With the column cells selected, click the Numbering icon on the Paragraph section of the Home tab (second icon, top row), then click a number format on the dropdown menu. The images below show part of the menu and preview, when hovering, in our two tables. After clicking on a number format, Word fills the column with sequential numbers. Adding shading to the table can make reading the data in our table easier. For example, you can add shading to every other row and/or column using a color or pattern. NOTE: We used Word 2013 to illustrate this feature. To apply shading to a table, select the parts of the table you want to shade. The “Table Tools” tabs become available.
This tutorial shows how to insert figure captions and table titles in Microsoft Word.
Add a row or column You can add a row above or below the cursor position. Click where you want in your table to add a row or column and then click the Layout tab (this is the tab next to the Table Design tab on the ribbon). To add rows, click Insert Above or Insert Below and to add columns, click Insert Left or Insert Right. Click the arrow next to one of the selected row numbers or column letters, then choose Add Rows Above or Add Rows Below (or Add Columns Before or Add Columns After). Delete multiple rows or columns at once: Command-click the rows or columns, click the arrow, then choose Delete Selected Rows or Delete Selected Columns.
One of the benefits of using Word’s caption tool, as opposed to just typing captions and titles manually, is that the caption and title numbers will automatically update as you add figures or tables. You can also use the captions and titles generated by Word’s caption tool to create cross-references.
The following steps also explain how to change the label and numbering for new captions and titles.
Are you looking for information about how to insert tables and charts? Visit “Three Ways to Insert Tables in Microsoft Word” and “How to Create and Customize Charts in Microsoft Word“
Important Note: Caption and title numbers won’t automatically update if you move or delete figures or tables in your document. Visit “How to Update Table and Figure Numbers in Microsoft Word” for information about manually updating table and figure numbers.
This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.
Watch more than fifty other videos about Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat on my YouTube channel.
The images below are from Word for Office 365, which is currently the same as Word 2019. The steps are the same in Word 2016, Word 2013, and Word 2010.
How to Insert Figure Captions and Table Titles
1. Right-click on the first figure or table in your document.
2. Select Insert Caption from the pop-up menu.
Alternative: Select the figure or table and then select Insert Caption from the References tab in the ribbon.
3. Select the Label menu arrow in the Caption dialog box.
4. Select the option you want from the Label drop-down menu:
- Daily Occurrence (This is an uncommon selection.)
- Equation (This is an uncommon selection.)
- Figure
- Table
The default option is Figure. This option is appropriate for visuals such as graphs, charts, photos, illustrations, and maps.
Important Note: Each label type maintains its own number sequence. For example, if you have a Figure 1 and then insert a table, it will be Table 1.
5. Select the Position menu arrow.
6. Select the option you want from the Position drop-down menu:
- Above selected item
- Below selected item
The default option for Figure is Below selected item. The default option for Table is Above selected item. These defaults will be appropriate for most situations.
Optional Step: Change the Figure or Table Label
7. Select the New Label button to change the label Figure, Table, Equation, or Daily Occurrence.
8. Enter your new label in the text box in the New Label dialog box. (For this example, I am changing Figure to Fig.)
9. Select the OK button.
Optional Step: Change Figure or Table Numbering
10. Select the Numbering button to change how your figures or tables are numbered.
11. Select the Format menu arrow in the Caption Numbering dialog box to choose numerals, letters, or Roman numerals.
12. Check Include chapter number if you want your figure or table numbers to start with the chapter number.
Note that this option gives you additional control over which headings indicate the start of new chapters and which separator (period, hyphen, colon, or dash) appears between the numbers.
13. Select the OK button.
14. Type your caption or title after the label and number in the Caption text box.
Pro Tip: Most of our primary style guides recommend placing a period after the figure or table number. However, Word doesn’t provide a way to add that period automatically, so remember to add it manually as you type each caption.
See “How to Write Figure Captions” and “How to Write Table Titles” for information on writing captions and titles according to Chicago style (including Turabian), APA style, and MLA style.
15. Select the OK button.
Your caption or title will now appear with your figure or table.
16. Save your document to save your newly inserted figure captions or table titles.
Visit “How to Change the Style of Table Titles and Figure Captions in Microsoft Word” for information about customizing the appearance (e.g., font, font size, color, alignment, etc.) of your titles and captions.
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Home > Articles > Operating Systems, Server > MAC OS X/Other
␡- Building a Table
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In this chapter from My Office 2016 for Mac, you learn about creating tables to hold structured data, adding headers and footers to your documents, and working with page layout options such as margins, page orientation, and paper size.
This chapter is from the book My Office 2016 for Mac (includes Content Update Program)
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
My Office 2016 for Mac (includes Content Update Program)
Topics include the following:
- Inserting a table into a Word document
- Working with table rows and columns
- Adding and populating document headers and footers
- Choosing a page orientation and paper size
- Setting the page margins
- Adding footnotes and endnotes
In the previous chapter, you dealt with Word at the “tree” level of words, sentences, and paragraphs. But getting more out of Word also requires that you deal with the program at the “forest” level of pages and documents. This means you need to get familiar with Word’s page layout tools.
Page layout refers to how text and paragraphs are laid out on each page, and it involves building tables, adding headers and footers, setting margin sizes, specifying the page orientation, choosing the paper size, and so on. This chapter shows you how to work with these and other page layout features.
Building a Table
Most Word documents consist of text in the form of sentences and paragraphs. However, including lists of items in a document is common, particularly where each item in the list includes two or more details (which means a standard bulleted list won’t do the job). For a short list with just a few details, the quickest way to add the list to a document is to type each item on its own line and press Tab between each detail. You could then add tab stops to the ruler (see Chapter 4, “Working with Text in Word”) to line up the subitems into columns.
That works for simple items, but to construct a more complex list in Word, you can build a table, a rectangular structure with the following characteristics:
- Each item in the list gets its own horizontal rectangle called a row.
- Each set of details in the list gets its own vertical rectangle called a column.
- The rectangle formed by the intersection of a row and a column is called a cell, and you use the table cells to hold the data.
In other words, a Word table is similar to an Excel worksheet or an Access datasheet.
Insert a Table
Although Word gives you no less than one-half dozen ways to build a table, you need to know only the most straightforward method.
- Position the insertion point where you want the table to appear.
- Click the Insert tab.
- Click Table.
- Click Insert Table to display the Insert Table dialog.
- Specify the number of columns you want in your table.
- Specify the number of rows you want in the table.
- Click OK. Word inserts the table.
- Position the insertion point inside a cell and then add the text that you want to store in the cell. Repeat for the other cells in the table.
- Click the Layout tab.
- Use the Table Column Width box to set the width of the column.
Select Table Elements
Before you can change the layout or formatting of a table, you need to select the part of the table you want to work with. Here are the techniques to use (note that, in each case, “Layout” refers to the table’s Layout tab, which appears to the right of the Table Design tab):
- Select a cell—Select the cell and then click Layout, Select, Select Cell (or triple-click anywhere in the cell).
- Select two or more adjacent cells—Select the top-left cell you want to include in the selection, then drag the mouse down and to the right to include the other cells.
- Select a row—Click any cell in the row and then click Layout, Select, Select Row.
- Select two or more adjacent rows—Select at least one cell in each row and then click Layout, Select, Select Row.
- Select a column—Click any cell in the column and then click Layout, Select, Select Column.
- Select two or more adjacent columns—Select at least one cell in each column and then click Layout, Select, Select Column.
- Select the entire table—Click any cell in the table and then click Layout, Select, Select Table.
Format a Table
To change the formatting of the table cells, you select the cells you want to work with and then use Word’s standard formatting tools (font, paragraph, and so on). For more table-specific formatting, you can use the Table Design tab.
- Click inside the table.
- Click the Table Design tab.
- Click the More button of the Table Styles gallery.
- Click the style you want to apply to the table.
- Click Header Row to toggle header formatting on and off for the first row. For example, in some styles the first row is given darker shading, top and bottom borders, and a bold font.
- Click Total Row to toggle total formatting on and off for the bottom row.
- Click Banded Rows to toggle alternating formatting for all the rows.
- Click First Column to toggle special formatting on and off for the first column.
- Click Last Column to toggle special formatting on and off for the last column.
- Click Banded Columns to toggle alternating formatting for all the columns.
- Select the cells you want to format and then use the Shading gallery to click a background color.
- Select the cells you want to format and then use the Border Styles gallery to click a border style.
Insert New Rows
There are times when you need to add more data to a table. Word provides several tools that enable you to expand a table. If you’re adding new items to the table, you need to add more rows.
- To add a new row at the end of the table, position the insertion point in the lower-right cell—that is, the last column of the last row—and press Tab.
- Click the Layout tab.
- To add a new row above an existing row, position the insertion point inside the existing row and then click Insert Above.
- To add a new row below an existing row, position the insertion point inside the existing row and then click Insert Below.
Insert New Columns
If you need to add more details to each item in your table, you need to add more columns.
- Click inside an existing column.
- Click the Layout tab.
- To add a new column to the left of an existing column, click Insert Left.
- To add a new column to the right of an existing column, click Insert Right.
Delete Table Elements
If you no longer need a part of your table—for example, a cell, a row, or a column—you can delete it. You can delete multiple cells, rows, or columns, and, if necessary, you can delete the entire table.
How Do I Add A Row To A Table In Word For Machine
- Select the table element you want to delete.
- Click the Layout tab.
- Click Delete.
- Click the command that represents the type of table element you want to delete. If you click the Delete Cells command, the Delete Cells dialog opens.
- Click whether you want to shift the remaining cells to the left or up, or if you would rather delete the entire row or column.
- Click OK.
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