Forum Discussion
Table Design -How to see which table styles adopted
I have only recently discovered table design / table styles in word and is trying to adopt using it just like Styles in my work.
But I realize that I am facing a problem.
For word style, i can usually see which style is adopted by clicking in the existing paragraph and check with style is highlighted in the style gallery. This does not seem to work for table styles.
I previously set a custom table style and then apply it to an existing table in the document. When I click on the table, I do not see "custom" being highlighted in the table styles gallery.
Is there also no way to name table styles like word styles? It gets really confusing to search only by visual shape/colors in the gallery. I really want to remove some of the table styles from the gallery to avoid users from trying to use them.
4 Replies
Table Styles do not appear in the [Quick] Styles Gallery on the Home tab. They cannot be part of a [Quick] Style Set. Quick Style Sets and Themes in Microsoft Word
They can appear in the Apply Styles dialog, and the legacy Styles menu.
- Styles QAT Add-In (gives you access to many style features regardless of which ribbon tab is displayed)
- Types of Styles by Suzanne Barnhill, MVP
- The Apply Styles Toolbar by Suzanne Barnhill, MVP
- The Styles Pane by Suzanne Barnhill, MVP
However, even in the ones where the Table Styles appear, nothing shows which one is currently applied.
On the Table Design tab, though, it should show a slight border around the style that has been applied.
You should also explore Quick Tables which let you save and reuse Table setups, including text, as a Building Block. They can use Table Styles as a part of the formatting.
I believe table styles do NOT behave like paragraph styles, say see active table style highlight, manage via styles pane and remove styles from gallery are not supported.
If so, is there any best practise or guide on how to use table styles effectively? I need to insert a lot of word tables and has to make sure formatting in the tables are following a few different "styles".
See the following and other pages of the Late Shauna Kelly's website
https://shaunakelly.com/word/tag/table-styles.html
Shauna Kelly, author of www.shaunakelly.com, MBA and MVP and one of the world authorities on Microsoft Word use passed away peacefully on Wednesday November 16, 2011 after a long battle with ovarian cancer.
If you are requesting permission to re-use any information on any of these sites, then you may do so with appropriate acknowledgement of her work.
If her words, thoughts or pictures have helped you, or made money for you, then please consider making a donation in her name to the Women's Cancer
Foundation http://www.womenscancerfoundation.org.au/
