How to Create a Data Table in an Excel Spreadsheet

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program that allows users to enter data into cells in order to organize and analyze data. Excel also allows users to create tables within Excel sheets regardless of whether cells have data entered in them or not. Using the table creation feature of Excel can allow users to quickly perform useful tasks and formatting on the table. There are two relatively simple ways to create data tables in Excel.

Instructions

Insert a Table

1

Open the Excel workbook containing the spreadsheet in which you want to insert a data table.

2

Highlight the range of cells that you want to include in the table by left-clicking on one corner of the area and dragging a box around the cells. You can include cells that do not currently contain data.

3

Click on the "Insert" tab and then click "Table" under the "Tables" group and click "Ok." The data field you selected will become a data table.

Create a Data Table Using Format

4

Open the Excel workbook containing the spreadsheet in which you want to insert a data table.

5

Highlight the range of cells that you want to include in the table by left-clicking on one corner of the area and dragging a box around the cells. You can include cells that do not currently contain data.

6

Click the "Home" tab (this tab is selected be default when you open Excel) and then click "Format as Table," under the "Styles" group, select one of the table formats from the drop-down menu and then click "Ok." The selected cells will be formatted as a data table in the style you selected.