Place a table with one click, and fill the cells from the keyboard.

Click the scene with the Table tool in the toolbar, and a 3×3 table appears with the cursor in the first cell. While you edit the table, use the sub-toolbar and the right-click menu to change rows, columns, and merged cells. Change colors and lines in the Table panel on the right.

ToolBeginnerAbout 5 minDesign mode

Make a table

Add a table

Click the scene, and a 3×3 table appears with its top-left corner at that spot. Drag instead, and the 3×3 table fills the box you drag. The first row is a header row in bold text, and the first cell starts open, so just start typing.

Click the sceneAdd a 3×3 table
Drag outA 3×3 table the size you drag

**Add a table**Clicking the scene makes a 3×3 table, and typing goes straight into the open first cell. Video: Clicking the canvas with the Table tool makes a table, and “Name” is typed straight into a cell.

Fill the cells

While you type, press Tab to open the next cell and keep typing. Press it in the last cell, and a new row appears below. Inside a cell, ↩ starts a new line. When the text is longer than the cell, it wraps and the row gets taller.

TabNext cell · a new row from the last cell
⇧TabPrevious cell
escStop typing · press again to stop table editing

**Fill the cells**Each Tab opens the next cell for typing, and pressing it in the last cell adds a new row. Video: As text is typed into the table’s cells, each press of Tab opens the next cell, and pressing Tab in the last cell adds a new row below.

Table editing

Table editing is the state where you select cells and change them. A blue bar sits above each column and to the left of each row, and selected cells turn blue.

Start table editing

Double-click a cell to start table editing: that cell opens with all its text selected. Select the table and press ↩ to start it with the first cell selected. The separate button at the right end of the sub-toolbar also starts and stops it. Click outside the table to stop, and the table is selected.

Double-click a cellOpen that cell to edit it
↩Table editing · press again to open the cell
esc · Click outside the tableStop table editing

Select cells

Click a cell to select it. Drag across cells, or hold ⇧ and click, to select several. Click a blue bar at the top or left to select that whole column or row, or click the dot in the top-left corner to select every cell. Typing into selected cells replaces their text, and Delete erases the text in them.

Click a cellOne cell
Drag across cells · ⇧+click a cellSeveral cells
Click a barA whole column or row
Arrow keysTo the next cell over
⌘AEvery cell

**Select cells**Dragging across two cells selects them, and clicking a bar at the top selects a whole column. Video: In table editing, dragging across two cells turns them blue, and clicking the blue bar above a column selects that whole column.

Add and delete rows and columns

On the sub-toolbar, Insert Row adds a row below the selected cells, and Insert Column adds a column to their right. Select several rows before you click, and it adds the same number of rows. To add above or to the left, right-click a cell and choose Insert Row Above or Insert Column Left. The same menu also has Insert Row Below and Insert Column Right. Delete Row and Delete Column delete the rows and columns that the selected cells span.

Insert Row · Insert ColumnBelow · to the right
Right-clickAlso above · to the left

**Add and delete rows and columns**Right-clicking a cell and choosing **Insert Row Below** adds an empty row under it. Video: In table editing, right-clicking the middle cell of the second row and choosing Insert Row Below adds an empty row under it, and the middle cell of the new row is selected.

Merge cells

Select several cells and click Merge Cells on the sub-toolbar to make them one cell. The text from each cell comes together in that one cell, each on its own line. When you select a merged cell, the same button shows as on. Click it again to unmerge. Unmerge Cells in the right-click menu does the same.

Change column width and row height

In table editing, drag a line between cells to resize the column to its left or the row above it. Equal Column Widths makes all columns the same width and keeps the table’s width as it is. Equal Row Heights matches every row to the tallest one. With the table selected, drag a handle to resize all columns and rows in proportion.

On selected cells, number keys press sub-toolbar buttons

When cells are only selected, typing a letter opens the cell and replaces its text with what you type. Number keys, though, press the sub-toolbar buttons in order from the left. For example, 3 is Align Text Right. To type numbers, open the cell first: double-click it or press ↩. A cell you move to with Tab from a cell you were typing in is already open, but a cell you select with a click or the arrow keys is closed.

Table panel

It appears in the right panel when the table is selected or you’re in table editing. Select cells in table editing, and Cell shows at the top. Outside table editing, Radius and Table Style show below.

Style

Six table looks sit here as small pictures: Default, Banded, Lines Only, Grid, Dark Header, and Accent Header. Click one to change the colors of the header, bands, inner lines, and outer border all at once. Backgrounds and borders you gave to individual cells stay as they are.

Rows, columns, and header rows

Type a number in Rows or Columns to add or delete rows at the bottom or columns at the far right. Text in deleted rows and columns goes with them, and a table holds up to 400 cells in all. Header Rows is the number of rows, from the top, painted in the header color. Turn on Banded Rows to color every other body row.

Inner lines and colors

Under Inner Lines, Horizontal and Vertical turn the lines between cells on and off. Click the color in Header Color, Band Color, or Line Color to change it. Header Color shows only when Header Rows is 1 or more, Band Color only when Banded Rows is on, and Line Color only when at least one kind of inner line is on.

Cell padding

The space between the text and the cell’s edges. Under Table, Cell Padding sets it for the whole table. Under Cell, Cell Padding sets it for just the selected cells. Both use Horizontal and Vertical.

Cell background and cell borders

These apply only to the cells you select in table editing. Click the color in Cell Background to fill the selected cells, and use No Fill or Table Default to take it back. For Cell Borders, set the line color and thickness in the top row, then click a button such as All Borders or Outer Borders to draw them. Click Back to Table Lines to return those cells’ borders to the table’s lines.

Text in cells

Style the text in selected cells the way you style any text. Change the font, size, and color in the Text panel on the right, and the alignment and Bold on the sub-toolbar. With several cells selected, they all change at once. To change every cell, press ⌘A in table editing to select them all. With only the table selected, the Text panel doesn’t show, and text shortcuts don’t apply to the cells.

Radius and table style

Radius works the same as corner radius in Shapes and frames. Round the corners, and Clip Contents hides the cells along that curve. In Table Style, Fills is the table’s background and Strokes is its outer border. You can’t resize the table with the fields in the Object panel, so drag the handles or the lines between cells.

Other ways to fill and move a table

Tip

To bring cells in from a spreadsheet. Copy the cells in Excel or Google Sheets. If you’re typing in a cell, press esc once to close it. Then click the first cell in table editing to select it, and press ⌘V. The cells fill in order, starting from the selected one. Anything bigger than the table is cut off, so add rows and columns first.

Tip

To move the whole table. In table editing, drag the blue dot at the top-left corner to move the table. Outside table editing, drag the table to move it.

Shortcuts on this page

Shortcuts on this page
Next cell · a new row from the last cell	Tab
Previous cell	⇧Tab
Table editing · open the selected cell	↩
Stop typing · stop table editing	esc
Erase the text in selected cells	Delete
Select every cell (in table editing)	⌘A

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Updated 10/12/2026 · The videos on this page were recorded in the current editor.