Word lets you calculate the sum of a column in a table, just like in a spreadsheet program such as Excel. In this post, you will learn how to do this in Word 2003, 2007 and 2010/2013/2016. As an example, let’s summarize a column of decimal numbers.
Word 2007 through 2016
Open Word and place your cursor in a blank cell at the bottom of the column that contains the numbers you want to sum.
The Tabular Tools tabs will become available. Click the Layout tab.
Click the Formula button in the Data group.
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The correct formula is automatically inserted into the Formula edit box of the Formula dialog box. I selected 0.00 from the Number Format dropdown list to format the number the same as the other numbers in the column. You can choose a different number format depending on your data.
Click “OK” to accept the settings.
The formula field is inserted into the cell, and the amount is calculated and displayed automatically. If you change any of the numbers in the Amount column, right-click the amount and choose Update Field from the pop-up menu to update the total. You can also press F9 when a field is selected to update it.
There is one big caveat when using such formulas in Word. All data must be contiguous, that is, there must be no breaks in the data. For example, take a look at the data below. The second column contains no data for March.
So instead of summing everything from January to June, we only summarize the values ??from April to June. Now if I put 0 in a cell and update the field, it gives me the correct answer that I was looking for.
Obviously, keep this in mind and check the results to make sure they are correct. These types of problems don’t usually occur in Excel because you need to specify exactly which cells you want to perform calculations in, but this is not the case in Word.
You may also notice that you do not see the AutoSum button on the Word Layout tab or on other tabs. This feature is available in Word, but not on any of the ribbon tabs. To access it, you must add it to the Quick Access Toolbar. To do this, click the “Office” button and click the “Word Options” button. In newer versions of Word, click File and then Options.
Select the Customize option from the list on the left side of the Word Options dialog box. In newer versions of Word, you must select the Quick Access Toolbar.
From the Select Commands From drop-down list, select Commands Not On The Ribbon.
Scroll under the Select commands from drop-down list until you find the Sum command. Select it and click the Add button. This adds the Sum command to the command list on the Quick Access Toolbar on the right side of the Word Options dialog box.
Click OK on the Word Options dialog box to close it. The Sum command appears as a button on the Quick Access Toolbar. You can click the Sum button while the cursor is in the last cell in the Sum column of the table discussed earlier to add up the numbers in the column.
Unfortunately, you cannot directly customize the ribbon tabs in Word. Additional tips for customizing and using commands on the ribbon panel are discussed in our post “Customizing the MS Office Ribbon.”
Word 2003
Below is an example of a table that we will use to show you how to sum a column of numbers in a table in Word 2003. To sum the numbers in a Sum column, place your cursor in the last cell of that column.
Choose “Formula” from the “Table” menu.
The formula edit box in the formula dialog box is automatically populated with the corresponding formula. We will format the grand total in the same way as the numbers in the Amount column. Select 0.00 from the Number Format drop-down list.
Click “OK” to accept your settings.
The total amount is entered in the last cell of the “Amount” column.
That’s all! It’s worth noting that you can insert more complex formulas into the formula box if you like, but Word doesn’t support all formulas that Excel supports, so don’t be surprised if you try an Excel formula and get an error. To see a list of all the formulas you can use in Word, browse this list from Microsoft by scrolling down to the available functions section. Enjoy!
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