In: Categories » » Microsoft office » Resizing columns and rows. Table styles in Microsoft office 2007
By coloring rows or columns and adding borders, you can customize the appearance of your tables. However, for a faster method, you can just use a predesigned table style instead, which can automatically format your text, color rows, and add borders to your tables.
To choose a table style, follow these steps:
1. Move the cursor inside the table you want to modify.
2. Click the Design contextual tools tab.
3. (Optional) Click or clear check boxes under the Table Style Options group, such as the Header Row or Last Column check box.
4. Click the More button on the Table Styles group.
A pull-down menu of all available styles appears. As you move the mouse pointer over a table style, Word displays a live preview of how your table will look.
5. Click a table style.
Word formats your table according to the style you chose.
Resizing columns and rows
You may need to resize a column or row in your table to expand or shrink it so your text doesn’t appear crowded or surrounded by empty space. You can resize a column or row by using the mouse or by defining row heights and column widths. To resize a row or column with the mouse, follow these steps:
1. Move the mouse over the row or column border that you want to resize.
The mouse pointer turns into a two-way pointing arrow.
2. Hold the left mouse button down and drag (move) the mouse to resize the row or column.
3. Release the left mouse button when you’re happy with the size of the row or column.
Using the mouse to resize a row or column can be fast, but if you want to resize a row or column to a specific height or width, you can type in the specific dimensions by following these steps:
1. Select the row, column, or table that you want to modify. (If you select the entire table, you can adjust the width or height of rows and columns for your entire table.)
2. Click the Layout tab under the Table Tools tab.
If you want to define the width or height of multiple rows or columns equally, click the Distribute Columns or Distribute Rows icon.
3. To precisely define a column’s width, click the Width list box and type a value (or click the up/down arrows to choose a value).
4. To precisely define a row’s height, click the Height list box and type a value (or click the up/down arrows to choose a value).
5. (Optional) Click AutoFit and choose one of the following:
• AutoFit Contents: Shrinks your columns or rows to largest cell
• AutoFit Window: Expands the table to fit the width of the current document window
Defining cell margins
Another way to modify the appearance of a table is to change the space that appears between items in a cell, known as the cell margin. Cell margins simply add blank space between text and cell borders. To define cell margins in a table, follow these steps:
1. Move the cursor inside any cell in the table you want to modify.
2. Click the Layout tab under the Table Tools tab.
3. Click the Cell Margins icon in the Alignment group.
4. Click in the Top, Bottom, Left, or Right text box and type a value (or click the up/down arrows to increase or decrease the currently displayed value).
5. Click OK.
Defining cell spacing
Defining cell margins can move text away from cell borders to make a table easier to read. For another way to separate cells in a table, you can define the cell spacing. The greater the cell spacing, the farther apart individual cells appear from one another.
To define cell spacing in a table, follow these steps:
1. Move the cursor inside any cell in the table you want to modify.
2. Click the Layout tab under the Table Tools tab.
3. Click the Cell Margins icon in the Alignment group.
4. Select the Allow Spacing between Cells check box and type a value (or click the up/down arrows to increase or decrease the currently displayed value).
5. Click OK.
Splitting (and merging) cells
Splitting a cell divides the cell into multiple rows or columns. Merging cells combines two or more cells to create one big cell. Splitting or merging calls typically creates unusual tables without uniform rows and columns.
To split a cell, follow these steps:
1. Move the cursor to the cell you want to divide in half.
2. Click the Layout tab under the Table Tools tab.
3. Click the Split Cells icon in the Merge group.
4. Click in the Number of Columns text box and type a number (or click the up/down arrows to define a number).
5. Click in the Number of Rows text box and type a number (or click the up/down arrows to define a number).
6. Click OK.
Word splits your cell into the number of rows and columns you defined in Steps 4 and 5. To merge cells, follow these steps:
1. Select adjacent cells that you want to merge into a single cell.
2. Click the Layout tab under the Table Tools tab.
3. Click the Merge Cells icon in the Merge group. Word merges your selected cells into one big cell.
Sorting a Table
Tables can not only organize data, but they can also sort your data alphabetically as well. To sort a table, you need to specify a single column of data to sort. When Word sorts the data in this column, it automatically sorts every row in the table as well.
To sort a table, follow these steps:
1. Select the column that contains the data you want to sort.
2. Click the Layout tab under the Table Tools tab.
3. Click the Sort icon in the Data group.
The Sort dialog box appears.
4. Click in the top Type list box and choose the type of data you want to sort: Text, Number, or Date.
5. Select either the Ascending or Descending radio button.
6. Click OK.
Word sorts your entire table based on the data in the column you selected.
Deleting Tables
After you create a table, you can delete the entire table, delete one or more rows or columns, or just delete individual cells along with their data.
Deleting an entire table
Word gives you two choices in deleting a table. First, you can wipe out just the data inside the table while leaving the table itself intact. Second, you can wipe out both the data and the table at the same time. To delete just the data in a table, follow these steps:
1. Select every row and column in the table.
2. Press Delete.
Word wipes out all your data and leaves an empty table.
To delete both your table and all the data stored in it at the same time, follow these steps:
1. Move the cursor into the table you want to wipe out.
2. Click the Layout tab under the Table Tools tab.
3. Click the Delete icon in the Rows & Columns group.
4. Choose Delete Table.
Word wipes out your table and all the data stored in it.
Deleting rows and columns
Rather than delete an entire table, you can also delete rows and columns. When you delete a row or column, you wipe out any data stored inside that row or column. To delete a row or column, follow these steps:
1. Move the cursor into the row or column you want to delete.
2. Click the Layout tab under the Table Tools tab.
3. Click the Delete icon.
A pull-down menu appears.
4. Choose Delete Columns or Delete Rows.
Word deletes your chosen column or row.
Deleting cells
You can delete data in cells just by selecting the data and pressing the Delete key. If you want to delete data and the cell itself, you have two options:
Delete a cell and shift adjacent rows or columns. This creates an oddshaped table.
Delete the data and cell borders. This keeps the table symmetrical but often merges cells.
To delete a cell and change the physical layout of a table, follow these steps:
1. Select the cell or cells you want to delete.
2. Click the Layout tab under the Table Tools tab.
3. Click the Delete icon in the Rows & Columns group. A pull-down menu appears.
4. Choose Delete Cells. The Delete Cells dialog box appears.
5. Select the radio button for Shift Cells Left or Shift Cells Up.
6. Click OK.
Deleting cell borders
Word also lets you delete individual cell lines by using the mouse. By using the mouse, you can delete borders and merge adjacent cells at the same time. To use the mouse to delete cell lines, follow these steps:
1. Move the cursor into the table you want to modify.
2. Click the Design contextual tools tab under the Table Tools tab.
3. Click the Eraser icon in the Draw Borders group. The mouse pointer turns into an eraser icon.
4. Choose one of the following:
Click a cell border to delete it. or
a. Move the mouse pointer near a cell line to delete, hold down the left mouse button, and drag (move) the mouse to highlight one or more cell lines. Word highlights any cell lines you select.
b. Release the left mouse button. Word deletes the selected cell lines and any data stored in adjacent cells.
5. Press Esc or double-click the mouse to turn off the Eraser and convert
the mouse pointer back into an I-beam cursor.
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