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Tables and spreadsheets - Word for Mac 2008

If you have a small amount of data to display, it’s probably best to use a Word table. Details on creating tables are given in the Word help, and online tutorials are available through Microsoft.

Copying tables into the template

Tables that are pasted into the template sometimes have the template’s default half-inch indent applied to each cell’s text. To prevent this and to retain the table format when pasting from your original Word document, use Option 1 below and Keep Source Formatting.

Landscape orientation for tables

Some tables are better suited to display on pages with landscape orientation. To change a single page or group of pages to landscape orientation, follow these steps:

  1. Click at the point where you want to begin landscape orientation. On the Insert menu, select Break, then click Section Break (Next Page).
  2. Press the Enter key several times to get some space.
  3. Click at the point where you want to end landscape orientation. On the Insert menu, select Break, then click Section Break (Next Page).
  4. Put your cursor at a point between the two section breaks. On the File menu, click Page Setup.
  5. In the Page Setup window, make sure Settings is set to Page Attributes.
  6. Under Orientation, click the Landscape icon.
  7. Click OK to close the Page Setup window.
  8. If you haven’t done so already, insert the table.

Repeat these steps for each section with landscape pages in your document.

Excel spreadsheets

If you have an extensive amount of data, chances are you used Excel to create one or more spreadsheets. It is possible to copy Excel spreadsheets and insert them into a Word document. For very large spreadsheets, however, consider submitting the spreadsheet as a separate supplemental file.

Follow the steps below to insert your Excel spreadsheet into Word. You need to have Excel 2008 for Mac installed on your computer.

  1. In Excel, select and copy the cells you want to insert.
  2. In Word, click where you want to insert the data.

At this point, there are several options for how you can paste the data:

Option 1: Paste Options menu
Put your Excel data within a Word table and edit contents of the table in Word. Any changes you make in Word will not be reflected in the original Excel spreadsheet.

  1. On the Edit menu, click Paste.
  2. On the Paste Options menu icon (displayed below the pasted data), select Keep Source Formatting or Match Destination Table Style. You may need to try both options and select the one that looks best.

Option 2: Paste Special
Retain your Excel formatting and display only the current content of the spreadsheet. You can edit the contents of the table after it is pasted into Word.

  1. On the Edit menu, click Paste Special.
  2. In the Paste Special window, select the Paste radio button.
  3. Click Microsoft Excel Sheet Object.
  4. Click OK.

Option 3: Paste Special and link to Excel table
Retain your Excel formatting. Changes you make in Excel will automatically be reflected in Word.

  1. On the Edit menu, click Paste Special.
  2. In the Paste Special window, select the Paste Link radio button.
  3. Click Microsoft Excel Sheet Object.
  4. Click OK.

To make changes to the contents of the table, follow these steps:

  1. Open the spreadsheet in Excel. Make the edits and save the file.
  2. In Word, click on the table to select it.
  3. On the Edit menu, click Links.
  4. In the Links window, click Update Now.
  5. Click OK.

The table in Word will now show the edits you made in Excel.