Use a screen reader to insert a table in Outlook

Office Accessibility Center > Accessibility support for Outlook and Mail

This article is for people who use a screen reader program with the Office products and is part of the Office Accessibility content set. For more general help, see Office Support home.

Windows Windows 10 app

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Create and edit a table in your email message in Outlook 2016 using your keyboard and Narrator, the built-in Windows screen reader.

Notes: 

• New Office 365 features are released gradually to Office 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you could get new features faster, visit When do I get the newest features in Office 2016 for Office 365?.

• This topic assumes that you are using the built-in Windows screen reader, Narrator. To learn more about using Narrator, go to Get started with Narrator.

• For keyboard shortcuts, go to Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook.

• This topic makes note of the JAWS functionality as well. To learn more about JAWS for Windows, go to JAWS for Windows Quick Start Guide.

In this topic

• Convert text to a table

• Insert a table

• Delete a table

• Set table properties

• Add columns or rows to a table

Convert text to a table

If you have a block of text that uses consistent separators, it is easy to convert it to a table.

1. Select the piece of text you want to convert to a table.

2. To open the Convert Text to Table dialog, press Alt+N, press T, and then press V.

3. Do one of the following:

   • If your text uses paragraphs as separators, press Alt+P.

   • If your text uses commas as separators, press Alt+M.

   • If your text uses tabs as separators, press Alt+T.

4. Press the Tab key until you hear "OK button," and then press Enter. The table is created and the focus returns to the message with the table selected.

Convert a table to text

1. Place the cursor somewhere in the table you want to convert to text.

2. Press Alt+J, and then press L to open the Layout tab of the Table Tools.

3. Press V to open the Convert Table to Text dialog, and then do one of the following:

   • If you want the text to use paragraphs as separators, press P.

   • If you want the text to use commas as separators, press M.

   • If you want the text to use tabs as separators, press T.

4. Press the Tab key until you hear "OK button," and then press Enter. The focus returns to the message with the text selected.

Insert a table

You can specify the dimensions of a table, such as the number of columns and rows, and their height and width. Outlook inserts a basic grid-type table for your use.

Note: To make a table as accessible as possible, it's important to give the table a header row.

1. While writing a message, place the cursor where you want to insert the new table.

2. To open the Insert Table dialog, press Alt+N, press T, and then press I.

3. Type the number of columns you want.

4. Press the Tab key, and then type the number of rows you want.

5. If you want to use these dimensions again in the future, press Alt+S to select the Remember dimensions for new tables option.

6. To close the Insert Table dialog, press the Tab key until you hear "OK button," and then press Enter. Outlook adds the table to your message and the focus moves to the first column of the first row.

7. To check that your table has a header row, press Alt+J, and then press T to open the Design tab of the Table Tools.

8. Press the Tab key until you hear "Checked, Header row check box." With JAWS, you hear: "Table style options group box, header row check box, checked." If you hear "Unchecked," press Spacebar to toggle the header row on, otherwise press the Esc key to return the focus to the table.

9. Use the arrow keys to move around the table, and type your information in the cells.

Use built-in table styles

After creating a table, you can quickly modify its appearance using the built-in styles in Outlook.

1. Place the cursor anywhere in the table.

2. Press Alt+J, and then press T to open the Design tab of the Table Tools.

3. Press S to open the Table Styles menu.

4. Use arrow keys to move through the list of styles until you find the one you want, for example, "Grid table 1, light."

5. To select the style you want, press Enter. The selected style is applied to your table and the focus returns to the table.

Delete a table

1. While writing a message, place the cursor anywhere in the table you want to delete.

2. Press Alt+J, and then press L to open the Layout tab of the Table Tools.

3. To delete the entire table, press D, and then press T. The table is deleted, and the focus returns to the message.

Set table properties

Use the Table Properties dialog to give your table a title and a description to make it more accessible, or to modify table alignment.

1. While writing a message, place the cursor anywhere in the table you want to edit.

2. To open the Table Properties dialog, press Alt+J, press L, and then press O.

3. To set the alignment of the table in relation to the body text of the message, do one of the following:

   • To align the table with the left edge of the text, press Alt+L.

   • To align the table with the center of the text, press Alt+C.

   • To align the table with the right edge of the text, press Alt+H.

4. To choose how body text wraps around the table, do one of the following:

   • To make the text wrap around the sides of the table, press Alt+A.

   • To make the table separate from text, press Alt+N.

5. To give the table a title and a description, press Alt+T, and then press the Right arrow key until you hear "Selected, Alt Text tab item." With JAWS, you hear: "Alt text tab."

6. Press the Tab key and type the table title, and then press the Tab key and type the description.

7. Press the Tab key until you hear "OK button," and then press Enter. The focus returns to the message.

Add columns or rows to a table

1. While writing a message, place the cursor at the point in the table where you want to add a columns or row.

2. Press Alt+J, and then press L to open the Layout tab of the Table Tools.

3. Do one of the following:

   • To add a row above the selected point, press A.

   • To add a row below the selected point, press B, and then press E.

   • To add a column left of the selected point, press L.

   • To add a column right of the selected point, press R.

4. The menu closes, and the focus returns to the table.

See also

Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook

Keyboard shortcuts for navigating mail in Outlook

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Office 365

Learn how to navigate in Outlook using accessible features

Create and edit a table in your email message in Outlook Mail using Narrator, the built-in Windows screen reader.

Notes: 

• New Office 365 features are released gradually to Office 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you could get new features faster, visit When do I get the newest features in Office 2016 for Office 365?.

• This topic assumes that you are using the built-in Windows screen reader, Narrator. To learn more about using Narrator, go to Get started with Narrator.

• This topic assumes you are using this app with a Windows phone. Some navigation and gestures might be different for a tablet or PC.

In this topic

• Convert text to a table

• Insert a table

• Delete a table

• Modify table properties

• Add columns or rows to a table

Convert text to a table

If you have a block of text that uses consistent separators, it is easy to convert it to a table.

1. While writing a message, select the piece of text you want to convert to a table.

2. Swipe right until you hear "More options, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

3. Swipe right until you hear "Insert, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

4. Swipe right until you hear "Table button," and then double-tap the screen.

   The table is created and the focus returns to the message with the table selected. You hear the table properties.

Insert a table

When you insert a blank table in an email, Outlook adds a basic grid-type table with three rows and three columns. You can later add more columns and rows if needed.

Note: To make a table as accessible as possible, it's important to give the table a header row.

1. While writing a message, place the cursor where you want to insert the new table.

2. Swipe right until you hear "More options, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

3. Swipe right until you hear "Insert, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

4. Swipe right until you hear "Table button," and then double-tap the screen.

   The table is created and the focus returns to the message with the table selected. You hear the table properties.

Use built-in table styles

After creating a table, you can quickly modify its appearance by using the built-in styles in Outlook.

1. Place the cursor anywhere in the table.

2. Swipe right until you hear "More options, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

3. Swipe right until you hear "Table, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

4. Swipe right until you hear "Table styles, and then double-tap the screen.

5. In the Table Styles menu, swipe right until you hear the table style you want, and then double-tap the screen.

   The selected style is applied to your table and the focus returns to the table.

Delete a table

1. While writing a message, place the cursor anywhere in the table you want to delete.

2. Swipe right until you hear "More options, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

3. Swipe right until you hear "Table, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

4. You hear: "Delete, button collapsed." The focus is on the Delete button. Double-tap the screen to select.

5. To delete the entire table, swipe right until you hear "Delete table button," and then double-tap the screen.

   The table is deleted, and the focus returns to the message.

Modify table properties

You can modify table alignment, give your table a title and a description to make it accessible, change table style options, and more.

1. While writing a message, place the cursor anywhere in the table.

2. Swipe right until you hear "More options, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

3. Swipe right until you hear "Table, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

4. In the Table menu, swipe right until you hear the option you want, and then double-tap the screen to select.

   • To adjust the table alignment, select Alignment. In the Alignment menu, swipe right until you hear the option you want, and then double-tap the screen.

   • To add alternative text title and description, select Alt text. In the dialog, type the table title, swipe right, and then double-tap the screen. Type the table description. Drag one finger up on the screen until you hear "Done button," and then double-tap the screen.

   • To modify the table style options, select Style Options. In the Style Options menu, swipe right until you hear the style option and then double-tap the screen.

Add columns or rows to a table

1. While writing a message, move the cursor in the table to the point where you want to add a column or row to.

2. Swipe right until you hear "More options, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

3. Swipe right until you hear "Table, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

4. Swipe right until you hear "Insert button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

5. In the Insert menu, swipe right until you hear the option you want, and then double-tap the screen.

   The column or row is added in the table. The focus moves to the added row or column in the table.

See also

Use a screen reader to format text in your email in Outlook

Use a screen reader to insert a picture or image in Outlook

Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook

Learn how to navigate in Outlook using accessible features

Technical support for customers with disabilities

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