is true of so much else in Computerland, tables have their own jargon. Sorry, but you need to catch up on these terms to construct the perfect table:

 -  Cell: The box that is formed where a row and column intersect. Each cell holds one data item.

 -  Heading row: The name of the labels along the top row that explain what is in the columns below.

 -  Row labels: The labels in the first column that describe what is in each row.

 -  Borders: The lines in the table.

 -  Gridlines: The gray lines that show where the columns and rows are. Gridlines are not printed they appear to help you format your table. (Choose Table -> Show Gridlines or Table -> Hide Gridlines to display or hide them.) Word prints only the borders, not the gridlines, when you print a table.

Creating a Table

Word offers no fewer than four ways to create the cells and rows for a table. On your marks, get set, go:

 -  Insert table button: Click the Insert Table button, drag out the menu to the number of rows and columns you want, and let go of the mouse button.

 -  Drawing a table: Choose Table -> Draw Table or click the Draw Table button on the Tables and Borders toolbar. The cursor changes into a pencil. Use the pencil to draw the table borders. If you make a mistake, click the Eraser button on the Tables and Border toolbar. The pointer changes into an eraser. Drag it over the parts of the table you regret drawing. When you’re finished drawing the table, press Esc or click the Draw Table button to put the pencil away.

 -  Insert Table dialog box: The only advantage of the Insert Table dialog box is that it gives you the opportunity to decide how wide to make the table. Choose Table -> Insert -> Table. Enter the number of columns and rows you want and click OK.

 -  Converting text to a table: Press Tab or enter a comma in the text where you want columns to be divided. For example, if you are turning an address list into a table, put each name and address on one line and press Tab or enter a comma after the first name, the last name, the street address, the city, the state, and the ZIP Code. For this feature to work, each name and address each line must have the same number of tab spaces or commas in it. Highlight the tab or comma-separated text you want to convert into a table and choose Table -> Convert -> Text to Table. Under Separate Text At in the Convert Text to Table dialog box, choose Tabs or Commas to tell Word how the columns are separated. Then click OK.

Entering the Text and Numbers

After you’ve created the table, you can start entering text and numbers. All you have to do is click in a cell and start typing. To help you work more quickly, here are some shortcuts for moving the cursor in a table: If you need to add a row at the bottom of the table to enter more text, place the cursor in the last column of the last row and press the Tab key. Here’s a neat trick for entering data: Enter the heading row and two empty rows, open the Database toolbar, and click the Data Form button. You see a For each column in the heading row, you can enter the data in a text box. Click the Add New button after you enter the data.

Aligning Text in Columns and Cells

The easiest way to align text in the columns or cells is to rely on the Align Left, Center, Align Right, and Justify buttons on the Standard toolbar. Select a cell, a column, or columns and click one of those buttons to align the text in a column the same way. However, if you want to get really fancy, you can use the Align button on the Tables and Borders toolbar. Select the cells that need aligning, click the down arrow to open the Align button drop-down list, and select one of the nine buttons to align text in a new way.

Merging and Splitting Cells and Tables

To merge the cells in a table, select the cells you want to merge and choose Table -> Merge Cells or click the Merge Cells button on the Tables and Borders toolbar. In the same vein, you can split a cell into two or more cells by selecting the cell and choosing Table -> Split Cells or clicking the Split Cells button on the Tables and Borders toolbar. In the Split Cells dialog box, declare how many columns and rows you want to split the cell into and click OK. Still in the same vein, you can split a table by placing the cursor in what you want to be the first row of the new table and choosing Table -> Split Table.

Modifying the Table Layout

Very likely, you created too many or too few rows or columns for your table. Some columns are probably too wide, and others may be too narrow. If that is the case, you have to change the layout of the table by deleting, inserting, and changing the size of columns and rows in other words, you have to modify the table layout. (Later in this article, “Sprucing Up Your Table” explains how to put borders around tables and embellish them in other ways.)

Selecting different parts of a table

Before you can fool with cells, rows, or columns, you have to select them:

 -  Cells: To select a cell, click in it. You can select several cells simultaneously by dragging the cursor over them.

 -  Rows: Place the cursor in the left margin and click to select one row, or drag to select several rows. You can also select rows by placing the cursor in the row you want to select and then choosing Table -> Select -> Row. To select several rows, select cells in the rows and then choose Table -> Select -> Row.

 -  Columns: To select a column, move the cursor to the top of the column. When the cursor changes into a fat down-pointing arrow, click once. You can click and drag to select several columns. The other way to select a column is to click anywhere in the column and choose Table -> Select -> Column. To select several columns with this command, select cells in the columns before giving the Select command.

 -  A table: To select a table, click in the table and choose Table -> Select -> Table; hold down the Alt key and double-click; or press Alt+5 (the 5 on the numeric keypad, not the one on the main part of the keyboard).

Inserting and deleting columns and rows

Here’s the lowdown on inserting and deleting columns and rows:

 -  Inserting columns: To insert a blank column, select the column to the right of where you want the new column to go, right-click, and choose Insert Columns. You can also choose Table -> Insert -> Columns to the Left (or Columns to the Right). Word inserts the number of columns you select, so, to insert more than one, select more than one column before choosing the Insert Columns command.

 -  Deleting columns: To delete columns, select them. Then choose Table -> Delete -> Columns, or right-click and choose Delete Columns. (Pressing the Delete key just deletes the data in the column, leaving blank cells in the column.)

 -  Inserting rows: To insert a blank row, select the row below which you want the new one to appear. If you want to insert more than one row, select more than one. Then right-click and choose Insert Rows, or choose Table -> Insert -> Rows Above (or Rows Below). You can also insert a row at the end of a table by moving the cursor into the last cell in the last row and pressing the Tab key.

 -  Deleting rows: To delete rows, select them and choose Table -> Delete -> Rows, or right-click and choose Delete Rows. (Pressing the Delete key just deletes the data in the row.)

Moving columns and rows

Because there is no elegant way to move a column or row, you should move only one at a time. If you try to move several simultaneously, you open a can of worms that is best left unopened. To move a column or row:

1. Select the column or row you want to move.

2. Right-click in the selection and choose Cut on the shortcut menu. The column or row is moved to the Clipboard.

3. Move the column or row:

• Column: Click in the topmost cell in the column to the right of where you want to move the column. In other words, to make what is now column 4 column 2, cut column 4 and click in the topmost cell of column 2. Then right-click and choose Paste Columns from the shortcut menu.

• Row: Move the cursor into the first column of the row below which you want to move your row. In other words, if you’re placing the row between what are now rows 6 and 7, put the cursor in row 7. Then right-click and choose Paste Rows on the shortcut menu.

Resizing columns and rows

The fastest way to adjust the width of columns and the height of rows is to “eyeball it.” To make a column wider or narrower, move the cursor onto a gridline or border between rows or columns. When the cursor changes into a double-headed arrow, start dragging. Tug and pull, tug and pull until the column is the correct width or the row is the correct height. You can also slide the column bars on the ruler or the rows bars on the vertical ruler (if you’re in Print Layout View) to change the width of columns and height of rows. Because resizing columns and rows can be problematic, Word offers these commands on the Table -> AutoFit submenu for adjusting the width and height of rows and columns:

 -  AutoFit to Contents: Makes each column wide enough to accommodate its widest entry.

 -  AutoFit to Window: Stretches the table so that it fits across the page between the left and right margin.

 -  Fixed Column Width: Fixes the column widths at their current settings.

 -  Distribute Rows Evenly: Makes all rows the same height as the tallest row. You can also click the Distribute Rows Evenly button on the Tables and Borders toolbar. Select rows before giving this command to make the command affect only those rows.

 -  Distribute Columns Evenly: Makes all columns the same width. You can also click the Distribute Columns Evenly button. Select columns before giving this command if you want to change the size of a few columns, not all the columns in the table.

Repeating Heading Rows on Subsequent Pages

Making sure that the heading row, sometimes called the header row, appears on a new page if the table breaks across pages is absolutely essential. The header row is the first row in the table, the one that usually describes what each column contains. Without a header row, readers can’t tell what the information in a table is or means. To make the header row (or rows) repeat on the top of each new page, place the cursor in the header row (or select the header rows if you have more than one) and choose Table -> Heading Rows Repeat. By the way, repeating header rows appear only in Print Layout view, so don’t worry if you’re in Normal view and you can’t see them. In a top-heavy table, in which the heading row cells contain text and the cells below contain numbers, you can make the entire table narrower by changing the orientation of the text in the heading row. To turn text on its ear, select the cells whose text needs a turn and click the Change Text Direction button on the Tables and Borders toolbar. Keep clicking until the text turns the direction you want.

Sprucing Up Your Table

After you have entered the text, put the rows and columns in place, and made everything the right size, the fun begins. Now you can dress up your table and make it look snazzy. Almost everything you can do to a document you can also do to a table by selecting parts of the table and then choosing menu commands or clicking buttons. You can change text fonts, align data in the cells in different ways, and even import a graphic into a cell. You can also play with the borders that divide the rows and columns and “shade” columns, rows, and cells by filling them with gray shades or a black background. Read on to find out how to do these tricks and how to center a table or align it with the right page margin.

Formatting a table with Word’s AutoFormats

By far the fastest way to get a good-looking table is to let Word do the work for you: Click your table and choose Table -> Table AutoFormat. You see the Rummage through the Table Styles until you find a table to your liking. The Preview box shows what the different tables look like. (On the Category drop-down list, you can choose an option to put a cap on the number of styles offered in the Table Style list.) Under Apply Special Formats To, select and deselect the check boxes to modify the table format. As you do so, watch the Preview box to see what your choices do.

Borders, shading, and color

Rather than rely on Word’s Table -> Table AutoFormat command, you can draw borders yourself and shade or give color to different parts of a table as well. Decorating a table by means of the Tables and Borders toolbar is easier than you might think. Click the Tables and Borders button on the Standard toolbar to display the Tables and Borders toolbar. Then select the part of the table you want to decorate and customize it as follows:

 -  Choosing lines for borders: Click the down arrow beside the Line Style button and choose a line, dashed line, double line, or wiggly line for the border. (Choose No Border if you don’t want a border or you’re removing one that is already there.) Then click the down arrow beside the Line Weight button to choose a line width for the border.

 -  Choosing line colors: Click the down arrow beside the Border Color button and choose one of the colors on the drop-down list. Use the Automatic choice to remove colors and gray shades.

 -  Drawing the border lines: Click the down arrow beside the Border button and choose one of the border styles on the drop-down list. (Choose No Border to remove borders.) For example, choose Top Border to put a border along the top of the part of the table you selected; choose Inside Border to put the border on the interior lines of the part of the table you selected. You will find the Border button on the Formatting toolbar as well as the Tables and Borders toolbar.

 -  Shading or giving a color background to table cells: Click the down arrow beside the Shading Color button and choose a color or gray shade on the drop-down list. After you make a choice from a menu on the Tables and Borders toolbar, the choice you made appears on the button that is used to open the menu. Choose Blue on the Shading Color drop-down list, for example, and the Shading Color button turns blue. If the choice you want to make from a list happens to be the last choice you made, you can click the button instead of opening a drop-down list. To make a blue background show in a table, for example, you can simply click the Shading Color button as long as the Shading Color button is blue.