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MODULE 7
WORKING WITH TABLES

Objectives
By the end of this module, the learner should be able to:
1. Insert, draw and modify a table using the different options.
2. Convert text to table and vice versa
3. Use the excel spreadsheet and formulas.

Creating Table
Tabular presentation is another essential tool that must be learned.
Data that are presented in tables are more organized and are convenient
to use in statistical reports, scientific researches, inventory systems and
many more.

Using the Table grid option

A Table is a composition of Cells formed by the intersection of

horizontal and vertical lines. The table, cells, text or graphics inside the
cells can be formatted.
To use this tool, follow the procedures:
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Step 1. Position the mouse cursor in the desired part of the

document where the table will appear.
Step 2. On the Insert tab, click the Table button to display the
Table Grid and other options.
Step 3. On the displayed Table Grid, select the desired number of
Rows & Columns by clicking the lowest right corner of the
selection to create actual table in the document.
The table will be inserted in the selected part of the document, the
cursor is in the upper leftmost cell and at the same time, the Design tab
of the Table Tools is enabled.

Screenshot - Inserted table

Customizing Table
By default, while the Table is currently selected, the Table Tools
appears and displays the Design tab and Layout tab for customization.
To use these options, follow the procedures:
Step 1. Click the Table Style button to display all the available
styles. Whenever the mouse cursor hovers over any of the
styles, the selected table automatically reflects the design
as the preview of the actual effect.
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Step 2. Click any of the built – in styles. The selected style will be
automatically applied to the table.

Screenshot - Table Styles gallery

Deleting Table Options

MSWORD contains an option to delete any part of the Table. Be it a
single cell, row, column or depending on how many cells, rows or columns
are to be deleted.

Screenshot - Delete options

Follow the procedure in using the delete options for table:

Step 1. Click any part of the Table.
Step 2. On the Layout tab of the Table Tools that appears, click
the Delete button to display the Delete options list.
Step 3. Click Delete Table to delete the entire table.
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Selecting a Table, Cell, a Column or a Row

It is easy to select a table, columns, rows or cells in MSWORD 2010.
Just do the following:

To select a table:
Step 1. Whenever a cursor hovers over a table, a cross icon called
Move Handle appears at the top left corner of the table.
Click the Move Handle to select the entire Table, or,
Step 2. Click the topmost cell, hold down the Left button and drag
over the last row. The entire table will be highlighted.

To select a column:
Step 1. Hover mouse pointer over the edge of the topmost cell
where the cursor transforms into a small black arrow
pointing downward.

Selected Column

Step 2. Click the Left button to select and highlight the entire
column or,
Step 3. Hold down the Left button and drag the cursor to highlight
the desired number of columns to select.

To select a row:
Step 1. Position the mouse pointer near the outer edge of the
leftmost cell of the row to be selected. The cursor
transforms into a small black arrow leaning to the right.
Step 2. Click the Left button to select and highlight the entire row
or hold down the Left button and drag the cursor to
highlight the desired number of rows to be selected.
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Selected Row

To select a cell:
Step 1. Point the mouse cursor over the left border of the target
cell. The cursor will transform into a small black arrow
leaning to right.
Step 2. Click to highlight the cell or hold down the left button and
drag over the cells to be selected.

Selected Cell

Moving Table
A table can be moved from one section to another within a word
document or to another document.
Apply the following procedure to move a table:
Step 1. Click Move Handle. The entire table will be selected.
Step 2. Click Cut button in the Clipboard group of Home tab or
just press Ctrl + X keys to cut the table.
Step 3. Click the location where the table will be moved.
Step 4. Click Paste button or press Ctrl + V to paste the table to
the new location.

Resizing Table
A TABLE in MSWORD are resizable. It can be increased or
decreased in size according to the need. Looking on the table sample,
there is a small white box in the bottom right corner called Resize Handle
which is used in resizing tables.

To resize the table by the use of the handle, the procedure is:
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Step 1. Hover cursor over the Resize Handle until it transforms

into Diagonal Resize cursor which is double arrow tipped
cursor.
Step 2. Hold down the Left button. The cursor turns into crosshair
shape and the entire table will be highlighted.

Table to be reduced by width

Step 3. Drag the mouse cursor by 1.5 inches towards the center.
The table width is reduced.
Step 4. Drag the mouse cursor 3 inches downward. The table
height will be increased and will look similar below.

Reduced width by 1.5” and increased height by 3”

Step 5. Drag the cursor 2 inches diagonally upward. Both the

height and width will be resized by 2”. See sample.
Step 6. Drag the cursor upward to reduce the height of the table.
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A Table resized diagonally

Splitting Table
A TABLE can be split into two or more tables. Splitting can be done
while there are two or more rows in a table. The procedure is:
Step 1. Click the Insertion Point anywhere in the row that will
become the first row of the second table to be created.

Screenshot - Table to split

Step 2. From the Layout tab of the Table Tools, click the Split
Table button. The table will be divided into two tables.
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Split table

Adding Columns

To add a column or several columns, just follow the procedure:

Step 1. Click a Column where to add one or more columns. In the
example above, the column 2 is selected.

4 x 4 Table – Column

Step 2. Click either Insert Right to add column to the right or

Insert Left to add column to the left of the selected
Column.

Inserted Columns
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Adding Rows
To add a row or several rows, follow the procedure below:
Step 1. Click a Row where to add one or more rows. In the
example below, the row 2 is selected.

4 x 4 Table – Inserted Rows

Step 2. Click either Insert Above to add row above or Insert

Below to add row below the selected Row. In the example
above, the Insert Above is clicked twice.

Adding Cells
Step 1. Click a Cell where to add one or more cells. In the example
below, the cursor is in cell 6.

Before cell insertion

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Step 2. Click Table Insert Cells dialog launcher located at the

lower right corner of the Rows & Columns group of
Layout tab to display the Insert Cells dialog box.
Step 3. In the Insert Cells dialog box, select Shift Cells down and
then click OK button. A new cell will be inserted between
Cells 2 and 6. Cells 6, 10 and 14 are shifted down.
Step 4. Open the Insert Cells dialog box again, select Shift Cells
right and then click OK button. Another new cell will be
inserted between cell 5 and blank cell. The first blank cell
shifted to the right.

After cells insertion

Merging Cells
Two or more cells can be merged to create larger cell. Usually, titles
or headers used more than one cell. Merging cells can be done either
by rows or columns.

Here is the procedure:

Step 1. Click any of the cells to be merged.
Step 2. Hold down Shift key then click the adjoining cells to be
merged. Selected cells are highlighted and ready to be
merged. In the example, cells 1, 2, 3 and 4 are highlighted.
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Screenshot - cells to merge

Step 3. In the Merge group of Layout tab, click Merge Cells

button. Since there are texts in each cell, the size of the
merged cells is equivalent to 4 rows in height. Blank cells
in a row will just merge.

Merged Cells with texts

Step 4. Highlight the merged cells as shown below.

Highlighted Cell
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Step 5. Type “This is a header” in the merged cells. The height

of the cell will automatically shrink back to a single row similar
to the image below.

After typing text

Splitting Cell
There are instances that a cell should be divided into two or multiple
sub – cells. Division can be done either by row or column or both. Below
are the simple steps to follow:
Step 1. Click the cell to be divided.
Step 2. From the Layout tab, click the Split Cells button to display
the dialog box.

Screenshot - Before the cell is divided

Step 3. Specify the desired number of columns and rows either by

typing values or simply use the increase/decrease buttons.
Step 4. Click OK button. The specification will be applied in the
selected cell as shown below.
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After the cell is divided

Addressing Cell
Each cell in a table has its own unique name called Cell Address.
Each column is represented by a letter where A is the first column, B for
the second column and so on and each row is represented by a number
such as Row 1, Row 2 and so on. See the illustration below:

Cell Address

The intersection of column and row coordinates forms the Cell

address. For instance, Column B and Row 3 is Cell B3. Be familiarized
with the various referencing options to create table formulas:

Table 2 Cell Referencing

Reference Description
Single cell A1 or D4
Range of cells A1:A4 or C1:C3
Series of cells B2, C3, A2, D4
All cells in column above the current cell ABOVE
All cells in column under the current cell BELOW
All cells to the left of the current cell LEFT
All cells to the right of the current cell RIGHT

Applying Formulas in Cells

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In some cases, values in a table are needed to be computed.

MSWORD 2010 offers 18 useful functions that can be used as part of a
formula and allows the insertion of mathematical expressions such as
Addition, Subtraction, Division, Multiplication and other mathematical
formula.

Formula button

Computations and logical comparisons can be done in a table by the

use of formulas inserted in cells. The formula button is in the Data group
of Layout tab in Table Tools that pops up every time a table is selected.
Formulas are inserted in cells to compute values in the tables.

Follow the steps in creating formula:

Step 1. Copy the sample table as shown above with the use of any
option.
Step 2. Click the first cell under the “TOTAL” where the formula will
be inserted.
Step 3. Click the Formula button. Dialog box will be displayed.
Step 4. By default, the formula field contains suggested formula
when there are values in the range of cells. After selecting
a function from the Paste Function: field, click Ok button
or press Enter key. The result will take effect in the
selected field.
Use of mathematical operators like +, -, /, * and % are applicable in
the construction of a formula.
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Formula dialog box

Resizing Cells
Modifying Cell size vertically and horizontally with precision is
possible in MSWORD through the use of the Cell Size group in the
Layout tab. Just follow the procedures:
Step 1. Insert 4 x 4 table and then input cell address of each cell.
The table should look similar to the example below.

Cells to be resized

Step 2. Select entire cells by highlighting them using any of the

applicable options.
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Step 3. Select Layout tab from the Table Tools to display tools or
commands available.
Step 4. From the Cell Size group, click Autofit button to display
Pull Down menu that contains resize options.
Step 5. Click Autofit content. Selected option will be applied to the
selected cells as show below.

Cells resized by Autofit Content

Step 6. Using Table Row Height buttons, set heights as follows:

Row 1 – 0.4”
Row 2 – 0.5”
Row 3 – 0.6”
Row 4 – 0.8”
The table should be similar to the image below:

Individual Row Height resized

Step 7. Using Table Column Width buttons, set the widths as

follows:
Column A – 0.4”
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Column B – 0.5”
Column C – 0.6”
Column D – 0.8”
The table should be similar to the image below:

Individual Column Width resized

Step 8. Click any cell.

Step 9. Click Distribute Rows button, the heights will be equally
resized as shown below:

Equally Distributed Rows

Step 10. Click any cell.

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Equally Distributed Columns

Step 11. Click Distribute Columns button, the widths will be equally
resized as shown above.

Column auto fitted to window

Step 12. Click Autofit Window option to expand column width

across the window equally.

Modifying Table Text Alignment and Direction

MSWORD Table Tools contains nine (9) text alignment options and
three (3) text directions to choose from and are accessible through its
Layout tab.

To use these options, do the following procedures:

Step 1. Press Ctrl + N to create new document and copy the table
below.
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Step 2. Adjust Row heights to 0.5”.

Text alignments to be modified

To modify text alignments:

Step 1. Click Cell B1 and then click Align Top Center button in
the Alignment group under Layout tab.
Step 2. Click Cell C1 and then click Align Top Right button.
Step 3. Click Cell A2 and then click Align Center Left button.
Step 4. Click Cell B2 and then click Align Center button.
Step 5. Click Cell C2 and then click Align Center Right button.
Step 6. Click Cell A3 and then click Align Bottom Left button.

Different Text Alignments

Step 7. Click Cell B3 and then click Align Bottom Center button.
Step 8. Click Cell C3 and then click Align Bottom Right button.
The result should look similar to the sample below.

To change text direction:

Step 1. Select A1, A2 and A3 and then click Text Direction button
to set to upward direction.
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Table with Text Direction applied

Step 2. Select C1, C2 and C3 and then click Text Direction button
to set to downward direction. The result should look similar
to the above image.

Applying Borders and Shades

MSWORD 2010 provides application of border on any or all sides of
a table and various types of shade. Adding borders can be done by cell
or the entire table.

To add Borders:
Step 1. Use the table above.

Border Options

Step 2. On the Home tab, click the Border button. The pull down
menu will display border options list.
Step 3. Add or remove borders by clicking any of the options.
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To use Border options:

Step 1. Click the Border and Shading… to display dialog box.

Borders and Shading dialog box

Step 2. On the Borders tab, set the following specifications:

Setting: All
Style: Double line
Color: Green
Width: 1½ point
Apply to: Table
Step 3. Click OK button. The table should be similar to this:

Border shading

To use Shading options:

Step 1. Using the table above, select 2nd row where to apply
shades.
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Step 2. From the Borders and Shading…dialog box, select

Shading tab.

Shading tab

Step 3. Click Yellow from the color palette of the drop down menu.
Step 4. Check Preview section to see the expected effect.
Step 5. Apply to Cell.
Step 6. Click OK button. The expected result is:

Color filled cells