How can I convert text to tables in Pages?

Hi - I have a large amount of data from various documents that need to be converted from text to tables using Pages. However, I see that there has been no text to table conversion on Pages for some time. I have tried everything ... laboriously reformatting text separating related data by tabs, creating a table, clicking once on first cell then pasting or paste and match style and it simply places all data (no matter how it is separated) into one column only; none of the other columns populate the data... If anyone has a solution to this I would really appreciate it - otherwise Pages will be completely useless to me and I will have to use another word processor .... thanks

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Posted on Jun 3, 2023 1:02 AM

Top-ranking reply

VikingOSX

Level 10

128,312 points

Posted on Jun 3, 2023 4:34 AM

There is no automated solution available in Pages for converting text to table cells. Unlike current versions of LibreOffice Writer 7.* and MS Word 16.73, there is no Table > Convert > Text to Table menu item in Pages that opens a dialog allowing you to choose the separator character.

In Pages, one must separate the text to be converted to columns of text by a tab character, and a newline after the each future row entry — before copying that content to the clipboard. Next, one inserts a blank table, and single-clicks the first cell (e.g. A1), before pasting. Pages will automatically add rows and columns to match the pasted text content. This is a tried and proven method. If all of the text is deposited in the first cell, then click undo, and check the formatted content and how one selected the first cell.

For your stated large amount of data, you may be better served exporting the Pages content to Word, and then using either of the first paragraph's LibreOffice or Word applications to take advantage of their text to table automation features. Then you can reopen those completed Word documents in Pages again with their tabular data intact.

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How can I convert text to tables in Pages?

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