Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. 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: Applying Consistent Shading to a Table.

Applying Consistent Shading to a Table

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 29, 2018)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365

If you need to work with documents from other Word users, you may have a need to change the formatting that is applied to tables within those documents. For instance, you may need all tables to have 10% shading applied. Applying the shading over and over again can be tedious, however.

There are a couple of things you can do to speed up your formatting task. If you don't have many tables to process, then you will appreciate these steps:

Select a table cell that doesn't have any shading.
Make sure the Design tab of the ribbon is displayed.
Click the Shading tool in the Table Styles group. Word displays a drop-down palette of choices.
Click the color and percentage you want used for the cell. The formatting is applied.
Select the other cells in the table that you want to shade.
Press F4. Word applies the last action (the shading) to the selected cells.
Repeat steps 5 and 6 for any other tables you want to format.

If you have many, many tables you want to format, you might want to create a macro to do the shading for you. The following simple macro steps through each table in a document and applies the 10% shading.

Sub TableShading()
    For Each aTable In ActiveDocument.Tables
    aTable.Shading.Texture = wdTexture10Percent
    Next aTable
End Sub

There are other approaches you can take, as well. (Word is nothing, if not flexible.) For instance, you could create a table style that could be applied to your tables, or you could create an AutoFormat for your tables.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6270) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Applying Consistent Shading to 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

Creating Worksheets with a Macro

Using a macro to add worksheets to your workbook is easy. This tip provides two different methods you can use.

Discover More

Printing All or Nothing

Want to make sure that when you worksheet is printed that everything in the workbook is really printed? You can ...

Discover More

Merging Many Workbooks

If you need to combine the contents of a bunch of workbooks into a single workbook, the process can get tedious. Here's a ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Squaring Table Cells

Inserting a table is fast and easy in Word. You may want to make sure that the cells in the table are as square as ...

Discover More

Adding Diagonal Borders

Want to add a border diagonally, through the middle of a table cell? It's easy if you follow the formatting steps ...

Discover More

Adjusting Column Width Using the Ribbon

If you want to resize the width of your table columns, you can do it using a mouse, but you can get more precise widths ...

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 two more than 7?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

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.