HIGHER
ADMINISTRATION
CREATING TABLES
IN WORD
South Lanarkshire Council
Administration
Higher
Creating Tables in Word
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
5
CREATING A TABLE
5
INSERTING A TABLE
6
ENTERING TEXT INTO A TABLE
7
ADDING COLUMNS/ROWS
9
FORMULAS AND FORMATTING
10
MERGING CELLS
12
SPLITTING CELLS
12
CHANGING BORDERS/SHADING CELLS
13
Removing Lines
13
Changing Line Widths
14
Change Shading
15
CONVERTING TEXT TO TABLES
15
CONVERTING TABLES TO TEXT
17
UPDATING THE TABLE
18
PRACTICE MATERIAL 1
20
PRACTICE MATERIAL 2
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INTRODUCTION
Every time we are required to insert text into columns the easiest way to
do this is to use the table option in Microsoft Word, it is much simpler and
quicker than using tabs. We will also use tables when creating forms
which we will look at later in the course.
When working with tables, it is convenient to use the Tables and Borders
toolbar as shown below.
If this toolbar is not shown on your screen, click on View, Toolbars, Tables
and Borders as shown below.
Click on View along the top
of the screen.
Drag down to Toolbars and then
position the mouse to the right
and select Tables and Borders.
You can move the toolbar wherever you prefer on the screen.
CREATING A TABLE
There are three ways to create a table:
 by using Table, Insert Table on the menu
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 by using the Insert Table icon
 by using the Draw table icon
on the Standard toolbar, or
on the Tables and Borders toolbar.
In this booklet we will use the Insert table icon, however, once you are
familiar with tables you can use whatever method you prefer.
INSERTING A TABLE
Click on Table, Insert Table. The following window will appear on screen.
Change the number of
columns to 4 and the
rows to 2.
Click OK.
The table should now appear on the screen as shown below:
NOTE:
When creating a table you do not need to count the number of rows
needed, just create the table with a few rows. When you need an
additional row, move the mouse to the last cell in the table, then press
TAB key; an additional row will automatically appear.
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ENTERING TEXT INTO A TABLE
As you can see from the table on your screen it is made up of columns
and rows and is very similar to a Microsoft Excel worksheet. Although the
columns and rows are not labelled in the Word table as they are in Excel,
when referring to them we use the same method.
Columns
Rows
The first column on the left is Column A, and the first row is Row 1. The
intersection of a column and a row is called a cell. So the first cell in the
top left corner is referred to as cell A1 and we have also shown C2.
When inserting text into a table, click in the cell you want to enter the text
into and key the text. Text will automatically wrap, which means if there is
not enough room in the cell it will go underneath on a new line in the cell.
If you want to create a new row within the cell press the ENTER key.
To move to the next cell to the right, press TAB. To move to the previous
cell, press SHIFT+TAB.
1 Now insert the following information into your table:
Surname
Forename
Hours Worked
Hourly Rate of Pay
Harrison
Brown
Smith
Henderson
Kennedy
Brown
John
Hazel
Jack
Rachel
Graham
Caroline
22
11.5
18
39
30
26
6.50
5.00
5.00
6.50
7.00
4.50
2 If we wanted to adjust the column width within the table, we would drag
the line between the columns in the same way we adjust columns in a
spreadsheet.
3 Insert your name and Table Example in a footer.
4 Save the document as Table Example Own Initials.
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SORTING TEXT IN A TABLE
We are now going to sort our table into alphabetical order of surname and
then by forename. We can use the sort function on the computer to do this
automatically.
1 Open the Table Example you created from above.
2 Select the entire table as follows
Click on the Table
menu.
Drag down to Select and
then Table.
or you can click on the + icon just outside the top, left corner of the
table.
NOTE:
If at any time you click on Table and most of the items are grey then you
have not clicked your mouse inside the table grid. Click outside the table
menu, click inside your table grid, then click on Table in the menu again.
3 Click on the Table Menu and this time drag down to Sort
Click on the Table
menu.
Drag down to Sort.
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4 The following window will appear.
Click on the down arrow
and select Surname then
descending.
In the Then By section, select
Forename and Type Text. Ensure
ascending is selected.
Click OK.
5 Your table should now be the same as below.
6 Save the table and print one copy for your teacher.
ADDING COLUMNS/ROWS
We are now going to insert an additional column to work out the Total to
Pay. To add a column, click in the column to the left or the right of where
you would like to make the addition, then click on Table, Insert, Columns
choosing either left or right.
1 Click on the cell Hourly Rate of Pay.
2 Move your mouse to the Table menu and drag down to Insert and then
Column to the Right as shown below
Click on Table menu.
Drag down to the Insert
menu and select Columns
to the Right.
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An additional column should now appear on your table.
FORMULAS AND FORMATTING
You can do calculations in a Word table, but not with the ease of an Excel
spreadsheet. If you have a lot of calculations to do, it would be better to
use a spreadsheet and then bring the spreadsheet into the Word
document.
Most formulas in a Word table are written absolutely, which means that we
cannot copy formulas into different cells. Therefore each formula will have
to be keyed in individually.
1 Key in the column title shown.
The symbols used for formulas are the same as Excel ie
Multiplication *
Division /
Addition +
Subtraction The formula to calculate the Total Pay is Hours Worked * Hourly Rate,
but it must be written in terms of cell addresses. The formula for Jack
Smith’s Total pay will be C2*D2, for Graham Kennedy C3*D3, etc.
2 Click in the cell B5.
3 Click on Table, Formula as shown below
Click on the
Table menu.
Drag down and
select Formula.
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4 The following window will appear on screen
In the formula text box, delete the
present formula and key =C2*D2
Click on the list arrow in the Number
Format text box. Select the
currency option.
Click OK.
5 Move down to the next cell and repeat, changing the formula
appropriately.
Your table should look like this:
6 Add another row at the bottom, and key in TOTAL.
To calculate the Total, you can use the AutoSum on the Tables and
Borders toolbar or put the insertion point in the last cell in the table,
then click on Table, Formula. The formula in the formula text box
should read =Sum(Above). Click on OK, select the currency
formatting, and the total should appear.
7 Right align the figures in the column.
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8 Change the footer to Table Example 1, save the table and print one
copy for your teacher.
MERGING CELLS
You can merge multiple cells into one single cell or split one cell into
multiple cells. Add a row at the beginning of the table.
1 Highlight this inserted row.
2 Go to the Table menu and drag down to Merge cells as shown below.
Click on the Table menu.
Drag down and select
Merge Cells.
Or you can click on the merge icon
toolbar.
on the Tables and Borders
3 Click on the first row and key in WEEKLY PAYROLL and centre it.
SPLITTING CELLS
We can also split cells if we wanted to add additional data into a certain
row.
1 Insert a new row above Weekly Payroll.
2 Highlight the row.
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3 Either go to the Table menu and drag down to Split Cells on the menu
or click on the Split Cells icon
on the Tables and Borders
Toolbar.
4 The following window will appear on screen.
Check the number of
columns is 2 and you want 1
row.
Click OK.
5 In the first cell key in Week Ending and align to the left.
6 In the second cell key in Friday's Date and align to the left.
7 Change the font style and size.
8 Save the Table as Table Example 2.
9 Update the footer and print one copy for your teacher.
CHANGING BORDERS/SHADING CELLS
By default, lines in a Word table are single black lines that will print. You
can change the lines or remove them entirely. For this example we will
remove the lines that separate the first 2 rows.
Removing Lines
1 Highlight the first row in your table.
2 Click on the down arrow at the side of the Borders icon.
3 The following should appear.
Click on the bottom line
to remove it.
Click on the middle line
to remove it.
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You will still be able to see light grey lines in the table. These are called
gridlines and will not print. They aid you in still seeing the table after you
have removed the lines.
Changing Line Widths
Sometimes we may wish the lines on our table to appear thicker or
dashed.
1 Highlight the whole table.
2 Click on the Line style arrow to view the lines available.
Select a broad line style
similar to this.
3 Your pointer will automatically change to a pencil enabling you to draw
around the lines you wish to change.
OR
Go to the Format menu and Select Borders and Shading. Choose your
line style and then click on Box.
4 Your table should be the same as below.
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Change Shading
Although in the final column it appears that the figures are shaded they will
not print like this, it is simply to show that we have inserted a formula in
these cells.
1 Select the cell with the total figure in it.
2 Click on Shading icon on the tables and Borders Toolbar and select
15% grey as shown below.
3 The cell should now appear grey when printed- check by looking at the
print preview of your document.
4 Save your table as Table Example 3.
5 Update your footer and print one copy for your teacher.
CONVERTING TEXT TO TABLES
Tables can be converted to tabular columns (text) and vice versa easily
using Word's Convert Text to Table option. When converting text to
tables, Word has to be able to find a marker that distinguishes one column
of text from the next. If you have created tabular columns (columns of text
separated by tabs), Word will use the tabs to move the text into the table
however tabs must have been used consistently throughout the text.
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1 Key in the information below using tabs to separate the columns.
Notice that each tab indicates movement to the next column. This text
is an ideal candidate for conversion to a table containing 3 columns
and 11 rows.
2 Highlight the table.
3 Click on the Table menu and drag down to Convert then select Text to
Table as shown below.
Click on the
Table menu.
Drag to Convert and
select Text to Table.
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4 The following window will appear.
Check the number of
columns is 3. The rows will
be inserted for you.
Check that tabs
is selected.
Click OK.
5 The text should now be held within a table. Insert an outside border
with a thicker line than the rest of the table.
6 Save the table as Table Example 4.
7 Insert your name and task number in a footer and print one copy for
your teacher.
CONVERTING TABLE TO TEXT
We can convert the Weekly Payroll table used in the Table Example 3 to
text.
1 Open the Table Example 3.
2 Select the whole table.
3 Click on the Table menu and drag down to convert table to text as
shown below.
Click on the
Table Menu.
Drag down to
Convert and select
Table to Text.
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4 A window will appear, select tabs as shown below.
Select tabs.
Click OK.
5 Your table should be the same as below.
Week Ending
Friday's Date
WEEKLY PAYROLL
Surname
Forename Hours Worked Hourly Rate of Pay Total to Pay
Smith
Jack
Kennedy Graham
Henderson Rachel
Harrison John
Brown
Caroline
Brown
Hazel
18
30
39
22
26
11.5
5.00
7.00
6.50
6.50
4.50
5.00
TOTAL
£ 90.00
£ 210.00
£ 253.50
£ 143.00
£ 117.00
£ 57.50
£ 871.00
6 Save the Table as Table Example 5, update the footer and print one
copy.
UPDATING THE TABLE
Word can sort by up to three priorities at a time, for example, sorting a
mailing address by country, then by towns/cities within the countries, then
by Postcodes within the towns/cities. Word views each row in the table as
a record, keeping that record together no matter how it is sorted.
It is always a good idea to save before you sort!
1 Open the Table Example 3.
2 Add a new row to the table under the row for Hazel Brown.
3 Insert the following details as follows:
The new employee’s name is Catherine Stevens, she worked 15 hours
and makes £6.50 an hour. Calculate her total.
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4 To make the Total recalculate, go to the Table menu, drag down to
formula, check that the formula reads =SUM(above) and click OK.
OR
Click on the Autosum icon.
5 The Total should automatically update and now read £968.50.
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PRACTICE MATERIAL 1
1 Open a blank Word document.
2 Insert a table with 10 columns and 6 rows.
3 Insert the text as shown below:
1
2
3
4
5
6
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thurs
Fri
4 Highlight column 2 and merge the cells.
5 Change the text direction by clicking on the text direction icon and key
in Registration. Widen the first row by dragging the line down until the
word fits in one row.
6 Click on the Align icon on the Tables and Borders Toolbar and select
centre as shown below.
Select centre from the
align menu.
7 Now insert INTERVAL AND LUNCH as shown below.
2
3
4
5
6
LUNCH
INTERVAL
REGISTRATION
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thurs
Fri
1
8 Shade Registration, Interval and Lunch with 25% grey.
9 Centre the Period numbers within the cells and increase the font size.
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10 Now make the changes to your timetable as shown below.
Maths
Admin
Eng
Study
Eng
3
4
Admin
Study Eng
Admin Study
Study Eng
Maths
5
LUNCH
Eng
Maths
Study
Maths
2
INTERVAL
REGISTRATION
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thurs
Fri
1
6
PE
Peer Support
Maths Study
Admin Study
PE
11 Insert a Heading above the timetable with your name, increase the size
font and change the style.
12 Save the Table as Practice Materials 1.
13 Print one copy of the table for your teacher.
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PRACTICE MATERIAL 2
1 Create the table as shown below.
Department
Budget
Administration
Sales
Marketing
Human Resources
Computer Services
Production
Health and Safety
Finance
Amount
Spent to
Date
£500.00
£325.00
£375.00
£150.00
£650.00
£495.00
£275.00
£225.00
£450.00
£350.00
£315.00
£295.00
£280.00
£175.00
£495.00
£415.00
Total
Total
Balance
Overall
Total
2 Insert formula to calculate the balances and the Totals.
3 Sort the table in alphabetical order of Department name and
descending order of balance.
4 Save the table as Practice Material 2.
5 Insert a footer and print one copy for your teacher.
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