Even though Excel is much better for creating tables, which you can copy and paste into Word, if you make a table directly within your Word document, use Word's preset table formatting styles.

Formatting options A basic Word table is pretty boring. It matches your current style (so, for example, the font will be Cambria if you’re using Word’s default Normal style).

Formatting every new Word table you insert gets old in a hurry. Learn how to modify Word's default table style or use the Quick Tables feature instead.

How to Convert a Table to Elegant Style With Word. In Microsoft Word, you can change the style and format of your table using Table Styles and Table Tools. While the most common table styles are ...

Select a format from the ‘Number format’ list—I chose #,##0 to get a whole number result—and click OK. Word will automatically insert the total into the cell.

Expert Tip: Note Destination Styles uses the default Word table formatting, which usually results in a better-looking table. Keep Source Formatting uses the formatting from the Excel workbook.

Word’s a wiz at inserting and formatting tables, but by default, tables have borders. If you have to delete borders a lot, consider changing the default border property for tables.

Use Notepad to anticipate Word 2010’s paste preview feature by Tom Bunzel – What I used to call “the old Notepad trick” is interesting to consider at this time because in the new version ...