How to Change Text Color in a Table

Table with colored text

Tables are an excellent way of quickly showing the relationships among different data. Among many controllable formats, the color of text can highlight important information. This example specifically uses Microsoft Word in the Windows XP operating system. However, the procedures apply generally to all programs under all operating systems.

Instructions

Coloring

1. Open or create a table in your favorite word processing program.

2. To make word selection easier, click on the "Show/Hide" button near the end of the standard toolbar until hidden formats are showing.

3. Select the text you want to color, using one of the methods described in the next section.

4. 

   Choose the "Format" menu and the "Font" option to display the "Font" dialog box.

5. 

   Choose a color in the "Color" drop own near the left center of the dialog. For a wider range of colors, choose "More Colors."

6. Click the "OK" button. The text you selected appears with the chosen color.

Selecting

1. 

   Select an individual word by clicking the cursor at the beginning of the text. While holding the mouse key down, drag the cursor to the end of the word until all the letters are selected.

2. 

   Select a cell by moving the cursor to the beginning of the cell until a black arrow appears. Click on the cell to select it. In this example, the cell with the highest number in each column was selected and colored purple.

3. 

   Select an entire row by moving the cursor to just outside the first gridline of the row. The cursor turns into the standard white arrow. Click to select the row. In this example, the top header row was selected and colored red.

4. 

   Select an entire column by moving the cursor to the top of the first cell in the column until a black arrow appears. Click to select the entire row. In this example, the left title row was selected and colored blue.

5. 

   Select the entire table by clicking anywhere in the table. Then from the "Table" menu, choose "Select," and then "Table."

References

• Changing Font Color
• Selecting Text