Tag Archives: Word

Use MS Graph to Convert Word Tables to Charts

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Convert Word Tables to Charts

Switching back and forth from Word to an Excel spreadsheet to depict numerical data from a table in your document can be awkward as the Chart feature does not play well with a table. Instead, use MS Graph to convert Word tables to charts inside Word so that you have both your original table and a graph based on that data.

 

Convert Chart in Word with MS Graph

Steps to create a Microsoft Graph Chart

Inside of Word:

  1. Select your table.
  2. Click Insert tab on the ribbon.
  3. In the Text group, click the Object icon to display the dialog box.
  4. Scroll down the list of objects and choose Microsoft Graph Chart.
  5. Click on OK to display a columnar graph of your table (default style).
  West Central East
Qtr 1 9110 9005 11600
Qtr 2 9845 10700 8940
Qtr 3 11660 9995 8850
Qtr 4 14990 13445 12360

What if I don’t like the formatting or the figures change in the future? Can I edit or do I have to redo the whole table and/or chart? Funny you should ask. Thankfully, no, and here’s the fix…

Format the Graph

MS Graph behaves differently than most special features in Office in that clicking it does not automatically display a contextual ribbon for formatting. However, double clicking on the graph border (or in white space inside the border) will activate a toolbar so that you can change the chart type and other formatting. A Datasheet will also display.*

Edit the Data

Changing the figures in the table will not update the graph. Edit the figures by double clicking the graph to display a data table and a toolbar at top of window. This Datasheet can be moved above or below your graph by dragging its title bar. Make changes in the Datasheet and watch the graph auto update. When done click outside of the data table and graph (or press ESC) to return to your regular ribbon. (Your original table will not change).*

*Editing and formatting the graph can also be done by right clicking in the graph and choosing Edit or Open.

As much as I love all the continuous new features in MS Office, sometimes the old stuff does the trick!

Let me know if this was new to you and/or how you used it to amplify your Word document or report.

Want more options for using tables, graphs and charts? Check out some of the Excel posts here:

Use Excel Sparklines Instead of Charts to Display Data Trends

The Magic of Excel Tables

 

 

 

5 Ways to Copy Images from PDF or Word Document

Office, Word, , ,

Ever had a long document with several pictures and wanted to copy images only? Well, there’s an app for that as they say and here’s 5 ways to copy images from PDF or Word that will cover most any circumstance. Further good news is most methods don’t require any additional software!

Copy Multiple Images

First things first…If the document is a PDF, you want to convert it to a Word file. If you have Word 2013 or above, you can do this without any other software.

Convert a PDF to a Word File

You must open the file inside of Word. Double-clicking it in a directory would open it in the PDF software.

Open MS Word:

  1. File | Open or CTRL O and browse to the PDF file.
  2. Depending on your version of Word:
    • The PDF may load with an Info Bar to Enable Editing. Click that link and the PDF is loaded and can be edited like any Word file but is still in PDF format.
    • Click Save icon and the Save As dialog box will display and automatically change the format to .docx, OR
    • Word will notify that the file is being converted to the Word format. Click OK. The PDF will then load as a Word document. When file is converted, choose File | Save As or press F12 function key. Change the filename if desired or you can keep the same name as the original PDF as they are two different formats.

Now you have both PDF and Word formats of the document.

Copy Just the Images

Here’s what will automatically put the images in a separate folder:

  1. Do Save As again (get in the habit of using F12 as it works across Office and saves time and maybe even saves a little carpal tunnel).
  2. Change the file type in Save as type: to Web Page (*.htm; *.html) OR Web Page Filtered (*.htm,*.html). Either works; only difference being that Web Page preserves all Office formatting tags and Web Page Filtered saves with regular tags and some formatting may be lost. The former format would maintain quality as well.
Save As Web Page Type Option

Note: After saving in this format, your Word document will display in Web Layout View. If you want to switch back to Page Layout View, click its icon on lower right of Status Bar or select View | Print Layout in Views group on Ribbon.

Locate the Graphics

Saving in either Web Page format will automatically create a folder with the same name as your Word file with _files added to the end of the folder name and saved to same directory. This contains all the pictures as separate files in the .jpg or .png format depending on type of graphic. Filenames will be labelled Image001, Image002, etc., and can now be renamed, copied or moved. Like magic…who knew?

Here’s another method if you already have a Word file containing images, by changing the file extension:

Change the File Extension from “.docx” to “.zip”

This way extracts all the images from the document as a batch just by changing the file extension! Ensure your file is in the .docx extension (Word 2007 and above), and it’s not a bad idea to make a copy of the Word file and use the copy to change the extension, for safety’s sake.

Note: If you just send the Word document to a zipped folder without changing the extension, the document gets zipped and unzipped as a whole, and the images are not extracted.

  • Ensure that document is closed, and in the file directory, right click on the filename and choose “Rename” (or press F2 function key to select the name).
  • Change the extension to “.zip”. (Make sure you don’t delete the “.”) Press ENTER.
  • You will get a warning dialog box but just click Yes button.
Changing file extension to .zip warning
  • The new zipped folder will display with the same filename as your Word file.
  • Double click on that folder and Windows will display the Extract group on the Ribbon.
  • Click Extract All icon.

The same folder displays but is now unzipped Double click the Word  folder and then Media folder. All images are there in .jpg format.

Copy Images with Save As Picture
Method

This is a direct method to copy images you can do one by one if you want a single or small number of pictures:

  • Right click over desired picture.
  • Choose Save As Picture…
Save As Picture command
  • Save As dialog box opens with Pictures folder as location. Change filename or location as needed. Image will automatically be saved in .jpg format.
  • Can now be opened in any image editing program .

Copy and Paste Method

This is last resort if you have an older Office version and the Save As Picture… command does not display on right click. A simple and copy and paste will work for one or two pictures:

  1. Right-click on the image and choose Copy.
  2. Open any image editing software such as Paint in Windows or freeware such as Paint.NET.
  3. Paste the image and click Save button (or CTRL S) to save the image.
  4. Paint will save in .png format but you can change to .jpg or choose from many other formats .

Use Zip Software to Extract Images

Third party unzipping software is usually no longer needed but there are free, reliable options such as 7-Zip for compressing/extracting files and graphics. After installing, when you right click on a picture, that software option should display in the shortcut menu. Click it and a separate folder should be created containing the pictures.

Hopefully, one of these was “picture perfect” for you and now your images are all in one place for easy access.

If you would like more information on different ways to save a Word or Office document as a PDF, see my blog here…https://gaylelarson.com/word-document-pdf-format/

Let me know which technique(s) worked best for you in the Comments below. Thanks for reading!

Inspect and Remove Sensitive Document Properties with Document Inspector

Excel, Office, PowerPoint, Word, , , , , ,

It may come as a shock to some just how much information Microsoft collects in Document Properties during the creation of a file. This blog reveals how to inspect and remove sensitive document properties with Document Inspector. We have enough to handle just getting the document to be correct and look the way we want to present it without worrying about broadcasting sensitive data!

Office collects personal data

There are positive uses for this information and even for creating our own custom Document Properties, but we’ll cover that in a future blog as this is about protecting your information in Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

If the document is not leaving your computer or office, it may not be an issue to have unexpected details revealed about the creation path and timeframe for editing, how many revisions and more. On the other hand, if this is confidential or going to another department, or worse yet, to a client or outside organization, there could be a problem Houston!

NOTE: Document Inspector tends to be an all or nothing thing. Might want to create and save a copy of the document before you inspect, remove and send, because it may remove elements that you want to keep in your original.

What Data is Collected

As you work, here is what starts to accumulate about your document and you (or the user who is working on it).

Click File tab to display the Info screen (Backstage) with the Properties of the current document (left screenshot):

Word Document Properties

Much of the data is what you would expect to see if you were looking at the file in a directory, but note there are fields such as Total Editing Time, Author, Last Modified, Last Printed (and by whom).

If you click the link for Show All Properties at the bottom of the screen, you see more information is revealed such as Company and Manager (shown on the screenshot on the right). There are also several fields where you, the user, can enter details to identify the file for searching and clarity.

Let’s go one step further…At the top of the Properties column (in either screen), click the dropdown arrow and then click Advanced Properties button:

The Advanced Properties dialog box will display with five tabs that collect different data:

  1. The General tab contains the information you would see with the Details view in a directory.
  2. The Summary tab is where you can choose to add your own information to identify and describe the document.
  3. Statistics tab contains some file details but adds personal data about the construction of the file.
  4. The Contents tab pulls document properties from fields. For example, if you added a Title in the Title tab, it will appear here.
  5. The Custom tab is where you can add properties from the list such as Department or Editor or create your own.

As mentioned, you may want to utilize these properties for various reasons but, for now, we’ll just concentrate on what Word is collecting and tracking, and how to get rid of the information, if needed.

Note: Previously you could display the Document Panel from Advanced Properties directly at the top of your document and fill in the property tags there. It was removed from Office 2016.

Review with Document Inspector

Let’s look at all the document and personal information being collected:

  • Click the File tab and ensure Info is selected.

Inspect Document screen

  • Click Inspect Document under the Check for Issues dropdown arrow.
  • The Document Inspector displays where you can choose what content to check for.
  • Leave them all checked and click the Inspect button at the bottom of the dialog box.

Document Inspector dialog box pre-run

The same list displays again with the requested data flagged with a red exclamation mark and a list of the information found.

Document Inspector after running

Remove Hidden Data

If you want that data deleted, click the Remove All button. Click Reinspect to ensure it is gone or remove other information.

You can now send that file without fear that it is revealing your inner most document secrets, but you might want to take it one step further if the document has ever been shared, or you have cropped images! (See below).

Document Properties in Excel and PowerPoint

Both these programs use the same method for collecting data about your file but because of their diverse purposes, track some different information. You inspect and remove the same way with the Document Inspector.

Like Word, Excel and PowerPoint collect data on:
  • Comments, and Annotations
  • Document Properties and Personal Information.
  • Invisible Content
  • Custom XML Data
Excel adds:
  • Headers and Footers
  • Hidden Rows and Columns
  • Hidden Worksheets
PowerPoint adds:
  • Off-slide Content
  • Presentation Notes
 Word adds:
  • Revisions and Versions,
  • Metadata, Microsoft SharePoint properties, custom properties, and other content information.
  • Headers, Footers, and Watermarks
  • Hidden Text
  • Task Pane add-ins

How to Inspect and Remove

The same for all programs. Go to File | Info |Check for Issues | Inspect Document.  Note the list of things that will be inspected, leave them all selected and click the Inspect button.

Check Before Sending

There are some things not covered by the Document Inspector that could cause embarrassing or legal issues if the original information remained intact. Cropped images may display as you edited in the document, but the complete original image remains unless deleted. Same is true of Tracked Changes that have been edited if someone turns on All Marks.

Delete Cropped Areas of Images

  • Click on an image
  • In the Picture Tools | Format tab | Adjust group, click Compress Pictures

Compress pictures and delete cropped areas

  • Ensure there is NO checkmark in Apply only to this picture.
  • Ensure there IS a checkmark in Delete cropped areas of pictures.
  • Click OK.

Remove Tracked Changes

Accept or reject tracked changes to remove them from your document:

  • To look at each revision one at a time, on the Review tab, click Next in the Changes group, and then Accept or Reject.

Use Ribbon to remove tracked changes

Word keeps or removes the change and then moves to the next tracked change.

  • To accept all the changes at the same time, click the arrow below Accept, and then click Accept All Changes.
  • To reject all the changes at the same time, click the arrow below Reject, and then click Reject All Changes.

IMPORTANT:  Choosing the No Markup view helps you see what the final document will look like, but it only hides tracked changes temporarily. The changes are not deleted, and they’ll appear again the next time someone opens the document. To delete the tracked changes permanently, you’ll need to accept or reject them.

Whew! Now your clean and lean document can be sent without all that hidden data. If you want more information on security for your Office files, see the related blogs…

https://gaylelarson.com/word-document-protection/

https://gaylelarson.com/delete-personal-content-from-public-computers/

Have you had any surprise experiences with sharing sensitive information? Let me know in the Comments.

 

Insert a Watermark in Word

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What is a Watermark?

A Watermark is text or a picture placed behind the content in your document as a faded background. You can add a text watermark, such as Draft or Confidential or Do Not Copy to your document (these are already included in the Watermark Gallery), or you can create your own custom watermark, such as “Property of…”, etc., or insert a picture or company logo for your document.

Not only is this a great way to protect your intellectual property, it is also a good way to “brand” the document with your company logo or any desired text or graphic.

Example of Watermark (Washout) in Word Document

Add a Text Watermark from the Gallery

In the beginning, the steps are the same whether adding text or graphic:

  • On the Design tab, in the Page Background group, choose Watermark

Ribbon Page Background group for Word Watermark

  • The dialog box will display with built-in text options:

Built-in Word Watermark Text Gallery

  • Choose one of the built-in watermarks in the displayed gallery or add one of your own by clicking Custom Watermark… (see below for steps).

Word automatically applies the watermark to every page (except a designated cover page).

Add a Custom Text Watermark

  1. Click the Design tab, Page Background group, Watermark.
  2. Choose Custom Watermark.
  3. Select Text watermark and the options will change to allow you to type your custom text, choose the font, size and color, and if you want it displayed diagonally or horizontally. (Tip: Leave the size on Auto as Word will adjust to appropriate size for page).
  4. Semi-transparent should be auto selected but if not, check it.

Custom Text Watermark dialog box

Add a Picture Watermark

  • Click the Design tab, Page Background group, Watermark.
  • Choose Custom Watermark.
  • Select Picture watermark, and then choose Select Picture.

Picture Watermark dialog box

  • Select the picture that you want, and then choose Insert. (Note the options to search for an image online or use an existing image from your storage sources).

Insert Picture Options for Word Watermarks

  • The Washout box should be checked automatically but, if not, click it to lighten the picture so that it doesn’t interfere with your document content.
  • You are back in the dialog box where you can choose Apply to see what it looks like on the page and make changes, if needed. Note the Scale box that is set to Auto. If you want to increase or decrease the size of your graphic, choose from the 0% to 500% options in the drop down list.
  • When satisfied, click OK and Print Preview your document to see it WYSIWYG (Geek speak for: What you see is what you get).

NOTE: You can turn any picture, clip art, or a photo into a watermark that you can use to brand a document.

Remove a Watermark

This one is simple pie:

  • Click on the Watermark icon (Design | Page Background).
  • Click Remove Background.

Done…Don’t we wish all of life were this easy!

NOTE:  If you are in the Watermark dialog box, you can remove the watermark by clicking in No Watermark at the top.

Want to add a watermark to selected pages only or to a single page? This is a little more complex and we’ll cover that  here: https://gaylelarson.com/insert-a-watermark-in-word-part-2/

What watermarks have or will you use? Let me know in the Comments below. Thanks for reading!

Save Word Document as PDF

Office, Word, , , , ,

Save an Office Document in PDF Format

PDF format is the perfect solution for a Word or other type of Office document when we don’t know if the intended viewer has MS Office, or we don’t want them to be able to change our content. Saving as a PDF allows opening, viewing, printing and saving but not editing our original (except for last couple of versions of Word – see note). *

Word file as PDF

You can use the File | Export | Create PDF/XPS Document command from the Ribbon or the Save As dialog box to create in PDF format. Both methods have the same result but use a little different path to get there.

If you want just a portion of your document to be saved as a PDF, select that section before you publish or save as a PDF. It is also a good idea to save as a regular Word document before creating the PDF. Just sayin’…

Export as a PDF Document

Create your PDF from the File tab:

Click File | Export and click Create the PDF/XPS icon on lower right

Word File Export Create PDF/XPS Document

This displays the Publish as PDF or XPS dialog box:

Publish as PDF dialog box

  • Change the file name and location for saving, if desired
  • PDF is automatically chosen in the Save as type: box
  • The Open file after publishing box should be automatically checked
  • Click the Options… button for choosing to capture specific pages or a selection (if you highlighted previously) or for removing Document Properties which may contain sensitive information. Be aware it is checked by default.
  • Click the Publish button at the bottom to display the file in your default reader software (newer computers will have this automatically installed, such as Adobe Reader)
  • Close the PDF reader to return to your document

Save As Dialog Box for PDF

The F12 function key automatically brings up the Save As dialog box in all Office applications and then you can choose PDF as the format. This is the same as File | Save As but bypasses the Backstage and the extra steps:

Press the F12 function key to display the Save As dialog box

Save As PDF dialog box

  • Change the file name if desired
  • Choose PDF in the drop down in the Save as type: box
  • The Open file after publishing box should be automatically checked
  • Click the Options… button for additional choices (same as above)
  • Click Save when completed to display the file in your default reader
  • Create Save As PDF Shortcut on Quick Access Toolbar

If you need to create PDF’s on a regular basis, put a shortcut on the QAT. This is in two steps as you’ll create a shortcut icon for multiple formats, and then use that one for making a shortcut icon just for creating a PDF:

  • Right click on the Ribbon or Quick Access toolbar (QAT)
  • Choose Customize Quick Access Toolbar
  • Choose All Commands from the Choose commands from: drop down box
  • Wheel down to: Save As Other Format: (the one with the arrow at the right)
  • Click Add button and relocate position with arrow boxes, if desired
  • Click OK

Add Save as PDF format icon to Quick Access toolbar

Once back in your document, you can now create a PDF shortcut with the new QAT shortcut:

  • Click the drop down arrow on your new Save As icon on the QAT to see the list of available formats
  • Right click over PDF or XPS and choose Add to Quick Access toolbar
  • You now have icons for saving as a PDF and Save As other formats 

As you can see, there are several ways to get the job done. Whether you use Publish or Save As dialog boxes is a matter of preference but I vote for the PDF shortcut on the QAT for easy peasy!

*Note:  If you (or your viewer) has Word 2013 or above, PDF’s can be opened directly in Word as Word converts them to a regular document – a great feature but be aware if you have previously used PDF format specifically for document protection!

Saving in the PDF format is also a great way to preserve any special formatting or styles you created in the Word document. For instance, you might “brand” it with your logo or a text message as a watermark on all pages. If you want to explore that, take a look at this blog on Watermarks:  https://gaylelarson.com/insert-watermark-in-word/

You can save other Office files in PDF format as well. The Excel process is pretty similar to above but there are differences in PowerPoint, Access and OneNote and will cover those in a future post.

Have you saved PDF’s on a regular basis and used other methods? 

Insert a Drop Cap in Microsoft Word

Office, Outlook, Word, , , , ,

Why Use a Drop Cap?

The beauty of a drop cap

A drop cap can be fancy or plain but it catches the eye. Ever wonder how that novel you are reading displays a large, decorative dropped capital at the beginning of each chapter? Yep, that’s what it is – a great way to dress up a report, book, quote, invitation card, or any writing where you want to make a visual impact.

Word makes it very easy to insert a drop cap in any paragraph to add a little drama to your masterpiece! The drop cap is two lines by default but that can be customized.

Add a Drop Cap

  • Click anywhere in the paragraph where you want to apply the drop cap.
  • Click on the INSERT tab, in the Text group, drop down arrow on Drop Cap.

  • To insert a drop cap that fits within your paragraph, select Dropped.

  • To create a drop cap that is in the margin, outside of your paragraph, select In margin.

  • To change the font or size of the drop cap or adjust its distance from your text, choose Drop Cap Options at the bottom of the list. Experiment with some of the script fonts for variety and effect.

Remove a drop cap

  1. Click in the paragraph that contains the drop cap.
  2. Click on the INSERT tab, in the Text group, click Drop Cap | None.

Note: You can also create a drop cap in Outlook, using the same commands on the ribbon.

Might want to be a little careful with this one and not overuse it. It is a good design tool for the first paragraph of each chapter in a book. Could be applied more in other types of writing such as declarations, poetry or inspirational works, for example. Experiment with it, and your eye will tell you if you have overdone it!

How would you use this in what you create?

Balancing Column Lengths in Word Document

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Do your column lengths look a little out of balance in that otherwise perfect document?

Have you struggled with creating columns in Word to get that nice, professional look only to have them display off balance, with one column much longer than the other(s)? Here’s some ways to whip that into shape!

Word allows you to give your work a more magazine or newspaper look by breaking up the document or specific paragraphs into columns. You can have Word do this automatically, or specify where you want the column breaks.

Deciding the number of columns will be based on your margins, font sizes, line and paragraph spacing, graphics and any additional settings. The fast, easy way is to let Word do the lifting.

Have Word Create Column Breaks Based on Selection

If you want specific content to be displayed in columns:

  • Select the contents that you want to display in two or more columns
  • Click the Layout tab on the Ribbon
  • In the Page Setup group, choose the drop down on Columns
  • Choose the number of desired columns

Word will automatically add section breaks at the top and bottom of the column content and make the columns as even as possible. If you add content at the end of the column(s), Word will rebalance them.

Inserting Columns with No Content Selected

If you want the entire document displayed in columns, click anywhere in the document, and follow the steps above.

The difference here is that Word does not insert section breaks so will not automatically adjust column lengths as you add content.

If the columns are not equal length, you can have Word do it by inserting a continuous section break at the end of the last column:

  1.  Click at the end of the text in the last column
  2.  Display the Page Layout tab of the ribbon
  3.  Click on the drop-down on Breaks in the Page Setup group
  4. Choose Continuous under Section Breaks section


Note: If you like the results, you are good to go but if you want to change the column widths or adjust space between columns, you can select the More
Columns… command at the bottom of the Columns drop down.

Although Word is not a full-blown desktop publisher such as InDesign or even Publisher, it can produce some pretty fine looking work just by using some built-in templates or tools. There are more adjustments you can make such as having your heading (and other content) be in one column and the rest of the document in multiple columns. We’ll look at that in a future post.

Have you used this feature in Word before? Did you get the expected results? If you haven’t experimented with columns, give it a try and let me know how it went!

Remove Formatting from a Word Document

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Formatting Frenzy!

Yikes! Did you create or inherit a document that has more font formats and colors than a box of crayons and you want it gone? There’s an app for that, so to speak!

Remove Regular Font Formatting

Microsoft Word, awesome as it is, packs a gaggle of formatting behind the scenes. Often that is not an issue unless you run into a situation where it gets in the way of inserting, exporting or pasting into another document or program.

What you need to do depends on how much you want to get rid of. If you received a file that contains different font styles, sizes and colors, etc., and you want it instantly reset to the default, just press CTRL + SPACEBAR. Presto! You are all set to start from scratch.

Remove Styles Formatting

Word has built-in styles that make formatting a sophisticated document quick and easy. However, they contain a lot of underlying formatting and CTRL SPACEBAR will not remove Style formatting. Styles live on the Home tab | Styles group and have their own formatting.

To remove Applied Styles within Word:

  • Click the More button at the end of the Styles group (Home tab)

  • Click Clear Formatting command at the bottom of the Style icons

  • Styles are now removed from all selected text.

If your document has a lot of varied formatting including Styles, the best way to ensure it is all stripped is to use a text editor, and get it done all at once.

Use Notepad to Remove ALL Formatting from a Document

The above fixes work great for superficial formatting but If you need to strip all formatting, you need to send the text to a text editor such as Notepad. This is an accessory program built into the Windows operating system (along with some other handy mini-programs such as WordPad, Paint, Calculator, and the popular Snipping Tool). Notepad is available in all versions of Windows, as are most of the other tools.

Steps to strip all formatting:

  1. Select desired text or CTRL A to select entire document
  2. Cut or Copy the selection to the Clipboard
  3. Open the Notepad accessory (just click on Start button and type “notepad” to display it at top of Search. Click it to open the program)
  4. Paste your Clipboard contents into the Notepad window

All formatting for your text is instantly removed. Copy and paste it back into Word and/or you could also save it as a text file.

Your document is now clean and lean and ready to be beautified!

Tip: If you will use this method on a regular basis, pin Notepad to the taskbar. Right click on the Notepad icon and choose Pin to taskbar, and it will stay there until you “unpin” it.

Did you get to try it? Let me know!

Want more information on Word Styles? See my post on streamlining your document with the amazing Styles!  https://gaylelarson.com/word-styles-make-formatting-easy-peasy/

Convert Text to and from Tables in Microsoft Word

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Convert Text to Table

If you have to create lists in Word and line up the text in separate columns, you have probably had a few frustrating moments! This is actually an easy fix if you have used the TAB key and only pressed it once between each piece of information. Where we usually run into trouble is when the space bar is used to create the needed space and/or the TAB key pressed more than once.

Let’s say I’m doing a simple list with names and department. I am hitting the TAB key once between each column which will look odd and not seem like the way to go but it is what works. ENTER is pressed at the end of each line. (Show/Hide is turned on to show the formatting marks for TAB and ENTER):

This looks like a dog’s breakfast but not for long. Make sure the text that is to be converted into the table contains only a single tab character between each column. (It could also be a comma for the separator).

Here’s how to have a neat, organized list in no time.

  1. Select the text you want converted into a table. (Avoid paragraph markers above and
    below the text).
  2. Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
  3. Click the Table tool and then click Convert Text to Table. Word displays the Convert
    Text to Table dialog box.
  4. Make sure all the table settings in the dialog box are correct. (In this case, the Number of columns should be 3 and the Separate text at should be Tabs. (Word will automatically do this but always wise to check).
  5. Click OK to display a table.

Not only is this neat, you now have all the advantages of table formatting. When you click in the table, two new tabs will display at the end of the Ribbon under Table
Tools. The Design and Layout tabs give quick, professional looking formatting options. Most of them display a live preview when you mouse-over each selection. Can’t get much faster than that!

Remove Borders

Prefer to just have the text displayed as columns?  Remove the cell borders:

  1. Click in the table. Design and Layout tabs will display at the end of the Ribbon.
  2. From the Layout tab | Table group; click drop down arrow on Select and choose Select All (can also click the + symbol at upper left of table if it displays when you click in the table).
  3. Click the Design tab | Borders group and the drop down on the Borders icon. Choose No Border.

There you go, nice neat columns! (This is still a table, just without borders displayed).

Convert a Table to Text

No sooner do you get this accomplished when you find you have tables that need to be converted to text. You can convert the entire table or just specific rows:

  • Select the rows or table you want to convert to text.
  • On the Layout tab | Data group (at end of Ribbon), click Convert to Text.

  • The Convert to Text box displays. Under Separate text with, click the separator character you want to replace table cells (in this case, TAB) .

  • Click OK.

Here’s the results:

Note that the column spacing is based on your original table but can be adjusted by changing the tab stops. (These display on the ruler when the text is selected and can be just dragged to desired width).

This feature is a great trick also for a paste from Excel (and other programs), as the paste can sometimes produce strange results!

How would you use these features in your Word formatting?