In the last tutorial, we covered various methods to insert a table in PowerPoint. IN this tutorial we will be sharing multiple ways to format a table. We will be discussing how to customize the colors, borders, and other various attributes
10 ways to format a Powerpoint Table
- Format design attributes of a table — Style
- Format design attributes of a table — Color Combination
- Format design attributes of a table — Shading, Borders, Effects
- Format design attributes of a table — Draw & Erase Borders
- Format layout attributes of a table — View / Hide Gridlines
- Format layout attributes of a table — Insert Rows and Columns
- Format layout attributes of a table — Merge / Split Cells
- Format layout attributes of a table — Cell Size
- Format layout attributes of a table — Alignment
- Format layout attributes of a table — Table Size
Method #1: Format design attributes of a table — Style
Step #1: Open PowerPoint slide
Open an existing slide in PowerPoint that has a table you want to format.
Click to select the table.
Drag and resize the table using the border handles if necessary.
The top menu bar changes to show new Table Tools.
Click on the Design tab under Table Tools to change the ribbon.
Step #2: Format the Table Style.
In the section Table Style Options, you have 6 choices:
- Header Row — to emphasize the topmost row as header
- Total Row — to emphasize the lowermost row for showing totals
- Banded Rows — to emphasize every alternate row.
- First Column — to emphasize the leftmost column
- Last Column — to emphasize the rightmost column
- Banded Columns — to emphasize every alternate column
Click on the choices you would like to display and ensure there is a tick mark present.
PowerPoint will change the table according to your choice.
Method #2: Format design attributes of a table — Color Combination
Step #1: Open PowerPoint slide
Open an existing slide in PowerPoint that has a table you want to format.
Click to select the table.
Drag and resize the table using the border handles if necessary.
The top menu bar changes to show new Table Tools.
Click on the Design tab under Table Tools to change the ribbon.
Step #2: Format the Table Color Combination.
In the section Table Styles, click the color combination you want from the selection.
PowerPoint will change the table according to your choice.
Method #3: Format design attributes of a table — Shading, Borders, Effects
Step #1: Open PowerPoint slide
Open an existing slide in PowerPoint that has a table you want to format.
Click to select the table.
Drag and resize the table using the border handles if necessary.
The top menu bar changes to show new Table Tools.
Click on the Design tab under Table Tools to change the ribbon.
Step #2: Format the Table Shading, Borders, and Effects.
In the section Table Styles, you have three choices:
- Shading — to change the color shading of the background of a single cell.
- Borders — to show or hide internal/external borders, and to show or hide diagonal borders.
- Effects — to add visual effects to the table, such as a shadow or a reflection.
Select according to your requirement.
PowerPoint will change the table according to your choice.
Method #4: Format design attributes of a table — Draw & Erase Borders
Step #1: Open PowerPoint slide
Open an existing slide in PowerPoint that has a table you want to format.
Click to select the table.
Drag and resize the table using the border handles if necessary.
The top menu bar changes to show new Table Tools.
Click on the Design tab under Table Tools to change the ribbon.
Step #2: Format the Table by drawing and erasing its borders.
In the section Draw Borders, you have five tools:
- Line Type — to draw solid, dashed, or dotted border lines
- Line Weight — to specify the thickness of the border line
- Pen Color — to specify the color of the border line
- Draw Table — to draw border lines for creating new cells, or for dividing cells.
- Eraser — to erase border lines for merging neighboring cells.
Use these tools to draw the borders of your table as you like.
Method #5: Format layout attributes of a table — View / Hide Gridlines
Step #1: Open PowerPoint slide
Open an existing slide in PowerPoint that has a table you want to format.
Click to select the table.
Drag and resize the table using the border handles if necessary.
The top menu bar changes to show new Table Tools.
Click on the Layout tab under Table Tools to change the ribbon.
Step #2: Format the Table layout by showing/hiding its gridlines.
In the section Table, you have the option View Gridlines.
Click on View Gridlines to show the gridlines.
Click again on View Gridlines to hide the gridlines
Use this tool to change your table attribute.
Method #6: Format layout attributes of a table — Insert Rows and Columns
Step #1: Open PowerPoint slide
Open an existing slide in PowerPoint that has a table you want to format.
Click to select the table.
Drag and resize the table using the border handles if necessary.
The top menu bar changes to show new Table Tools.
Click on the Layout tab under Table Tools to change the ribbon.
Step #2: Format the Table layout by inserting or deleting rows and columns.
In the section Rows & Columns, you have the five options:
- Delete — to delete a row, column, or a table
- Insert Above — to insert a new row above the present row
- Insert Below — to insert a new row below the present row
- Insert Left — to insert a new column to the left of the present column
- Insert Right — to insert a new column to the right of the present column
Click on the option you need to change the table attributes.
Method #7: Format layout attributes of a table — Merge / Split Cells
Step #1: Open PowerPoint slide
Open an existing slide in PowerPoint that has a table you want to format.
Click to select the table.
Drag and resize the table using the border handles if necessary.
The top menu bar changes to show new Table Tools.
Click on the Layout tab under Table Tools to change the ribbon.
Step #2: Format the Table layout by merging or splitting cells.
In the section Merge, you have the two options:
- Merge Cells — to merge a few adjoining cells to form a single cell
- Split Cells — to split a single cell vertically or horizontally to form new cells.
Click on the option you need to change the table attributes.
Method #8: Format layout attributes of a table — Cell Size
Step #1: Open PowerPoint slide
Open an existing slide in PowerPoint that has a table you want to format.
Click to select the table.
Drag and resize the table using the border handles if necessary.
The top menu bar changes to show new Table Tools.
Click on the Layout tab under Table Tools to change the ribbon.
Step #2: Format the Table layout by modifying the cell size.
In the section Cell Size, you have the two options:
- Height — specify the height of selected cells. Distribute it equally among the selected rows.
- Width — specify the height of selected cells. Distribute it equally among the selected columns.
Click on the option you need to change the table attributes.
Method #9: Format layout attributes of a table — Alignment
Step #1: Open PowerPoint slide
Open an existing slide in PowerPoint that has a table you want to format.
Click to select the table.
Drag and resize the table using the border handles if necessary.
The top menu bar changes to show new Table Tools.
Click on the Layout tab under Table Tools to change the ribbon.
Step #2: Format the Table layout by defining the text alignment in the cell.
In the section Alignment, you have the eight options:
- Left align — to align the text in a cell to its extreme left.
- Center align — to align the text in a cell to its center.
- Right align — to align the text in a cell to its extreme right.
- Top align — to align the text in a cell to its top.
- Middle align — to align the text in a cell to its middle.
- Bottom align — to align the text in a cell to its bottom.
- Text Direction — to align the text in a cell as horizontal, rotated by 90- or 270-degrees, or stacked.
- Cell Margins — to define the margin between the cell borders and the text inside.
Click on the option you need to change the table attributes.
Method #10: Format layout attributes of a table — Table size
Step #1: Open PowerPoint slide
Open an existing slide in PowerPoint that has a table you want to format.
Click to select the table.
Drag and resize the table using the border handles if necessary.
The top menu bar changes to show new Table Tools.
Click on the Layout tab under Table Tools to change the ribbon.
Step #2: Format the Table layout by changing its size.
In the section Table Size, you have the three options:
- Height — to define the height of the table.
- Width — to define the width of the table.
- Lock Aspect Ratio — to enable to maintain the aspect ratio when you change any dimension of the table.
Click on the option you need to change the table attributes.
Conclusion
There you have it. We have shared 10 different ways to format a PowerPoint table. If you have any suggestions, feel free to comment.