Depending on what you're working on, positioning your text using commas, spaces, or tabs can
be time consuming and limiting in terms of what you can do.
This schedule, for example, isn't very easy to read.
That's where tables come in handy, for organizing your text in rows and columns instead of paragraphs.
To insert a new blank table, all you have to do is go to Insert, Table, then move your
mouse over the squares for the number of columns and rows you want.
The table I need for my schedule is going to be pretty big - seven columns and five
rows.
Now click, and the table appears in your document.
But I don't have to start from scratch.
In this case, I can convert the text I already have into a table in just a couple steps.
Start by selecting your text, then go to Insert, Table.
Now Convert Text to Table, and choose one of the options here for separating your text.
This is how Word knows what to put in each column.
My text isn't separated by paragraphs, commas, or other characters, but by tabs.
Finally, click OK, and everything appears in a table.
Adding more columns or rows to a table is easy.
I'd like to try inserting a row below the one that starts with Christine, so I'm going
to place my cursor here, then right-click and go to Insert.
My options include inserting a column to the left or right of where my cursor is, or a
row above or below.
If I click Below, a row appears under Christine where my cursor was.
Alternatively, if you want to delete a row or column, all you have to do is select it,
right-click, then Delete Cells.
I've change my mind about this row, so I'm going to go ahead and delete the entire thing.
So this is looking good - much easier to read.
I think I'm ready to add some formatting to improve the look overall.
Notice the Design tab and the Layout tab appear on the ribbon whenever you have your cursor
in your table.
Here under Design are your Table Styles, which you can mouse over for a preview.
For the full list, just click the drop-down arrow.
I'm looking for something colorful.
Once you've chosen a style, you can customize the way it's laid out using the Table Style
Options here.
For example, you can decide whether or not to display special formatting for the first
column or the header row.
These will all have a different effect depending on the Table Style you're using, so you might
need to experiment to get the look you want.
You may have noticed that this table has a border around the outside and in between the
cells.
To add or change the border anywhere on your table, just select the cells, then go to Draw
Borders.
You can select a line Style, Weight, and Color for your border.
Now go to the Borders drop-down menu, and choose where you want the border to go.
I want mine around the outside of these cells.
There we go!
You can make further modifications to things like the size and layout of your table by
going to the Layout tab.
Again, place your cursor anywhere in your table; now go to Layout.
The first thing I'd like to do is make the table a little bigger.
In fact, I can drag the bottom border to the size I want or adjust the measurements here,
then click Distribute Rows to make the rows even again.
Now I'm going to select the entire table to change the text alignment using these icons
in the Alignment group.
I think centered looks the best.
Last, I'd like to combine these three cells into one by selecting them and then clicking
Merge Cells.
You can even play with the direction of the text by clicking Text Direction, but I think
I prefer it the way it is.
As you can see, the Layout tab gives you many options for customizing your table so it works
for you and the information you want to display.