I know what I can set tab settings and then type in the text, and Word will
put everything in a table format...but I want to do it the other way around.

I already have the text present, and I want to then set the tabs and have
everything transform into table format. Is this possible?

I want to do it only using TAB SETTINGS to define the columns.

Thanks for any help.

See http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/SettingTabs.htm. Note that this may
not do what you want. See also
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/TableBasics.htm

You can convert a table to text (separating with tabs) or text to a table
(separating at tabs), but you can't insert tabs automatically from the Table
menu.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Mariana" wrote in message
...
I know what I can set tab settings and then type in the text, and Word
will
put everything in a table format...but I want to do it the other way
around.

I already have the text present, and I want to then set the tabs and have
everything transform into table format. Is this possible?

I want to do it only using TAB SETTINGS to define the columns.

Thanks for any help.

On Mon, 2 Jan 2006 14:47:03 -0800, "Mariana"
wrote:

I know what I can set tab settings and then type in the text, and Word will
put everything in a table format...but I want to do it the other way around.

I already have the text present, and I want to then set the tabs and have
everything transform into table format. Is this possible?

I want to do it only using TAB SETTINGS to define the columns.

Thanks for any help.

Hi Marianna,

You can select the text, go to Table Convert Text to Table, and
choose Tab as the separator character. But the tab *settings* won't
do; you must have actual tab characters in the text for this to work.

To see what's there, click the ¶ button on the toolbar to turn on
nonprinting characters. Each tab character appears as a small black
arrow pointing to the right, and each paragraph mark appears as a ¶
symbol at the end of the line. Each line should have the same number
of tab characters. Click the button again to turn off the nonprinting
characters.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.