How to Use Drawing Tables in Microsoft Word

While the Microsoft Word software is the word processing component of the Microsoft Office Suite and even has "word" in its title, Word users aren't relegated to just text on a screen. Supplement written text documents with visuals such as tables using Word's drawing tools. Tables can help break up large quantities of text and give readers a way to conceptualize the information they're reading. Drawing tables in Word is as quick as a few clicks and simple as ABC.

Instructions

1

Open Microsoft Word. A blank 8.5 inch by 11 inch document defaults to the screen. To use drawing tables in an existing Word document, click the "File" tab, select "Open," browse to a Word document and double-click the file name. The document opens in a new Word window. Scroll to the section to add the table and press the "Enter" key to drop to a new line or the "Ctrl" and "Enter" keys together to start a new page for the table.

2

Click the "Insert" tab at the top of the screen. Select the "Table" button directly below the tab. A drop-down menu appears with a grid.

3

Hover the cursor over the grid and watch the page as the table appears. The more square of the grid hovered over, the more table cells will be drawn. Click the highlighted cells on the grid to commit to draw the table on the Word document.

4

Create a custom table by clicking the "Insert" tab and "Table" button, then selecting the "Draw Table" option. Notice the cursor changes into a pencil icon.

5

Position the cursor on the page and draw a rectangle with the cursor. A cell of the table appears. Continue to draw more cells to complete the table, working your way to the right to form rows or down to form columns.

6

Click any of the cells of the table to open the yellow "Table Tools" tab at the top of the screen. Hover the cursor over options in the "Table Styles" section to watch how the table is rendered in different colors and designs. Click a style to commit the change to the table.

7

Save the new Word document or resave the original document with a new name to create a version and preserve the original.