How to make a nice looking table with Excel? (Merged Cells have created a nightmare)

[GladTyler]

How do you make a nice-looking table to paste into a Word document?  I tried merging some cells to make it look nice, but that has caused many random, nonsensical, and infuriating problems.  

I used merged cells because some table parts needed 1, 2 and 3 columns to make sense.  Only the table sheet has merged cells.  The information sheets it is pulling from have no merged cells.  

I need an alternative.  I am about to pull out my hair.  

If you want to read, here are the problems I had using merged cells to make an table to paste into a word document.  

1.  I couldn't paste a 17 row x 2 column selection into a 17 row x 2 column selection with merged cells.   There are zero reasons that it should be more than a 5 second task.  I have to paste it into each cell manually.  I tried so many different things that completely messed up my excel sheet.  Which wasted more of my time.  Some formulas were destroyed, for some g***bleep** reason when I posted the table to A Word Doc all the cells were unmerged and some colors randomly changed (This was fixed by a restart).  This is ridiculous.  

2. The Excel Program CONSTANTLY freezes when all I do is select cells.  Sometimes if I wait 5-10 minutes it will come back... but when I am working on a project with coworkers, it is very embarrassing and a waste of everyone's time, both in the waiting and when I finally give up after making a coworker wait for 5 minutes and force excel to shut down and I have to redo work.  

TLDR: Any way to make nice looking tables to paste in a word document without merged cells that have 1,2,3 columns in the same table?  

[#2]

@GladTyler 

Creating a nice-looking table in Excel without using merged cells can be achieved by using alternative formatting options and layout techniques. Here are some suggestions to help you create a visually appealing table:

1. Use cell borders: Instead of merging cells, apply different border styles to define the structure of your table. Select the cells you want to format, go to the "Home" tab, and choose the desired border styles from the "Border" dropdown menu.
2. Center-align and wrap text: To improve readability, center-align the text within the cells and enable text wrapping. Select the cells, right-click, choose "Format Cells," go to the "Alignment" tab, select "Center" under the "Horizontal" alignment, and check the "Wrap text" option.
3. Apply shading or alternate row colors: Use fill colors or alternate row shading to distinguish between rows and make your table easier to read. Select the rows you want to format, go to the "Home" tab, and choose a fill color from the "Fill Color" dropdown menu.
4. Use bold or different font styles: Emphasize headers or important information by applying bold or different font styles. Select the cells or text you want to modify, go to the "Home" tab, and choose the desired font style options.
5. Adjust column widths: To ensure your table is well-proportioned, adjust the column widths to fit the content. Double-click the column boundary or select the columns and use the "AutoFit Column Width" option from the "Home" tab.
6. Add conditional formatting: Utilize conditional formatting to highlight specific data based on predefined rules. For example, you can highlight values that meet certain criteria or create color scales. Select the cells you want to format, go to the "Home" tab, and choose the desired conditional formatting options.

By applying these formatting techniques, you can create a visually appealing table without the need for merged cells. Once you have formatted the table in Excel, you can copy and paste it into a Word document, and the formatting should be preserved.

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I wish you a lot of fun creating your own table!