MOS Talk: Table tools help make data less intimidating
When I open a document and see a grid full of data that I am tasked to make sense of, I immediately want to go hide under a rock.
Okay, maybe not quite that dramatic, but too much information all at once can cause a certain amount of angst.
Thank goodness Microsoft Office has tools to help me organize and manage data of any size with relative ease.
Both Microsoft Word and Excel feature table creation functions that can turn ordinary text into well-organized data presented in an attractive package.
In Word, go to the insert tab and find the table tool on the ribbon. Here you can specify how many columns and rows you need for your data. A table is created in a snap, and you can dress it up with formatting from the table tools design and layout tabs.
You can even import existing data from text files or Microsoft Excel spreadsheets into your Word document, so you don't necessarily have to input all of the data from scratch.
Speaking of Excel, there are much more comprehensive tools available to users in this spreadsheet program.
If you've already got your data entered or you have imported it from another file, simply select the cell range of your data that you want to convert into a table.
Then go to "format as table" on the home ribbon and select from pre-set or custom table styles.
Just like Word, a table tools design tab appears once you have created a table and you select any part of it.
Here you can build a table to suit your needs.
Cell styles, conditional formatting, charts, pre-written formulas, and numerous data tools allow a user to compute and display table data with minimal effort.
Excel is specifically designed to organize and manage data using its full line of automated tools, so a user doesn't feel so overwhelmed by all of the data.
The next time you start to develop that deer-in-the-headlights look upon opening a data file, remember Microsoft Office has got your back.
Let Word and Excel do the lion's share of work for you. That's what Office programs were made for.
Brett Fisher is a certified Microsoft Office Specialist instructor and writer residing in Carson City.