Table

A table arranges information in rows and columns, so readers can look something up and compare along a row or down a column: who is on call which week, what each plan includes, which rooms are free. Use one when every item has the same few facts about it.

Insert it

Type the command and press Enter, or choose + on the toolbar, then Table. If text is selected, the table takes its place. The cursor starts in the first cell: type, then press Tab to move to the next cell (Shift+Tab goes back). Tab in the last cell adds a new row, so you can keep typing.

Typing /table makes a table. Cell options, the arrow at the top right of the cell you are in, turns on a header column and colors a row.

Table options, and when to use each

Headers, merging and colors are all in Cell options: the small arrow at the top right of the cell you are in, while you edit. Each option is shown here live.

Header row

The first row names the columns, in bold on a shaded background. Almost every table wants one, and a new table starts with it on. Turn it off or on with Header row in Cell options.

Header column

The first column names the rows instead. Use it for a short list of facts, one to a row, like this one. Header column in Cell options turns it on and off.

Header row and header column together

A grid read both ways, such as a comparison of plans: the top names the options, the side names what is being compared. Turn both on.

Merged cells

One cell stretched across several columns or rows, for something that spans them: a talk in both rooms, a session that runs two hours. To merge, drag across the cells to select them, then choose Merge cells in Cell options. Split cell turns a merged cell back into separate ones. Merge sparingly: a table with many merged cells is hard for readers to follow.

Colored cells

Green is free, yellow is on hold, red is booked.

A background color for a cell, a whole row or a whole column. In Cell options, under Background color, choose Cell, Row or Column, then a color from the palette of light, medium and bold shades; No color takes it off. Use color to make a pattern jump out, as here, and always say in words what each color means, because not everyone can tell colors apart.

Column widths

Drag the border between two columns to change their widths, while you edit. Give a column of short entries, such as names or dates, just the room it needs, and the rest to the column with something to say.

Narrower than the page

Drag the right edge of the table to make the whole table narrower, or wider. A small table of short entries reads better at the size of its contents than stretched across the page.

Full width

Choose ⤢ at the top right corner of a table, while you edit, to spread it across the full width of the page area, past the edges of the text. For wide tables with many columns. Choose it again to go back. Inside a layout, a panel or an expand, a full-width table fills that instead.

Changing and removing a table

While you edit, point at a table (on a touch screen, tap in it) and controls appear around it:

• + above the table and down its left side adds a column or a row at that point.

• × on the strip above each column, or beside each row, deletes that column or row.

• Column borders and the right edge drag to change widths, as above; ⤢ makes the table full width.

• Cell options, the arrow at the top right of the cell you are in, has Header row, Header column, Merge cells, Split cell, the background colors, and Delete table, which removes the whole table.

On a phone, readers see every column at a readable width, and the table scrolls sideways rather than squeezing its columns into a word a line.

Good practice

• Tables for information, not for arranging a page. To put text side by side, use a Layout.

• Give it a header row, so every column says what it holds.

• Keep cells short: a word, a number, a short phrase. Longer explanations read better as a list below the table.

• Put the rows in an order readers expect, such as by date or alphabetically.

• Say what colors mean, in words, next to the table.

Related elements

• Chart draws the numbers in a table on the same page as bars, columns, lines or a pie.

• Layout puts text and pictures side by side.

• Bullet list is simpler when each item has only one thing to say.