MS Word: How to Convert Text to a Table (and Table to Text)

Microsoft Word has a built-in feature that converts plain text into a structured table — and vice versa. This is useful when you receive unformatted data (from an email, a PDF, or a text file) and need to organize it into columns and rows. In this tutorial, Chris Menard demonstrates both directions of conversion.

Converting Text to a Table

For the conversion to work, your text needs a consistent delimiter — a character that separates what should be in different columns. Common delimiters include tabs, commas, or special characters like the dollar sign ($).

1. Select the text you want to convert
2. Go to Insert > Table > Convert Text to Table
3. In the dialog box, set the number of columns
4. Under "Separate text at," choose your delimiter (Tabs, Commas, or Other)
5. Choose an AutoFit option — "AutoFit to contents" usually works best
6. Click OK

Chris demonstrates this with a list of renovation items and costs separated by dollar signs. Word recognizes the delimiter and splits the text into a clean two-column table.

Converting a Table Back to Text

You can also go the other direction. If you have a table that you need as plain text:

1. Click inside the table
2. Go to the Table Layout tab (or Layout under Table Tools)
3. Click Convert to Text
4. Choose how to separate the columns (tabs, commas, paragraph marks, or custom character)
5. Click OK

This is handy when you need to paste table data into an email or a system that doesn't support tables.

Tips for Clean Conversions

• Make sure every row has the same number of delimiters — inconsistent delimiters create uneven columns
• If using "Other" delimiter, type the exact character in the box
• After converting, you can edit and format the table using Word's table design tools
• Use Show/Hide (¶) to see hidden characters like tabs before converting

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