How to Format Table Cells in Microsoft Word 97

Microsoft Word 97 gives you a quick way to format cells in your tables. Word's Table AutoFormat feature allows you to add an existing design to your table and apply the changes to selected cells. If you make a mistake and want to merge or split a cell, simply reformat the cell. You can format and align the text within your cells as well.

Apply AutoFormat

• 1

  Open the Word 97 document that contains your table.

• 2

  Click inside the table you want to format, and select "Table" and "Table AutoFormat" from the toolbar.

• 3

  Go to the "Formats" section of the "Table AutoFormat" dialog box. Select your preferred table style.

• 4

  Check the formats you want to apply to your table, such as "Borders," "Shading," "Font," "Color" and "AutoFit."

• 5

  Go to the "Apply special formats to" section to specify the cells you want to format, such as "Heading rows," "First column," "Last row" and "Last column." A preview of the format displays in the dialog box. Click "OK."

Merge or Split Cells

• 1

  Highlight two or more cells you want to merge. Click "Table" and "Merge Cells" from the toolbar.

• 2

  Click within a cell you want to split in your table. Select "Table" and "Split Cells" from the toolbar. The "Split Cells" dialog box opens.

• 3

  Pick the number of columns and rows you want to split the cells into, and click "OK."

Format Text in Cells

• 1

  Highlight a cell, row, column or an entire table you want to format.

• 2

  Click the "Bold," "Italic" or "Underline" button in the "Formatting" toolbar to style your text.

• 3

  Click the "Left," "Center," "Align Right" or "Justify" button in the "Formatting" toolbar to align your text.

• 4

  Click the "Font" drop-down menu in the "Formatting" toolbar, and select a font you want to use.

• 5

  Click the "Color" arrow in the "Formatting" toolbar, and select a text color from the list.

Select Cell Color and Border

• 1

  Click the "Tables and Borders" button in the "Standard" toolbar. The "Tables and Borders" dialog box appears.

• 2

  Highlight any cells you want to format.

• 3

  Click the "Shading Color" drop-down menu. To change the background color of the selected cells, pick a color from the list.

• 4

  Click the "Borders" arrow to modify the outline of the selected cells. Pick the border style you want to apply from the list.