WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:09.440 --> 00:00:13.309 Using regular text to compose your documents is fine in most cases. 00:00:13.309 --> 00:00:17.700 But for something that requires more organization, you might want to try a table. 00:00:17.700 --> 00:00:22.919 This will let you enter your text in columns and rows, instead of lines or paragraphs. 00:00:22.919 --> 00:00:27.020 To create a new table, just go to Insert... 00:00:27.020 --> 00:00:31.849 Table... then mouse over the grid to select the number of cells you want. 00:00:31.849 --> 00:00:36.860 My table's going to be pretty big: 6 columns... by 6 rows. 00:00:36.860 --> 00:00:41.649 Now click... and the table appears in your document, where you can start entering your 00:00:41.649 --> 00:00:43.829 information. 00:00:43.829 --> 00:00:47.739 If you already have some of your information listed, don't worry—you don't have to start 00:00:47.739 --> 00:00:48.989 from scratch. 00:00:48.989 --> 00:00:51.550 Take this version for example. 00:00:51.550 --> 00:00:55.370 The schedule's kind of hard to read in its current format, but we can easily convert 00:00:55.370 --> 00:00:57.980 it to a table in just a couple steps. 00:00:57.980 --> 00:01:07.720 Start by selecting your text... then go to back to the Insert tab... and click Table. 00:01:07.720 --> 00:01:13.750 Now click Convert Text to Table... and choose one of the options here for separating your 00:01:13.750 --> 00:01:15.070 text. 00:01:15.070 --> 00:01:18.140 This is how Word knows what to put in each column. 00:01:18.140 --> 00:01:22.860 My text is separated by Tabs in this example, but paragraphs, commas, and other symbols 00:01:22.860 --> 00:01:24.800 will also work. 00:01:24.800 --> 00:01:30.390 When you're ready, click OK... and the text will appear in a table. 00:01:30.390 --> 00:01:33.750 To enter information, just click the cell you want. 00:01:33.750 --> 00:01:36.600 You can also use the arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate. 00:01:36.600 --> 00:01:43.710 To insert a column or a row, hover outside the table over one of the cell dividers. 00:01:43.710 --> 00:01:46.070 Notice the plus sign that appears? 00:01:46.070 --> 00:01:53.610 All you have to do is click... and Word will add a column or row in that location. 00:01:53.610 --> 00:01:56.580 Deleting columns and rows is just as easy. 00:01:56.580 --> 00:02:00.170 First, select a cell in the range you want to delete. 00:02:00.170 --> 00:02:03.920 Then right-click... and choose Delete Cells from the menu. 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:13.610 In this example, I'm going to select Delete entire row... then click OK. 00:02:13.610 --> 00:02:15.459 So this is looking pretty good. 00:02:15.459 --> 00:02:19.410 I think I'm ready to add some formatting to make the table easier to read, and also give 00:02:19.410 --> 00:02:21.020 it some color. 00:02:21.020 --> 00:02:24.990 For that, you'll find everything you need on the Design tab or the Layout tab, which 00:02:24.990 --> 00:02:29.120 appear anytime you have your cursor in your table. 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:32.870 Under Design, you'll find a wide range of Table Styles to choose from, which you can 00:02:32.870 --> 00:02:34.980 mouse over for a preview. 00:02:34.980 --> 00:02:40.550 For the full list, click the drop-down arrow in the corner. 00:02:40.550 --> 00:02:43.790 How about this one? 00:02:43.790 --> 00:02:48.069 Once you've chosen a style, you can customize the way it's laid out using the Table Style 00:02:48.069 --> 00:02:49.240 Options here. 00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:55.860 For example, you can decide whether or not to use special formatting on the first column... 00:02:55.860 --> 00:02:58.900 or the header row. 00:02:58.900 --> 00:03:02.680 These will all have a different effect depending on the Table Style you've chosen, so you might 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:06.440 need to experiment to get the look you want. 00:03:06.440 --> 00:03:10.520 You may have noticed that this table has a border between most of the cells. 00:03:10.520 --> 00:03:16.319 To add or change the border, just select the cells you want to modify... then look to the 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:17.430 Borders group. 00:03:17.430 --> 00:03:29.910 Here, you can select a line style... line weight... and also a color for your border. 00:03:29.910 --> 00:03:34.540 When you're ready, click the drop-down arrow under the Borders command... then choose where 00:03:34.540 --> 00:03:36.100 you want the border to go. 00:03:36.100 --> 00:03:43.560 I want mine around the outside of these two cells. 00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:47.430 You can make further modifications to things like the size and layout of your table by 00:03:47.430 --> 00:03:50.080 going to the Layout tab. 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:54.590 The first thing I'd like to do here is make the table a little bigger overall. 00:03:54.590 --> 00:03:58.590 I'll start by placing my cursor in the bottom row, and then dragging the border to the size 00:03:58.590 --> 00:04:01.450 I want. 00:04:01.450 --> 00:04:06.209 When you're ready, click the Distribute Rows command... and the rows will re-adjust, so 00:04:06.209 --> 00:04:08.550 they're all the same size again. 00:04:08.550 --> 00:04:15.190 Next, I'm going to select the entire table... and then change the text alignment using the 00:04:15.190 --> 00:04:20.840 options in the Alignment group. 00:04:20.840 --> 00:04:24.000 I think centered looks the best. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:30.940 Finally, I'd like to combine these two cells into one, also known as merging. 00:04:30.940 --> 00:04:36.520 This option is useful if your table has data that spans several different columns or rows. 00:04:36.520 --> 00:04:41.760 Just make sure your cells are selected... then click the Merge Cells command on the 00:04:41.760 --> 00:04:46.780 Layout tab. 00:04:46.780 --> 00:04:51.560 The Layout tab gives you many ways to customize your table, so it works for you and the information 00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:53.490 you want to display. 00:04:53.490 --> 00:04:57.530 There are still lots of other options to explore, so make sure you give them a try on your own.