Google Docs allows you to conveniently insert various objects in your document. Some examples of objects you can insert in your document include images, shapes and tables.
Tables are a collection of rows and columns. They store data and are useful for performing data visualization and analysis.
In this article, we will be talking about how to insert a table in Google Docs.
2 ways to insert Table in a Google Doc
- Going to the Insert tab
- Creating a table in Google Sheets and copy + paste to Google Docs
We will also cover how to edit and delete your tables.
With that introduction, let’s learn the two methods.
Method 1: Going to the Insert tab
The first method involves going to the Insert tab. When creating a table using this method, you can choose the number of rows and columns you would like your table to have. This is the most convenient and obvious way of creating a table in Google Docs.
Once you have created the table, you can also easily format it in different ways. For example, you can add or delete rows and columns from the table. You can also change its background color, the color and thickness of its borders and style (such as font, size, color, etc.) of the text within the table.
Here are the steps for this method.
Step 1: Open your Google Docs document.
The first step is to open the Google Docs document in which you would like to insert a table.
Step 2: Click on the Insert tab at the top left corner of the screen.
You should find the Insert tab at the top left corner of the screen, to the right of the File tab. Click on it to open the Insert drop down menu.
Step 3: Click on or hover over the Table option.
The Table option is the second option in the Insert drop down menu. Click on or hover over this option to open another smaller drop down menu.
Step 4: Choose the number of rows and columns to create your table.
The smaller drop down menu contains a diagram that allows you to choose the number of rows and columns for your table. Move your cursor across the screen to select the number of rows. Move your cursor down the screen to select the number of columns.
You can see the number of rows and columns you selected at the bottom of the screen. The first figure is the number of rows and the second figure is the number of columns. For example, 7 x 2 means 7 rows and 2 columns.
Click on the diagram to insert the table in your document.
(Optional) Step 5: Format your table.
Under this step, we will talk about the different ways in which you can format your table.
You can change the fill (or background color of your cells) of your table. First, click on the cell whose background color you would like to change. When you click on your table, a toolbar should show up at the top of the screen. In this toolbar, you will find various options for formatting your table. One of these options is the fill option that lets you change the background color of your cells. This is the icon:
Click on this icon to open up a drop down menu containing various colors. You can either choose from one of the existing colors or create a new color of your own (using the custom option). Click on one of the colors in the menu to change the color of your cell.
To change the background color of multiple cells, select multiple cells then repeat the process. To select multiple cells, just drag your cursor across the screen. The selected cells will be highlighted in blue. Once you have selected your cells, click on the background color icon then choose a color. The background color of the selected cells should be changed from white to the color of your choice.
To change the background color of the entire table, select the entire table and use the icon to change the color.
Next, let’s talk about how to edit the borders of your table. You can change the color of the borders of your table using the border color icon. Click on a cell in your table then click on the icon. Choose a color from the drop down menu that appears. The colors of all the 4 borders of your cells will change.
To change the color of all the borders of multiple cells, select multiple cells then repeat the process: click on the border color icon and choose a color.
To change the border color of a particular border, select that border then change the color. You can select multiple borders by holding the shift button then selecting the borders.
The process is the same for changing the border style and thickness. This is the icon for changing the border style.
This is the icon for changing the border thickness.
Method 2: Creating a table in Google Sheets and copy + paste to Google Docs
This is another way of inserting a table in Google Docs. You can copy a table from a Google Sheets spreadsheet and paste it in your Google Docs document. You can either create a new table or take an existing one.
This method is especially useful if you already have a table in Google Sheets that you would like to insert in your Google Docs document. This saves you the need to create a new table in Google Docs as you can just copy and paste the table from Google Sheets.
Moreover, there are advantages to first creating a table in Google Sheets. This is because there are features available in Google Sheets that are not available in Google Docs. One example is formulas. Using the formulas function in Google Sheets, you can automatically take the sum, average, minimum, maximum, etc. of a column of numbers. Other examples of useful Google Sheets features that are not there in Google Docs include conditional formatting and data validation.
This method may take more time and effort than the previous one.
With that introduction, here are the steps for this method.
Step 1: Open your Google Sheets spreadsheet.
(Optional) Step 2: Create a table in your spreadsheet.
You can create a table in the spreadsheet simply by entering data in the cells. Here’s an example of a table:
Step 3: Copy the table.
Select the table in your spreadsheet by dragging your cursor across the screen. Then, press Control (or Command, if you are using a Macbook) and C to copy the table. Another way to copy the table is by right clicking on the table then selecting the Copy option from the drop down menu that appears.
You can also click on the Edit tab at the top left corner of the screen then select the Copy option from the Edit drop down menu.
Step 4: Paste it in your Google Docs document.
Next, go to the Google Docs document in which you would like to insert a table. Then, press Control (or Command, if you are using a Macbook) and P to paste the table in the document. Another way to paste the table is by right clicking on the table then selecting thePaste option from the drop down menu that appears.
You can also click on the Edit tab at the top left corner of the screen then select the Paste option from the Edit drop down menu.
Deleting a table
There are different ways of deleting a table in Google Docs. One way to delete a table is by selecting the entire table then pressing the Backspace (or Delete, on a Macbook) key on your keyboard. To select the table, drag your cursor across the screen. The selected table will be highlighted in blue.
Another way to delete the table is by right clicking on the table then selecting the Delete option from the drop down menu that appears.
Alternatively, you can go to the Format tab. Click on the Format tab then click on or hover over the Table option in the Format menu. Select Delete table to delete the table.
Also, you can cut your table instead of deleting it. This way, you can paste the tabla elsewhere. Select the entire table by dragging your cursor across the screen, then press Control (or Command, for Mac users) and X to cut the table. You can also right click on the table and choose the Cut option. Or, you can go to the Edit menu, then click on the Cut option.
Conclusion
This brings us to the end of the article! We hope you find this article helpful.
Thank you for reading!