Turn table in Word - how it works

If you want to rotate a table in Word, the associated function cannot be seen at first glance. We'll show you step by step how to rotate the table in Word.

Rotate table in Word: No function available

In Word you can rotate a lot of content around its own axis, unfortunately tables are not included. If you only want to rotate the text in the table, you will find suitable instructions in the next paragraph. To rotate a table completely, you can use one of the following tricks.

• If you only want to rotate the view of the table, a change to landscape format is sufficient. In many cases, however, this is not enough.
• To really rotate a table, you need Excel. You can easily transpose tables there. Read the following practical tip for rotating tables in Excel. Paste the table in Excel, rotate it and then copy the table back to Word.

Word: Rotate contents of a table

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Word: Mark the table correctly

Align table in Word

Word: Rotate the contents of the table

More options for rotating tables

The contents of a table can be rotated comparatively easily in Word. You only need a few clicks for this.

1. Step 1 - Mark table : If you move the mouse over the table, a symbol with a cross appears in the top left. If you click on the symbol, the complete table is highlighted.
2. Step 2 - Align table : Then go to the "Layout" tab above and look for the "Alignment" category.
3. Step 3 - Rotate table in Word : If you click the "Text direction" button here, the table is rotated by 90 degrees. For further rotations, simply use the button again.
4. Step 4 - Further options for rotating the table : To the left of the button you will also find some options for aligning the text.

In the next practical tip, we will show you how to sort a table in Word by alphabet.