Tables and Columns

Introduction: These instructions will help you to create tables and columns to organize data.
Equipment: You will need a computer, mouse, keyboard, and Microsoft Word software.

Tables

Open Microsoft Word.

Click the Insert tab at the top of toolbar.



Click Table under the insert tab on the toolbar.



Hover mouse over desired amount of rows and columns you want in your table,
then click. It will insert the table directly into your document where your cursor is
located. It will automatically fit to the width of the document, dividing that length
equally between the number of cells selected.









Table Tools

Select Table Tools at the far right of the tool bar after selecting the table if you
want to edit it. (Table tools will disappear if your cursor leaves the table.)

Design

To change the design of the table select the Design tab under table tools
on the far right of the toolbar.



You can also select from different preset formats for tables by
simply selecting the preset option from the scrollbar under the
Design tab of the toolbar. This will automatically apply the
selected preset to the table you have selected.

You can change the borders on your table by highlighting the
desired cells and choosing the drop down arrow under the
Borders button on the Design tab under Table Tools.

You can change the shading of cells within your table by
highlighting the desired cells and choosing the drop down arrow
under the Shading button on the Design tab under Table Tools.

Layout

To change the layout of the table select the Layout tab under table tools
on the far right of the toolbar.



You can insert cells, columns, and rows by placing your cursor
where you want the new cells to appear and then click the
appropriate option in the layout tab of the toolbar. You can insert
them above, below, to the left, or to the right of your current cell.

You can delete cells, columns and rows; or the table completely
by clicking a cell contained in the row/column you want to remove
and hitting the delete button on the toolbar. Alternatively you can
choose to remove a single cell.

You can merge and split cells by highlighting the cell(s) you want
to merge/split and the select the appropriate option in the layout
tab of the toolbar.

You can change the width and height of rows/columns by placing
your cursor in the appropriate row/column, then choosing whether
you want to increase or decrease the width/height by using the
arrows in the cell size section under the layout tab of the toolbar.

You can align the text within the cells by highlighting the cells you
wish to align text within and then select the appropriate option in
the alignment section under the layout tab of the toolbar. You can
align the text either horizontally or vertically or a combination of
both.














Columns

Open Microsoft Word.

Click Page Layout tab at the top of the toolbar.



Click Columns and select the desired amount of columns on the toolbar. This will apply
the selected number of columns to the entire document.














Advanced Column Options

If you want to change the setting on the columns click Columns and select the more
columns option.



You can select more than 3 columns by using the arrows in the number of
columns option until you reach the desired number of columns, then clicking
Ok.

You can select the width of the column, as well as the space in between each
column by entering the desired size under the width option and the desired size
of the space under the spacing option, then clicking Ok. This can be applied to
each column individually if there are more than two columns.

You can also apply columns to a specific point of the document by placing your
cursor at the point where you want the columns to begin, choosing the number
of columns you want, then selecting this point forward under the Apply to
option, and clicking Ok.

There can only be one setting for number of columns per document. Ex. You can
not have two columns on the first page and then three columns on every page
after.