This lesson will teach you how to create tables. You use tables to format all or part of your document into columns and rows. Each exercise in this lesson is dependent on your having completed the exercise that preceded it. Complete the exercises in sequence. To begin the lesson, open Microsoft Word.

Creating a Table

To create a four-column, five-row table:

1. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
2. Highlight Insert Table on the drop-down menu.
3. Press Enter.
4. Type 4 in the Number of Columns field.
5. Type 5 in the Number of Rows field.
6. Select Auto in the Column Width field. Selecting Auto allows Microsoft Word to determine the size of your column widths. Alternatively, you can enter the column width you desire.
7. Click on OK. Your table should look like the one shown here, with four columns and five rows.

Alternate Method -- Creating a Table Using the Insert Table Icon

You can also create a table by clicking on the Insert Table icon on the Standard toolbar.

1. Click on the Insert Table icon.

Note: The Insert Table icon does not display on the toolbar if your cursor is located on a table. If you can not find the Insert table icon, move your cursor outside of the table.

2. Highlight the number of rows and columns you need. The maximum table size is a four-row by five-column table.

3. Press Enter (or Click) to create the table.

Moving Around a Table

You refer to each block in a table as a cell. Use the Tab key to move between cells from left to right. Use Shift-Tab to move between cells from right to left. The following exercise demonstrates.

1. Click in the first cell in the first column.
2. Press the Tab key nine times. The cursor moves forward nine cells.
3. Press Shift-Tab six times. The cursor moves backward six cells.

Entering Text into a Table

To enter text into a table, simply type as you normally would. Press Tab to move to the next cell. Enter the text shown below into your table.

1. Type Salesperson in the first cell in the first column. Press the Tab key.
2. Type Dolls in the first cell in the second column. Press the Tab key.
3. Continue entering, until you have entered all of the text.

Selecting a Row and Bolding the Text

You learned about bolding in Lesson Three. In this exercise, you will select the first row of the table and bold all of the text on the row.

1. Click anywhere on the first row of your table.
2. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
3. Highlight Select Row, which is located on the drop-down menu.
4. Press Enter. Microsoft Word should select the first row of the table.
5. Press Ctrl-b to bold the row.

You learned about alignment in Lesson Five. In this exercise, you will right-align the second (Dolls), third (Trucks), and fourth (Puzzles) columns of the table you created.

1. You need to highlight "Dolls," "Trucks," and "Puzzles." Place the cursor before the "D" in "Dolls." Press the F8 key to anchor the cursor. Then press the right arrow key until you have highlighted "Dolls," "Trucks," and "Puzzles."
2. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
3. Highlight Select Column, which is located on the drop-down menu.
4. Press Enter. Microsoft Word should select the Dolls, Trucks, and Puzzles columns.
5. Press Ctrl-r to right-align the cells.

Note: All of the formatting options you learned about in previous lessons can be applied to cells in a table.

Adding a New Row to the End of the Table

You can add additional rows to your table. The simplest way to add a new row is to move to the last column of the last row and press the Tab key. You can then type any additional text you need to add.

1. Move to the last column of the last row of your table.
2. Press the Tab key.
3. Type the text shown here.

Adding a Row Within the Table

You can add a new row anywhere in the table. Microsoft Word adds new rows above your current row. The exercise that follows demonstrates.

To add a row just above York, George:

1. Place the cursor anywhere in the fourth row (the row with York, George as the salesperson).
2. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
3. Highlight Insert Rows on the drop-down menu.
4. Press Enter. Microsoft Word should create a new row above the York, George row.
5. Add the information shown here to the new row.

Resizing the Columns

You can easily change the size of your column widths. In this exercise, you will first select the entire table and then you will adjust all the column widths.

1. Click anywhere in your table.
2. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
3. Highlight Select Table.
4. Press Enter.
5. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
6. Highlight Cell Height and Width.
7. Press Enter.
8. Click on the Column tab, if it is not in the front.
9. Type 1 in the Width of Columns 1-4 field. This will cause Microsoft Word to set all the columns to a width of one inch.
10. Click on OK.

1. Place the cursor anywhere in the first column.
2. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
3. Highlight Select Column.
4. Press Enter.
5. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
6. Highlight Cell Height and Width.
7. Press Enter.
8. Click on the Column tab, if it is not in the front.
9. Type 1.5 in the Width of Column 1 field.
10. Click on OK.

You can resize your column widths by placing the cursor on the line that separates two columns. This will cause the width indicator to appear. After the width indicator appears, left-click and drag with the mouse to adjust the column width.

Adding a New Column to a Table

You can add new columns to your table. Microsoft Word adds new columns to the left of your current location.

To add a new column between the Salesperson and Dolls columns:

1. Place the cursor anywhere in the Dolls column.
2. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
3. Highlight Select Column on the drop-down menu.
4. Press Enter. Microsoft Word should select the first column.
5. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
6. Highlight Insert Columns on the drop-down menu.
7. Press Enter. Microsoft Word should create a new column between the Salesperson and Dolls columns.
8. Label the new column Region and add the text shown in the table below.

Sorting a Table

With Microsoft Word, it is easy to sort the data in your table. To sort your table data by Region and within Region by Salesperson in ascending order:

1. Click anywhere on your table.
2. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
3. Highlight Sort on the drop-down menu.
4. Press Enter.
5. Select Region in the Sort By field.
6. Select Text in the Type field (because you are sorting text).
7. Select Ascending.
8. Select Salesperson in the Then By field.
9. Select Text in the Type field (because you are sorting text).
10. Select Ascending.
11. Select Header Row (because your table has titles across the top of the table).
12. Click on OK.

The Sum Function

You can perform a limited number of calculations on the numbers in your table. Several functions are available to you. A review of all of the functions is beyond the scope of this tutorial, but the exercise that follows demonstrates the Sum function. In this exercise you will add a new row to your table, place the word "Total" at the bottom of the Salesperson column, and sum the Dolls, Trucks, and Puzzles columns.

1. Place your cursor in the cell located on the last row in the last column.
2. Press the Tab key to create a new row.
3. Type Total in the cell on the bottom row in the Salesperson column.
4. Move to the Dolls column.
5. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
6. Highlight Formula.
7. Press Enter.
8. Type =SUM(ABOVE) in the formula field, if it does not automatically appear.
9. Select #,##0 in the Number Format field. This selection will cause Microsoft Word to separate thousands with a comma.
10. Click on OK.
11. Move to the Trucks column.
12. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
13. Highlight Formula.
14. Press Enter.
15. Type =SUM(ABOVE) in the formula field, if it does not automatically appear.
16. Select #,##0 in the Number Format field. This selection will cause Microsoft Word to separate thousands with a comma.
17. Click on OK.
18. Move to the Puzzles column.
19. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
20. Highlight Formula.
21. Press Enter.
22. Type =SUM(ABOVE) in the formula field, if it does not automatically appear.
23. Select #,##0 in the Number Format field. This selection will cause Microsoft Word to separate thousands with a comma.
24. Click on OK.

You can delete columns from your table. To delete the Trucks column:

1. Place your cursor anywhere in the Trucks column.
2. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
3. Highlight Select Column.
4. Press Enter. Microsoft Word will select the entire column.
5. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
6. Highlight Delete Column.
7. Press Enter.

You can delete rows from your table. To delete the York, George row:

1. Place your cursor anywhere in the York, George row.
2. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
3. Highlight Select Row.
4. Press Enter. Microsoft Word will select the entire row.
5. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
6. Highlight Delete Rows.
7. Press Enter.

Unlike a spreadsheet, Microsoft Word does not automatically recalculate every time you make a change to the table. To cause a function to recalculate, you must first move to the cell that contains the function and then press the F9 key. Alternatively, you can move to the cell that contains the function, right-click, and select Update Field from the context menu. Because you deleted a row in the previous exercise, your calculations are now incorrect. To recalculate:

1. Move to the Dolls/Total cell.
2. Press F9.
3. Move to the Puzzles/Total cell and right-click.
4. Highlight Update Field on the menu.
5. Press Enter.

Merge Cells

Using Microsoft Word, you can merge cells: turn two or more cells into one cell. In this exercise, you are going to create a new row at the top of your table, merge the cells, and add a title to the table.

1. Move to the cell located on the first row of the first column of your table (the Salesperson cell).
2. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
3. Highlight Insert Rows on the drop-down menu.
4. Press Enter. Microsoft Word should create a new row above your row of headings.
5. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
6. Highlight Merge Cells.
7. Press Enter.
8. Type Toy Sales in the new cell.
9. Press Ctrl-e to center the title.

If Microsoft Word splits your table with a page break, the table heading will display on the first page but not on subsequent pages. To correct this problem, you can designate rows as headings. Heading rows are repeated on the top of your table at the top of each page. To designate a row as a heading:

1. Place your cursor on the row.
2. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
3. Highlight Headings on the drop-down menu.
4. Press Enter.

You can convert text to a table; however, a delimiter such as a comma, paragraph marker, or tab must separate columns of text. In the exercise that follows, you will convert comma-delimited text into a table.

1. Type the following as shown (do not bold).
   Color, Style, Item
   Blue, A980, Van
   Red, X023, Car
   Green, YL724, Truck
   Name, Age, Sex
   Bob, 23, M
   Linda, 46, F
   Tom, 29, M
2. Highlight the text.
3. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
4. Highlight Convert Text to Table on the drop-down menu.
5. Press Enter.
6. Type 3 in the Number of Columns field.
7. Select Auto in the Column Width field.
8. Select the Comma radio button in the Separate Text At frame.
9. Click on OK.

Splitting a Table

With Microsoft Word, splitting a single table into two tables is easy. To separate the table you just created into two tables:

1. Place your cursor anywhere on the row that reads "Name, Age, Sex."
2. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
3. Highlight Split Table on the drop-down menu.
4. Press Enter.

Table AutoFormat

You can use AutoFormats to easily apply borders, shading, special fonts, and color to your table. Microsoft Word lists all Formats in the Table AutoFormat dialog box. While in the Table AutoFormat dialog box, click on a format to see it displayed in the Preview box. You can customize how the format is applied. Check the features you want in the Formats to Apply and the Apply Special Formats To frames. Microsoft Word comes with a long list of AutoFormats.

To apply an AutoFormat to your Name, Age, and Sex table:

1. Click anywhere in the table.
2. Click on Table, which is located on the Menu bar.
3. Highlight table AutoFormat.
4. Press Enter.
5. Select Colorful 1 in the Formats box.
6. Select Borders, Shading, Font, and Color in the Formats to Apply frame. Do not select AutoFit.
7. Select Heading Rows and First Column in the Apply Special Formats To frame. Do not select Last Row and Last Column.
8. Click on OK.

Save File

Save your file by following these instructions:

1. Click on File.
2. Highlight Save As. Press Enter.
3. Specify the correct folder in the Save In field.
4. Name your file by typing lesson7.doc in the File Name field.
5. Click on Save.
6. Click on File.
7. Highlight Exit. Press Enter.

Demonstrative and Interactive Lessons:

Microsoft Word Tables - Demonstrative Lesson

Microsoft Word Tables - Interactive Lesson