Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 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: Transposing Table Contents.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 22, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365
If you are working with tables in a document, at some point you may find it helpful to transpose the contents of the table, so that rows become columns and columns become rows.
There is no way to do this in Word. There is, however, a way to transpose rows and columns in Excel. So, the typical method of accomplishing this task is to use both Word and Excel, using these general steps:
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (9078) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Transposing Table Contents.
Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!
When formatting tables, you can both merge and split cells. Here's a couple of ways you can easily perform the latter ...
Discover MoreNeed to make sure part of a table is on one page and part on another? The way to do so is not to use manual page breaks, ...
Discover MoreWhen your table occupies lots of pages, you may want to have information in a particular column repeated on each page. ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2022-01-24 09:52:41
Andrew
Funny, I just had the need for this functionality just the other week, so I "hocked up" this macro to create a "transposed" table in a separate document. This is highly not robust, and could have some error checking, but that was taking me down a rabbit hole I didn't have time for.
Andy.
Sub TableTranspose()
' Rotates columns to rows and vice versa
Dim OriginalTable As Table
Dim TransposedTable As Table
Dim NewDoc As Document
Dim a As Long, b As Long
Set OriginalTable = Selection.Tables(1)
Set NewDoc = Documents.Add
Set TransposedTable = NewDoc.Tables.Add(NewDoc.Content, OriginalTable.Columns.Count, OriginalTable.Rows.Count)
For a = 1 To OriginalTable.Rows.Count
For b = 1 To OriginalTable.Columns.Count
TransposedTable.Cell(b, a).Range.Text = OriginalTable.Cell(a, b).Range.Text
Next b
Next a
TransposedTable.Select
End Sub
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.
Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 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:
Comments