More and more emails these days come packed with tables, especially when you’re trying to present data cleanly. It’s kind of weird, but most email clients now support inserting basic tables, but the process isn’t always straightforward, especially if you’re switching between devices or platforms. Sometimes the built-in table feature like in Outlook desktop is handy, but on mobile, you’re kinda left scrambling for workarounds. This guide covers the main ways to get tables into your emails, whether you’re on PC, mobile, or just want a universal method that works everywhere. The goal is to make your data look neat without too much fuss, and trust me, once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty smooth sailing—except when it isn’t, and you run into quirks that make you want to tear your hair out. But hey, don’t worry, this should help cut through the confusion and get those tables in place.
Method 1 – How to Insert a Table in Outlook Email on the PC
The Outlook desktop app has a surprisingly decent table editor, kinda like Word, which makes your life easier if you need to toss in a quick table. Of course, it’s not perfect—the grid selection caps at 10×10, which is fine for small stuff, but larger tables? That’s where the manual “Insert table…” option comes in handy. On some setups, clicking the insert grid works fine, but on others, you might have to do it manually, so don’t get frustrated if it’s a bit glitchy at first. Once you craft your table, you can resize, merge cells, or split them as needed, which is again similar to Word, but watch out: the context menu can be kinda finicky and might not fully open if your table’s too big or in a weird spot.
How to insert a table in Outlook on Windows
- Go to Outlook and start drafting an email. If the window feels cramped or you want a nicer editing experience, look for the “Open in new window” button (usually an icon at the top right corner).That should give you a full Word-like interface to work with. This makes inserting and editing tables a lot smoother.
- Head over to the “Insert” tab in the ribbon. Click it, then place your cursor where you want the table.
- Click on the “Table” button — it’s that grid icon. You can slide your mouse over the grid to pick the number of rows and columns, but remember it’s limited to 10×10 unless you go for the manual method.
- For bigger tables: Choose “Insert table…” from the dropdown. A small dialog box will pop up, letting you punch in exactly how many rows and columns you need. Hit “OK” after entering your numbers.
- Enter your data— easy enough, like in Word. Resize the table by dragging the corners or edges in the bottom right corner of the table. Want to merge cells? Select multiple cells, then click the three-dot icon that appears and choose “Merge cells.” To split merged cells, select them, then pick “Split cells” from the same menu.
Heads up—the table options menu occasionally behaves weirdly if you resize or move the table around, so sometimes you gotta mess with the size or position it’s in. But overall, it’s pretty reliable once you get used to where the options are.
Method 2 – How to Insert a Table in an Email for Outlook on Mobile
If you’re trying this on a phone or tablet using Outlook’s mobile app, good luck. The app doesn’t support the built-in table editor—at least not directly. So, the workaround? Use Outlook on the browser, which is a bit clunky but gets the job done. Yes, it’s a weak spot, because of course Windows has to make it harder than it needs to.
Open your mobile browser and navigate to Outlook for the web. Sign in with your account. If you don’t want to sign in every time, you can save the login, but be careful if it’s a shared device. You might get a weird zoom when you expand the email editor, so watch out for that—zoom out if you need to see the full toolbar.
Tap on “New Mail” to start composing. Expand the editor window by tapping the expand icon (usually a double-arrow or an expand button).Now, since you can’t directly insert tables here, the trick is to create your table elsewhere—say, in Google Sheets or Excel—and then copy it over.
Once your table is ready, long-press on it and choose “Copy.” Then go back into the email draft, tap in the body where you want it, and just tap “Paste.” The table should appear, and you can move or resize it by selecting or editing as needed. Keep in mind, the paste might come in as an image on some devices, so if the formatting looks off, you might have to tweak or recreate the table in a different tool.
Method 3 – How to Insert a Table in an Email on All Platforms
This option is kind of a universal workaround—use a dedicated table editor like Google Sheets or Excel, craft your table, then bring it over. It’s especially useful if you don’t have direct support in your email client or if you want more control over the style and layout.
Create your table in Google Sheets, Excel, or another table editor. Fill it with whatever data you need—just make sure it looks decent, because once you paste it, tweaking in the email can be limited.
Copy the entire table—drag across it and hit Ctrl + C (or long-press and tap “Copy” on your phone).Then, switch to your email window and click where you want the table. Paste it with Ctrl + V (or long-press and tap “Paste”).
On some platforms, that’ll put the table right into the email body, complete with gridlines. If it looks a little off, or if you want to clean up the formatting, select the pasted table, look for “Styles” or “Formatting, ” and choose “Clear formatting” if necessary. Just don’t forget—pasting as images is also a thing, so double-check that it’s a real table and not just a picture. Because, of course, Windows and email clients like Gmail or Outlook can be inconsistent about this.
On one setup, it worked on the first try. On another, the formatting got all wonky and needed some manual adjustments. The whole thing feels a little clunky, but it’s better than nothing if your email client doesn’t support tables natively.
Summary
- Using Outlook’s built-in table tools on PC can be quick, but limited if you need bigger tables.
- On mobile, the browser trick is kinda the only game in town—create or copy tables elsewhere and paste.
- For ultimate control, create tables in another editor, then copy and paste into your email. Just watch out for pasted images or formatting messes.
Wrap-up
Tables in emails aren’t rocket science, but they sure can be annoying when the tools don’t cooperate. Trying the native editor on Windows, or the browser hack on mobile, covers most use cases. It feels a bit inconsistent, but hey—it’s better than manually building HTML, which is overkill for most people. The key takeaway? Prepare your tables ahead of time in a spreadsheet, then bring them in—works surprisingly well, even if the formatting isn’t always perfect at first.
Hopefully this shaves off a few hours for someone. Just keep in mind that some platforms are better than others, and a little patience might be needed.