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If you’re working in Word and you need to total values in a table, you can do so without having to enter the data into Excel and then copy and paste it into Word. Word can do simple calculations such as summing, multiplying, and averaging.
NOTE: When you add new rows or columns of values to a table in Word, the formulas will not automatically update. To update a formula, right-click on the formula and choose Update Field from the popup menu.
To enter a formula into a cell in a table, put the cursor in the cell and click the Layout tab under Table Tools.
Click Formula in the Data section of the Layout tab.
In this example, we are going to multiply the Units by the Unit Cost and then total the Total column. To do this, we enter the following in the Formula edit box on the Formula dialog box to multiply the two number to the left of the current cell:
=PRODUCT(LEFT)
Select an option from the Number format drop-down list to specify the format format for the result of the formula.
NOTE: For more information about the formulas available and how to use them, see Microsoft’s Office site.
Click OK to accept the settings and insert the formula into the cell.
The result of the formula displays in the cell.
NOTE: If you right-click on a cell containing a formula and select Toggle Field Codes from the popup menu, the actual formula displays in the cell, as shown in the first image at the beginning of this article. Right-click again and select Toggle Field Codes again to display the result.
We followed the same steps to multiply the Units and Unit Cost in each of the other rows.
Now, make sure there’s an extra row at the bottom of the table so we can total the costs. Put the cursor in the empty cell at the bottom of the Total column. Click Formula in the Data section of the Layout tab again to access the Formula dialog box. Enter the following formula in the Formula edit box (the formula might default to the SUM formula with ABOVE as the argument):
=SUM(ABOVE)
Select an appropriate Number format and click OK.
The total of the Total column displays in the cell.
If you want to try out this feature, we’ve included the SampleWordTable we used. The totals in the Total column are just numbers. Replace those with the PRODUCT formula and then add a row at the bottom to total the Total column.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION (2 REPLIES)Lori Kaufman is a writer who likes to write geeky how-to articles to help make people's lives easier through the use of technology. She loves watching and reading mysteries and is an avid Doctor Who fan.
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