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Perform Simple Calculations in Word Tables

By Donna Payne

Donna Payne is president and founder of Payne Consulting Group,
a training and development company headquartered in Seattle.

You quickly can add numbers in Word tables. Just type the numbers you wish to add and then either click the “AutoSum” button on the “Tables and Borders” toolbar, or choose “Formula” from the “Table” menu and type in the appropriate formula. By default, Word adds all of the numbers above the calculation and creates the formula “=SUM(ABOVE).” If you want to add numbers to the left or right of the calculation, substitute the word “LEFT” or “RIGHT” for “ABOVE.”

• Create a new document and insert a table with one column and six rows.
• Type “Billable Hours” in the first row and then numbers in the next four rows.
• Click in the last cell.
• Click the “AutoSum” symbol on the “Tables and Borders” toolbar (the last button).
• Change the values of two of the numbers — notice the total doesn’t update since the calculation actually is a field.
• Highlight the total and press “F9,” or right click the total and select “Update Field” from the shortcut menu.

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