Write above table in word

Adding text directly above a table in a Word document is usually as easy as placing your cursor on the line above the table and typing. If the table is at the very top of the document or section, however, you can’t do that, since there is nothing above the table. A way of adding the text without needing to cut the entire table out of the document and paste it back in one line lower does exist; the exact method varies slightly depending on whether the table is at the top of a document or of a section.

1. Launch Microsoft Word and open the document you want to edit.

2. Place the text cursor in the top left cell of the table in question, before any text it contains.

3. Press «Enter» if the table is at the top of the document; press «Ctrl-Shift-Enter» if the table is at the top of a section. In either case, this creates a blank line directly above the table.

4. Type or paste the desired text on the newly created line.

Clickable Table of Contents

Enhance your Word tables with these advanced features

• To show an actual table of data, or
• To organise and postion text, images and other elements on the page.

Many years ago, typewriters ruled the world. And a feature of a good typewriter was the tab stop, which was a device that essentially let you control indentation.

Over the years many people have continued to use tabs to indent text, because of its convenience, but they are hard work to set up properly.

Tables provide a much easier way to organise content on a page.

• While the table is empty, you can use the cursor keys to move around the cells. However, when the cells contain information, using the cursor keys will move through the cell content first before moving to the next cell
• You can left-click in any cell to position the cursor.
  
• Press Tab to move to the next cell. The cursor will move across and then down the table.
• Press Shift + Tab to move to the previous cell.

NB. Using Tab is better than using the cursors as it will move to the next/previous cell regardless of whether there is information in the cells.

NB2. If you press Tab while you are in the last cell, a new row will be added to the bottom of your table

1.  Position the mouse pointer inside the cell on the bottom-left corner of the cell.

The pointer will change shape to a solid black arrow that points up and right.

1.  Position the mouse pointer in the left margin in line with the row you want to select.

The mouse pointer will change to a white arrow that points up and right.

1.  Position the mouse pointer so that it rests on the top border of the table, above the column you want to select.

The mouse pointer will change to a solid black arrow pointing down.

The Table Styles group lists a number of table designs. To get the full list, click the More button beneath the table styles scroll bar

The default table style is Table Grid in the Plain Tables category which adds simple gridlines but no shading to your table.

Live Preview allows you to hover over a design and see it applied to your table. If you like what you see, click to select the table design.

Header Row
This will emphasise the header row by making the text bold or applying a different cell colour (depending on the table style selected.

Total Row
This will emphasise the bottom table row by making the text bold or applying a different cell colour (depending on the table style selected.

First Column
This will emphasise the first column (for labels etc.) by making the text bold or applying a different cell colour (depending on the table style selected.

Last Column
This will emphasise the last column (for row totals etc.) by making the text bold or applying a different cell colour (depending on the table style selected.

Banded Rows
This will make odd rows one colour and even rows a different colour. This helps readability.

Banded Columns
This will make odd columns one colour and even columns a different colour. This helps readability.

The Table Styles Gallery allows you to completely format a table with one click. Whereas you used to need some nous, anybody can now create a professional looking design.

However, you will often still need to apply your own border and shading, and manually change a table design. With a little effort can add a lot of flavour to your page and dramatically enhance the overall appearance of the document.

• The first way is to click directly on a border in the Preview itself.
• The second way is to click the appropriate icon around the edge of the Preview section that represents each border. Depending on which cells you selected in your table, some of these icons may not be available.
  

• Click the More Colours link underneath the palette. This displays a larger, more accurate colour palette.
• And if that’s not enough, click the Custom tab and you’ll get a really fine selection of colours (you can even enter your own RGB settings if you know them)

When you have large tables that occupy two or more pages, many people insert manual page breaks, then copy and paste their table header rows at the top of each page.

When rows are added or removed from tables in Word, the table headers end up half way down the page.

There is a simple tool that will eliminate this problem

• Tables in Word serve 2 distinct purpose: to display a table of data and to organise and position items on the page
• To create table, select 2 tabs — Design and Layout under the Table Tools banner.
• There are 2 tabs — Design and Layout under the Table Tools banner.
• You can press the TAB key to move direct to the next cell and SHIFT and TAB together to move backwards through a table.
• The four elements of a table are cells, rows, columns and the whole table. Each can be selected.
  
• Rows can be inserted by selecting the Layout tab under Table Tools, then clicking the Insert Above or Insert Below icons. Alternatively, hover to the left of a row and click the plus symbol that appears above or below the mouse pointer.
• Columns can be inserted by selecting the Layout tab under Table Tools, then clicking the Insert
  Left or Insert Right icons. Alternatively, hover above a table column and click the plus symbol that appears to the left or right of the mouse pointer.
• Columns and rows and be removed from the table, by positioning the cursor in the row or column to be removed, then clicking the Delete icon on the Layout tab of Table Tools and choosing Delete
  Row or Delete Column.
• Tables can be formatted using the Table Style gallery or by manually setting the shading and borders manually. Both sets of tools are found on the Design ribbon of the Table Tools.
• When using the Microsoft Table Styles, you can control the behaviour of the formatting by setting the Table Style options – 6 tick boxes that define the structure of your table.
• For long tables that spill across onto subsequent pages, the top row, which normally contains the column headings can be set to repeat automatically. So there is no excuse for cutting and pasting headings midway through your table or taping pages together to make sense of the table!