Tables can be very helpful in organizing information and in positioning items on your page. The easiest way to create a table is
the Table button on the Insert ribbon tab. This button creates a default table with equal size columns and rows that stretch all the way across the page. After creating the table, you can adjust the height of rows and the width of columns to suit your needs.
Table: 2 rows x 2 columns
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Step-by-Step: Create a Table with Button |
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What you will learn: | to create a table with Table
button to resize table to resize column width to sort table rows without header row to insert a new row to sort table rows with hearder row to resize row height to center table on the page to center text vertically in the cell to apply a table style to reapply manual formatting removed by table style |
Start with:
, blank document
Save as table1-Lastname-Firstname.docx on your Class disk in the folder word project4.
Move the
pointer over the right-hand vertical edge of the left column until it turns into
the
resize shape, then drag to the left to make the column just wide enough to hold the names.
If your mouse pointer is over a horizontal line, you won't see the correct resize shape.
The column resizes.
Sometimes you get a table all filled in only to realize that
the data is not sorted alphabetically. Whoops! There is a Sort
button on the Table Tools: Layout tab to help with this problem.
You have to be careful with what is selected when you sort. The whole row stays together when you sort
on a selected column. In older versions of Word, only selected cells got sorted. You could separate data that belonged
together that way!
What you have selected in the table changes the sorting choices in the Sort dialog.
There is also a small Sort button
on the Home tab in the Paragraph tab group.
You can choose up to three different columns to sort on. If your table has headings in the first row, those labels will be in the Sort by drop list, like Lastname, Firstname, Middlename. If there is no header row, the list shows column numbers.
Click on OK.
Both columns are now highlighted. The selected column is sorted
into alphabetical order, and the matching cells in column 1
moved also. Excellent!
Text that is not in a table can be sorted, also,
using the Sort button on the Home tab. The Sort dialog has
different features if you select text paragraphs instead of
being in a table.
Problem: Cell
is too narrow for the text to fit on one line
Solution: Widen the column - Move the mouse over
the right edge of the cell until the pointer changes to the
Resize Width shape .
Double-click. The column widens just enough to hold the widest text in
the column.
Word 2013, 2016: Insert Row and Insert Column handles
Starting in Word 2013, the Insert Row or Insert Column handle appears when your mouse pointer drifts past the bottom of a row or the right edge of a column. Clicking the handle puts in a new blank row or column where the circle connects to the table. You cannot use this handle to put a new row at the top of the table or a column to the left of the first column.
The table's style will automatically reapply to make any row colors alternate correctly. An inserted row will inherit any manually applied formatting from the row above. An inserted column will inherit from the column to the right(!).
If you tell Word that there is a header row, then the first row of the table will not be sorted with the rest of the table. Handy!
You will learn a new way to apply a style that you know exists but which is not showing in the Styles gallery.
Select the first row by clicking at the left of the row after the pointer
changes to the Select arrow shape.
We want to apply
Heading 4. It is not showing in the Styles gallery or in the
Styles pane. Go look to see for yourself.
Widen the column: Move your mouse over the border between First Name and Last Name until the pointer changes to
the Resize
shape. Double click.
The AutoFit feature resizes the cells just wide enough
for the widest text.
Look carefully at the top
of the table. Heading text and border does not line up with the rest of the column any more. Unexpected!
You had the row still selected, so only that row got wider!
Drag border: You can
also drag the column border if that gives you a better result.
Move the mouse over the border of the first column in a row other
than the first row until you see the Resize shape, then
double-click.
Now the whole
column is resized and Column 2 is neatly lined up, too.
To change the height of a row, you can drag a boundary like you did for column width. But you can also set height and width to exact sizes on the ribbon and in the Table Properties dialog.
On the Table Tools: Layout tab
in the Cell Size tab group, set the
height to 0.4 inches .
The Width box on the ribbon is blank because the selection includes cells with two different widths.
All cells in a row must be the same height.
Save.
[table1-Lastname-Firstname.docx]
You will make the text float in the middle of the cell vertically.
Word offers a large number of pre-designed Table Styles. Of course you can edit the results as you wish after applying a table style. These styles include choices for alternating row colors (or not!) and special rows and columns.
The table that you are working on is very simple. It has a Header row but not a Totals row. It does not have a special first or last column to format differently.
When you are ready to continue...
With the cursor in the table but nothing selected, expand the gallery of Table Styles.
Hover over various choices and note the name for the style that appears in a screen tip.
The names are different depending on the version of Word but many of the styles appear in all three versions,Word 2007, 2010, and 2013.
Click on the table style with alternating blue and white rows, borders around all cells, first row has a white background:
Word 2007, 2010:
Light Grid, Accent 1.
Word 2013, 2016:
Grid Table 6 Colorful - Accent 5
The table loses some of its previous formatting and position.
Open the Styles pane.
There
are no styles showing for tables. This is different from
previous versions of Word.
If you try out all of the Options for the Styles pane, you still will not see the Table Styles in the pane.
The Table Styles do show up in the Manage Styles
dialog, marked with the Table grid icon , and also in the Apply Styles dialog.
These dialogs do not show a preview of the style.