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Word 2007 Practice: Converting Text into a Table

Occasionally, you can run into text that is set up in tabbed columns, or with spaces between columns, or copied from a web page that would be easier to work with if it was set up as a table.

Example 1: Convert Tabbed Text to a Table

1. Start with a New, blank Word document.
2. Select the rows of colors below, then copy (Ctrl + C). Switch to Word and paste (Ctrl + V) the color names anywhere in your Word document.

Red	Yellow	Green
Pink	Blue	Brown
Turquoise	Lavender	Maroon
Gray	Black	White
Teal	Orange	Tan



3. Let’s take a look at what you’ve got: turn on your Show/Hide ¶, please. Notice the arrow shapes between the words – they represent tabs, the ¶ represent where the enter key would have been pushed. That tabs separate the words is important to know for the next step.
   Note: if the copying and pasting didn’t work, type up a the same words, tabbing once between each word and entering once at the end of each line.
4. Select the text you pasted: if you started with a blank document, Ctrl + A will work.
5. In the Insert tab, Tables group, click the Table button. Near the bottom of the Table menu, click Convert Text to Table….
6. In the Convert Text to Table box, change the Separate text at: section to Tabs. The Number of columns: should show 3 automatically. OK to finish.

Your text should be converted to a table layout like the example below:

Example 2: Convert a List to a Table

1. In the same Word document, go a few lines below the table you just made, to a clear part of the page. Type in one, then Enter, two, then Enter, three, then Enter, up to ten.
2. Select the list on numbers you just typed up.
3. In the Insert tab, Tables group, click the Table button. Near the bottom of the Table menu, click Convert Text to Table….
4. In the Convert Text to Table box, change the Separate text at: section to Paragraphs. Change the Number of columns: to 4 (notice that the Number of rows: changes as you change the column number). OK to finish.

This converted text should end up in a table looking something like this:

Did both examples work? Convenient and easy, right?

Notes on the Convert Text to Table box

• If something goes wrong with the conversion, you can Undo (Ctrl + Z) it.
• The AutoFit behavior section of the just determines the size of the final table. It can also be adjusted through the Table Tools tabs once you are done.
• Separate text at will depend on what characters you are replacing. If it is text from a .csv file (comma separated value), then you would use Commas. The Other: section would allow you to specify a typed-in character, like a dash, that might be separating the original text.

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