Add a table to a slide

In the Microsoft Office system, the table feature has been significantly enhanced. It is now much easier to reuse tables from Microsoft Office Word or Microsoft Office Excel in a Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentation. After you create and format a table in Office Word or Office Excel, you can paste the table into an Office PowerPoint presentation without having to adjust the table's look or formatting. After you add the table to your presentation, you can use the new table features in Office PowerPoint to quickly change the table style or add an effect.What do you want to do?

Add a table

Copy a table from Office Excel or Office Word

Draw a table

Insert a table from Office Excel

Apply or change a table style

Add a table

1. Select the slide that you want to add a table to.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Tables group, click Table.

   

3. Do one of the following:
   • Move the pointer to select the number of rows and columns that you want, and then click.
   • Click Insert Table, and then enter a number in the Number of columns and Number of rows lists.
4. To add text to the table cells, click a cell, and then enter your text.

   After you enter your text, click outside the table.

Tip To add a row at the end of a table, click the last cell of the last row, and then press TAB.

Copy a table from Office Excel or Office Word

1. Do one of the following:
   • To copy a table from an Office Excel worksheet, click the upper-left cell of the table that you want to copy, and then drag to select the table.
   • To copy a table from an Office Word document, click the table that you want to copy, and then under Table Tools, on the Layout tab, in the Table group, click the arrow next to Select, and then click Select Table.

     

2. On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy.

   

3. In your Office PowerPoint presentation, select the slide that you want to copy the table to, and then on the Home tab, click Paste.

Tip You can also copy and paste a table from your presentation onto a worksheet or into a document.

Draw a table

1. Select the slide that you want to add a table to.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Tables group, click Table, and then click Draw Table.

   

   The pointer changes to a pencil .

3. To define the outer table boundaries, drag diagonally to the size that you want, and then drag to create the column and row boundaries.

   

4. To erase a line from a cell, row, or column, under Table Tools, on the Design tab, in the Draw Borders group, click Eraser, or press and hold SHIFT.

   

   The pointer changes to an eraser .

5. Click the line that you want to erase.
6. When you finish drawing the table, click a cell, and then enter your text.

Insert a table from Office Excel

You can create a new Office Excel table in Office PowerPoint, or you can copy and paste an existing table from Office Excel or Office Word into your presentation.

When you insert a new Office Excel table into your presentation, you can take advantage of the functionality of Excel tables. However, if you change the theme of the presentation, the theme applied to the table is not updated, because the table is an OLE embedded object . Also, it is not possible to edit the table by using options in Office PowerPoint.

1. Select the slide that you want to insert a table on.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Tables group, click Table, and then click Excel Spreadsheet.

   

3. To add text to a table cell, click the cell, and then enter your text.

   After you enter your text, click outside the table.

Tip To edit the Excel table after you click outside it, double-click the table.

Apply or change a table style

A table style (or Quick Style) is a combination of different formatting options, including color combinations that are derived from the theme colors of the presentation. Any table that you add has a table style applied to it automatically. Thumbnails of table styles appear in the Quick Styles gallery in the Table Styles group. When you place your pointer over a Quick Style thumbnail, you can see how the Quick Style affects your table.

1. Click the table that you want to apply a new or different table style to.
2. Under Table Tools, on the Design tab, in the Table Styles group, click the table style that you want. To see more table styles, click the More button .

   When you place your pointer over a Quick Style thumbnail, you can see how the Quick Style affects your table.

Notes:

• To remove a table style, under Table Tools, on the Design tab, in the Table Styles group, click the More button , and then click Clear Table.
• If you want to edit your table by using an earlier version of PowerPoint, after you click the More button , do not apply any of the styles under Best Match for Document, with the exception of the first two on the left (No Style, No Grid, and No Style Table Grid). Most of the styles under Best Match for Document cause the table to be converted to a picture when you save your presentation as a file in an earlier version of PowerPoint.
• You can also change your table's outline or border or add a fill or effect to your table's cells.
• Text in tables does not appear on the Outline tab (in the leftmost pane in the program window, in Normal view). Only text in text placeholders appears on the Outline tab.

Tip To change the look of text in the table cells or the entire table, choose the options on the Home tab, in the Font group, or the options under Table Tools, on the Design tab, in the WordArt Styles group.

See also:

• Add or delete table rows, columns, or cells
• Change the look of a table
• Move or resize a table