Microsoft Word is full of features also present in other programs of the Office suite, such as the functionality that allows you to manage tables directly inside the document. Thanks to this functionality we can create tables without the need to open Excel, create it on the spreadsheet and move it later on the document (as was done many years ago, before the programs evolved).
In this guide, in fact, we will see how to make a table on Word directly inside the document in a few simple steps, so as to give order and a very advanced structure to the document that we are creating for work or study.
At the end of the guide we will also show you how to make a table on LibreOffice Writer, that is the free and open source alternative to Word.
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1) How to make a table on Word
First we open Word and insert all the data we want to insert into the table: by doing this in advance it will be much easier to fill in the table later.
We can also leave nothing out, since the table will be customizable immediately, so we can also fill it in at the end of the creation (we can also just create an empty document with just the table).
We also try not to overdo the rows and columns of the table: a large number of these elements could make the printing process really ugly, since some tables could appear on multiple sheets thus ruining the global effect.
Once the document is ready with the data to be inserted in the table, we create a new paragraph (an empty line) by clicking on the Enter key on the keyboard, position the cursor at the beginning of the new line then click on the Insert menu at the top and then click on the Table button.
A grid will be displayed in the drop-down menu, in which we can choose the number of rows and columns of the table simply by scrolling with the mouse on the squares present; the result of the table will be visible directly in the document, as a sort of preview of the table we want to add.
Once the desired table has been formed, we confirm its creation by clicking on the highlighted square in the lower right corner (with the simple movement of the mouse we create the table, with a left click instead we confirm the creation).
Now we can customize the table using the Design menu that will be created at the top of the program: by clicking on it we can choose the table layout, the background style, the font color, the color of the table borders, the presence or less of the header rows (for first row or column), add a row of the total etc.
Another useful menu is Layout, which will appear every time we select the table: from this menu we can add rows, columns and divide the cells as we like, until we obtain the desired result.
In addition to entering the data already provided by the document (or added when the table was created), we can use predefined tables that allow you to add some preconfigured elements, so as to customize them as needed.
To access these quick tables, simply click on the Insert menu again, then click on the Table button and then select the Quick Tables option, present at the bottom of the drop-down menu.
In the menu that we will see there are various types of predefined tables (calendar, tabular list, matrix etc.) that we can quickly add to the document to embellish it and make it even more functional.
Obviously the predefined tables can be customized without any problem, by entering existing or new data directly into the available text fields.
If we have added a table to Word and we want to delete a row, a column or the whole table, just use the Backspace key (the key to go back and delete the characters, present above the Enter key) once the row or lines to be deleted.
To quickly delete an entire table, we can also use the Delete table item
present inside the Delete button, present in the Layout menu.
2) How to make a table on LibreOffice Writer
Microsoft Office is a rather expensive paid suite, so it is not always available as a registered license on home PCs.
As a free alternative we can use LibreOffice, downloadable without time limits from here -> LibreOffice .
In this case the counterpart of Word is LibreOffice Writer, so we will see in this final chapter how to add tables to the latter.
We open the Writer program, insert the necessary data to the table (or prepare to insert them later), create a new paragraph with the Enter key on the keyboard, click on the Table menu and finally on the Insert table item.
A small window will open where you can choose all the characteristics of the table to be added to the document, in particular the number of columns, rows and other useful information to obtain a graphically pleasing table.
If we want to customize the table at this stage, just click on the Automatic formatting button and choose one of the models shown in the window, so as to give a very precise shape and style to the table we intend to use.
At the end of the configuration we click Insert to insert the table in the document.
To add and remove rows or boxes but also to completely delete the table we can use the menu that will appear by right-clicking on the table and using the Insert and Delete menu items to add and delete what we do not want from our document.
Although less spectacular than Word, Writer offers all the tools to create tables for free on our PC without the need to obtain an expensive paid license for Word.
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