How to make a relative formula in a Microsoft Word table?

Question

Example

2   2   =A1*B1

produces correct result, but when copied to a new row the formula make static reference to Row1.

I tried this and it works

2   2   =PRODUCT(LEFT)

BUT must be able to explicitly select which column in the formula.

Can anyone tell me a specific keyword or have some other formula to use a cell reference on the same row as the formula?

Answer 1

Word tables have very limited formula handling capabilities and must be recalculated by hand. I think you would be better off creating a spreadsheet in Excel (if you have it) and then either copy & paste the rows and columns of data from one program to the other OR save the spreadsheet as an Excel file and then insert that into your Word document.

Answer 2

I agree with @martineau, Excel is the way. You can insert an Excel sheet into a Word doc without creating a separate excel file:

In 2003 - From Insert/Object Create New... Microsoft Excel Worksheet

In 2007 - Insert - Table - Excel Spreadsheet

Answer 3

Here's a way of incrementing rows using SEQ field (which would work if your formula is in each row of table)

Microsoft word `product(left)` for all numeric cells

Answer 4

I realize this is an old question, but I just found a solution in the Office 365 version of Word, which allows you to reference bookmarks in formulas. I'm not sure of this feature's availability in older versions.

NOTE: This works fine for a small table, or, in my case, to sum just a few select cells in a table. i.e. =SUM(SubTotalA + SubTotalB).

If you have a large table, this would not be very effective, so your options for a large table would be to insert an Excel spreadsheet or write a macro to automate this process.

Steps are as follows:

1. Select the first cell you want to reference (make sure you select the whole cell, that seems to matter in my experimenting).
2. Go to the INSERT tab on the ribbon, and under the LINKS drop-down select BOOKMARK.
3. Add a named bookmark which will point to your cell. i.e. bookmark "A1"
4. Repeat for each cell you'd like to create a bookmark for. i.e. bookmark "B1"
5. Write your formula and use your bookmark names. i.e. "=PRODUCT(A1,B1)"
6. Insert rows/columns and your formula keeps working because the bookmarks seem to maintain the relative reference to the cell.