You have completed a very important piece of research, so you decided to use the Microsoft Word program to digitize the results and create a detailed report to show your colleagues. It’s a good idea to make a summary table, which will group the data together and allow readers to quickly compare it. This is a tricky one, since you’ve never had a similar need until now, so you don’t know how to proceed!
Well, don’t despair: you’ve come to the right guide at the right time! In the following paragraphs, in fact, I’ll show you how to make a table in Word, showing you all the necessary steps to create handy tables to add to your report and improve your work even more. Don’t worry, this is not a difficult task at all, on the contrary: the instructions I’m going to give you are easily applicable even by those who, like you, are not very familiar with new technologies.
So, what are you waiting for to get started? Make yourself comfortable, take a few minutes for yourself and read carefully the indications that I’m about to give you: I’m sure that, at the end of this guide, you will be perfectly able to develop a document that is up to what you have been asked. At this point, I just wish you a good reading and… good work!
How to create a table in Word
Even if making a table in Word is not a complicated operation, I recommend that you first define and organize the data with which you intend to fill it: for example, establish in advance how the rows and columns will be organized, evaluate the need to introduce colors and so on.
Finally, try to keep the number of rows and columns you intend to add relatively low, in order to avoid later problems in case you have to print your document: it would be unsightly, as well as impractical, to divide a table over several pages!
Before going any further, I’d like to warn you that in this guide I’ll refer to Word 2016 for Windows computers; nevertheless, you can also use the same instructions for previous/next versions of the program and its counterpart available for Mac.
Create a table from scratch
Have you finished organizing your data? Perfect, now it’s time for the real action: for starters, open the document in Microsoft Word to which you want to add the table or, if you want to create a new document, start the program and click the Empty Document icon.
If you are starting with a blank document, you can use two different approaches: the first is to create the table now, and then add the plain text, while the second is to bring the necessary data into your document, and then build the actual table. Evaluate what to do based on your needs.
As for a document with existing text, identify the point where you want to add the table, press the Enter key on your keyboard to create a new paragraph (an empty line without contents), place the cursor at the beginning of it, then go to the Insert tab at the top and click the Table button there.
At this point, using the grid shown on the screen, choose the number of initial rows and columns of the table by scrolling with the mouse over the squares of the grid itself, and paying attention to the preview that is displayed in the document in the background: once you reach the desired result, confirm the creation of the table by clicking on the last square at the bottom right.
If you wish, you can quickly add a “pre-packaged” table to your document, containing, for example, a calendar or the letters of the Greek alphabet, using the predefined ones already included in Word: to do this, once you have placed the cursor where you want to insert the table, click on the Insert tab, then on the Table button and move the mouse cursor to the Quick Tables option.
At this point, all you have to do is select the format of the table you want to add from the menu that opens immediately afterwards and confirm the insertion with a mouse click. Keep in mind that, although some data is added during creation, you can edit the created tables just as you would do with empty ones.
Last but not least, it is also possible to embed an Excel worksheet in your Word documents, in order to get more options on data sorting: to do so, go once again to Insert > Table and select the item Excel worksheet from the proposed menu. To understand how to manipulate the data on such a sheet, I recommend you to refer to my guide on how to make a table in Excel.
Starting from a predefined template
Do you have the idea of the document you need well in mind, however you are looking for something ready-made to use as a template?
In this case, I recommend that you turn to one of Word’s predefined templates: in fact, these are thematic documents (suitable, for example, for reporting, reports, work plans and so on) already packaged for use, available both on the computer and online, containing tables and other components already set up, ready to be filled with the data you already have. Once the document is created, you’ll have the ability to customize it to fit your needs.
So, to create a new Word document starting from a predefined template, click on File, then click on New and choose one of the templates proposed in the list below; alternatively, you can search online, using the appropriate bar available in the creation panel: simply type the keyword of the template you are interested in (e.g. report or table) and press the Enter key.
The results received are divided into several categories, viewable through the appropriate navigation bar located on the right: once you have identified the template that best suits your needs, double-click on its preview to create a new document based on it, ready to customize.
If you want, Word also offers the possibility to create a custom template from a blank document, and then save it and use it later as a starting point: I have provided you with all the instructions to do this in my tutorial on how to create a new Word template.
How to customize a table
Word’s new tables, by default, have very basic graphics: the cells are all the same, the borders are defined, and the background color is uniform and agrees with that of the document. If you need something more articulate, Word offers the possibility of modifying the table’s style and formatting to adapt it to your needs, all in a few simple steps.
To proceed, click with the mouse in any cell of the table, then click on the Design item in the top bar, just below the Table Tools pane. Using the buttons and commands in this section, you can define and customize the graphical style of the table in the document: the most important ones are listed below.
Header Row/Total Row – allows you to automatically create rows designed to contain headers (i.e. column “titles”) or the total value of an entire column, in the case of numeric values.
Alternate rows/columns highlighted – odd or even rows/columns are highlighted with a darker shade than defined by the stule.
First/Last Column – automatically applies boldface to values contained in the first and/or last column.
Table Styles Pane – allows you to quickly choose a custom style for your table, in particular the arrangement and format of borders and the color scheme: once you identify the style you want to apply to your table, just click on its preview to make the change effective. If you wish, you can create your own style by clicking on the More button in the above-mentioned box (the down arrow with a dash) and clicking on the New Table Style button….
Background – allows you to apply a background color to the selected cell. To apply the same color to the entire table or to a specific zone, select – using the mouse – all cells that make up the selected table or zone.
Border Styles – allows you to choose a style to apply to the table borders.
Pen color – from here, you can customize the color of the borders to be applied to the table.
Edges – this button allows you to hide or display one or more edges of the table, according to precise subdivisions (e.g. only right, left, center, separator edges and so on).
Border Formatting – this button allows you to selectively act on individual cell borders, applying the style defined through the Border Styles/Pen Color buttons. To proceed, once this button is selected, selectively click on each edge to apply the chosen style (the cursor turns into a kind of “pen”).
The data contained in the table, as usual, can be formatted (right aligned, left aligned, bold, italic, underlined, strikethrough, etc.) and customized using the tools located in the Home section of the program; to simultaneously format the data contained in several rows, columns or cells, you can select them using the Shift or Ctrl/cmd keys on the keyboard.
To insert new rows and/or columns in the table, to join or divide cells, to define the formatting of the elements within them (e.g. horizontal and vertical alignment), the spacing between cells, the default size of each cell, margins, borders and so on, you can use the tools in the Layout section of Word, located just below the Table Tools pane.
How to delete a table
The table you have created does not correspond to your expectations, so you want to delete it completely in order to start over? No problem, Word makes this operation extremely simple as well.
Actually, you can proceed in two different ways: the first one is to select the entire table with the mouse and, once the selection is complete, press the backspace key (delete character) on the keyboard. The second method is even simpler: place the mouse on one of the table cells, click on the Layout item in the Table Tools pane, then on the Delete and Delete Table buttons.
Now that you have perfectly understood the basic ways to manage a table in Word, and you have seen the power of this program, I bet your curiosity has taken over and you can’t wait to find out how to take full advantage of the application included in Microsoft Office: just to give you some examples, you can use Word to create labels, distribute items in alphabetical order, create brochures and folded manuals, make brochures, create a resume, create questionnaires, layout a book and much, much more! In short, knowing how to best use Word can really help you in a large number of scenarios.
As I told you at the beginning, I based this guide entirely on Microsoft Word 2016 for computers: in this regard, I want to remind you that you can edit Word files and create tables, albeit with some limitations, even through the appropriate apps for Android, iPhone and iPad (free for devices up to 10.1″), and through Word Online, usable from the browser installed on the computer at your disposal.