Working with Microsoft Word tables can be deceptively tricky. On the surface, they look structured and clean, but if you’ve ever needed to reuse that data in Excel, you know the pain. Copying and pasting doesn’t align correctly. Merged cells break everything. And if you only need specific columns, things quickly spiral into manual chaos.
In this article we’ll explore why this is a common problem and how you can streamline the process—whether you’re a casual user or managing hundreds of documents.
Why You Can’t Just Copy-Paste
Word tables weren’t designed with data export in mind. Unlike Excel, which is fundamentally a database-friendly grid, Word tables are closer to page-layout elements. That means:
- Merged cells can cause column shifts.
- Mixed orientations (field on the left, value on the right) are inconsistent.
- Formatting tags sneak into Excel and break your alignment.
If you only want specific columns—say, Name, Email, and Phone—you’ll find yourself wasting time deleting unwanted rows and reformatting data manually.
Three Approaches to Extracting Specific Columns
1. Manual Selection (Quick but Limited)
Copy only the columns you need. Paste into Excel, then clean up formatting. Works if you have just one or two tables. The downside? It’s error-prone and not scalable.
2. Python Automation (Flexible for Developers)
If you’re comfortable with code, you can use python-docx to read Word tables and export chosen columns into Excel via pandas:
from docx import Document
import pandas as pd
doc = Document("example.docx")
data = []
for table in doc.tables:
for row in table.rows:
cells = [c.text.strip() for c in row.cells]
# adjust according to table layout
if len(cells) >= 3:
data.append([cells[0], cells[1], cells[2]]) # e.g. first 3 cols
df = pd.DataFrame(data, columns=["Name", "Email", "Phone"])
df.to_excel("output.xlsx", index=False)
This gives you precise control, but requires coding knowledge.
3. AI-Powered Tools (No Code, Scalable)
For non-technical users, tools like ChestnutTable can handle this automatically:
- Upload one or multiple Word files.
- Select the fields or columns you care about.
- Export directly into a clean, standardized Excel file.
This approach saves hours when dealing with dozens of documents, especially in education, HR, or data-collection workflows.
👉 Try a live demo: https://chestnuttable.vercel.app/
Final Thoughts
Exporting Word tables into Excel—especially when you only need specific columns—is a task that looks simple but hides complexity.
- For small one-off jobs → Manual copy is fine.
- For developers → Python scripts provide flexibility.
- For busy professionals → Automation tools like ChestnutTable remove friction.
At the end of the day, the right approach depends on scale. But if repetitive copy-paste is draining your time, it’s worth investing in automation.
Tip: The less time you spend wrangling Word tables, the more time you have to analyze the data that actually matters.