Hello, my name is Erin.
This tutorial shows how to save tables as custom templates in Microsoft Word.
We will also look at how to use custom table templates
and how to delete them.
Custom table templates can be reused throughout all your documents to help maintain visual consistency
and improve your production time.
Today I will be using Word for Microsoft 365.
These steps also apply to the one-time purchase versions of the software back to Word 2016.
In addition, the steps will be similar in older versions of the software.
However, your interface may look different than the interface shown here.
We will cover this topic in Word for Mac in a separate tutorial.
Before we begin, please note that these steps assume you have already created the table you want to turn into a template.
For a full tutorial about creating tables,
please see my previous tutorial “Three Ways to Create Tables in Microsoft Word.”
To begin saving your table as a template, hover your cursor over it and then select the handle at the top, left corner.
This handle will select the entire table.
If you want to remove the text before saving your table as a template,
press the Delete key on your keyboard.
The text will be deleted, but the font formatting will be preserved in the empty cells.
Then, reselect the handle in order to reselect the table.
Next, select the Insert tab in the ribbon.
And then select the Table button in the Tables group.
Followed by Quick Tables from the drop-down menu.
And then select Save Selection to Quick Tables Gallery from the submenu.
When the Create New Building Block dialog box appears, enter a name into the text box.
You also have the option to enter additional information into the Description text box.
For best results, leave the remaining options in this dialog box in their default settings.
Finally, select the OK button.
Your custom table template should be added to the Quick Tables Gallery, as shown in the next section.
Note that when you save and then close the document,
a dialog box will appear asking if you want to save changes to “Building Blocks.”
Tables are part of Word’s Building Block system,
which is a collection of saved elements that can be reused in any of your documents.
Select the Save button to save your new table template.
To use a custom table template, place your cursor in the text where you want to insert the table.
And then select the Insert tab in the ribbon.
From there, select the Table button.
And then select Quick Tables from the drop-down menu.
Locate and select your custom table from the General section in the submenu.
The table should appear in your document.
Enter or edit the table text as you normally would.
Now we’re going to look at how to delete any table in your document
and how to delete a custom table template from the Quick Tables Gallery.
To delete a table in your document, hover your cursor over it
and then select the handle at the top, left corner order to select the entire table.
Next, right-click the table, and then select Delete Table from the shortcut menu.
To delete a custom table template from the Quick Tables Galley, select the Insert tab.
Followed by the Table button.
And Quick Tables.
Next, right-click the custom table template in the submenu,
and then select Organize and Delete from the shortcut menu.
The template will be automatically selected in the Building Blocks Organizer.
Be careful not to select any other blocks.
Next, select the Delete button.
And then select Yes in the dialog box asking if you are sure you want to delete the selected building block.
Lastly, select the Close button.
If you reselect the Table button
and Quick Tables,
you should see that your table template has been removed from the gallery.
After saving and closing the document,
select the Save button in the dialog box asking if you want to save changes to “Building Blocks.”
For more Microsoft Word tutorials, please see my playlist “How to Use Microsoft Word”
where you will find many related videos such as “How to Save Charts as Templates in Microsoft Word”
And, “How to Save Tables and Figures as Images in Microsoft Word.”
All the resources mentioned today are linked in the description box below along with my website erinwrightwriting.com,
which shows all the steps we just preformed with images.
Feel free to leave me a comment if there’s a specific topic that you would like me to talk about in the future.
And please subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss upcoming tutorials.
And give this video a thumbs-up if you found it helpful.
Thank you so much for watching!
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