Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Converting Text Into a Table.

Converting Text Into a Table

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 2, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019

There are two major ways you can create tables in Word. One way is to create a blank table by any of the various methods provided by Word (such as drawing the table or using the Insert Table tool). The other method is to convert existing text into a table. To convert text into a table, follow these steps:

Make sure the text that is to be converted into the table contains only a single tab character between each column.
Select the text you want converted into a table.
Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
Click the Table tool and then click Convert Text to Table. Word displays the Convert Text to Table dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Convert Text to Table dialog box.

Make sure all the table settings in the dialog box are correct.
Click OK.

The selected text is immediately converted into a table. In some instances, the width of columns in the resulting table may need to be adjusted. You will know if this is the case because the table will look very strange. Sometimes you can get files from programs such as a spreadsheet that use commas to separate columns. Word will also convert this comma-separated text to a table.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7725) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Converting Text Into a Table.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Finding the Directory Name

Need to know the directory (folder) in which a workbook was saved? You can create a formula that will return this ...

Discover More

Automatically Changing Tab Stops in the Footer

If you use a tab stop in your footer to align information at the right margin, you may not get what you expect when you ...

Discover More

Searching for Text Not Using a Certain Style

Word is very flexible in what it allows you to search for. One thing it can't do, however, is allow you to search for ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Unwanted Vertical Lines in a Table

When you print a table that includes borders, those borders should be crisp and clear on the printout. If you get some ...

Discover More

Printing Only Selected Rows from a Table

Tables are a great way to organize the information in a document. If your table gets quite long, you may not want to ...

Discover More

Changing Table Cell Text Direction

When creating a table, you can turn the orientation of the text, within a cell, by ninety degrees in either direction ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 8 - 5?

2019-11-02 06:11:29

R Grealish

A slightly quicker way to convert tabbed text to a tabular format is to follow steps 1 to 3 above, then click Insert table. The data will appear in a table.

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.