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Microsoft Word

Create and Modify Table Styles

A table style applies only to tables. It includes character and paragraph formats plus banding formats (alternating row or column colors), borders, and shading of whole table or individual cells, rows, and columns. You also can individually format a specific table element: header row, first column, last column, and so on.

To format a table, use the Table Styles gallery which is available in Table Design subordinate tab on Table Tools tab, see the following figure:

Table Tools tab appears on the Ribbon when you click on a table

The Table Tools tab appears on the Ribbon when you click in the table, it has two related subordinate tabs: Table Design and Layout. When you are finished working with the table, the Table Tools tab (and its subordinate tabs) disappears from the ribbon.

Apply a Table Style

  1. Click in the table or click its handle to select the entire table.
  2. Move to the Ribbon and on the Table Tools choose Table Design tab.
  3. Then move to the Table Styles group and click the More icon to expand the Style gallery (as explained in the above figure).
  4. Scroll within the style gallery, find and apply a pre-defined style for the table.

Create a New Table Style

Create a New Table Style
  1. Click in the table.
  2. Move to the Ribbon and on the Table Tools choose Table Design tab.
  3. Then move to the Table Styles group and click the More icon to expand the Style gallery (see above figure).
  4. At the bottom of the expanded Table Styles gallery, click New Table Style..., see following figure:
Click the New Table Style button to create a new style

The Create New Style from Formatting dialog box will be displayed. See the following figure:

New Table Style: Create New Style from the Formatting dialog box
  1. Name:
    Write a unique name for this style.
  2. Style type:
    Make sure the Table option is selected.
  3. Style based on:
    Select a table style from which it will inherit all other formatting options not implemented by this style.
  4. Apply formatting to:
    Select a specific table element from the list to apply formatting to it:
    • Whole table
      Choose this option to apply formatting to the whole table.
    • Header row
      Choose this option to apply formatting to the first row in the table.
    • Total row
      Choose this option to apply formatting to the last row in the table.
    • First column
      Choose this option to apply formatting to the first column in the table.
    • Last column
      Choose this option to apply formatting to the last column in the table.
    • Odd banded rows
      Choose this option to apply formatting to the 1st row, 3rd row, 5th row, 7th row and so on.
    • Even banded rows
      Choose this option to apply formatting to the 2nd row, 4th row, 6th row, 8th row and so on.
    • Odd banded columns
      Choose this option to apply formatting to the 1st column, 3rd column, 5th column, 7th column and so on.
    • Even banded column
      Choose this option to apply formatting to the 2nd column, 4th column, 6th column, 8th column and so on.
    • Top left cell, Top right cell, Bottom left cell, Bottom right cell
      Select each cell to apply individual formats to it.
  5. Preview area
    This area helps you determine how the formatting looks like on a table.
  6. Formatting detail
    List all formats used by this style.
  7. Only in this document
    Style will only be available for this document.
  8. New document based on this template
    Selecting this option makes this style available for every new document if the template is same. The Normal.dotm is the default template when you create a new document in Word.
  9. Format
    The Format button shows more formatting options, such as, Fonts, Paragraph, Tabs, Border, Language, Frame, Numbering, Language, Shortcut key, and Text Effects. Clicking any item from the menu will open the related dialog boxe to format the style.

Modify a Table Style

Click on a table, the styles gallery appears, then right-click on a style to modify it.
  1. Click in the table.
  2. Move to the Ribbon and on the Table Tools choose Table Design tab.
  3. Then move to the Table Styles group.
  4. Right-click on the desired style and select Modify Table Style option (see above figure).
  5. The Modify Style dialog box appears, see following figure:
Modify Table Style

To see the detail of the Modify Style dialog box, see create a new table style, as both dialog boxes contain the same formats, menus, and commands.

Table Style Options

The checkboxes in the Table Style Options group allow you to specify how the table style will be applied. When you check or uncheck an option, the thumbnails in Table Styles gallery are updated to reflect your choice. The Table Style Options group has six checkboxes:

  1. Header Row
    Format the top row in the table.
  2. First Column
    Format the first column in the table.
  3. Total Row
    Check this option to format the last row if the table contains numeric totals.
  4. Last Column
    Format the last column in the table.
  5. Banded Rows
    Alternate rows color to create a horizontal striping effect.
  6. Banded Columns
    Alternate columns color to create a vertical striping effect.

To use Table Style Options, apply a table style and then click on a checkbox to apply or clear the formatting related to the checkbox. For example:

Click anywhere in the table and follow the instructions:

  • To apply special formatting to the first or last row, check the Header Row or Total Row checkbox.
  • To apply special formatting to the first or last column, check the First Column or Last Column checkbox.
  • To apply banding to table rows or columns, check the Banded Rows or Banded Columns check box.

More Tutorials on Word Styles:

  1. Apply, Create, and Modify Styles
    Paragraph Style
    Character Style
    Linked (paragraph and character) Style
    Table Style
    List Style
  2. Create and Modify Table Styles
    Table Style Options
  3. Apply a table border style
  4. Link list level to style
  5. Define New List Style
  6. Stop automatically update a style
  7. Create a Character Style
  8. Replace Styles in Attached Template
  9. Find and Replace Formatting and Style