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HTML Tables

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HTML Table Example

Number First Name Last Name Points
1 Eve Jackson 94
2 John Doe 80
3 Adam Johnson 67
4 Jill Smith 50

Defining HTML Tables

Example

<table style="width:100%">
  <tr>
    <td>Jill</td>
    <td>Smith</td>
    <td>50</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Eve</td>
    <td>Jackson</td>
    <td>94</td>
  </tr>
</table>
Try it Yourself »

Example explained:

Tables are defined with the <table> tag.

Tables are divided into table rows with the <tr> tag.

Table rows are divided into table data with the <td> tag.

A table row can also be divided into table headings with the <th> tag.

Table data <td> are the data containers of the table.
They can contain all sorts of HTML elements like text, images, lists, other tables, etc.

An HTML Table with a Border Attribute

If you do not specify a border for the table, it will be displayed without borders.

A border can be added using the border attribute:

Example

<table border="1" style="width:100%">
  <tr>
    <td>Jill</td>
    <td>Smith</td>
    <td>50</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Eve</td>
    <td>Jackson</td>
    <td>94</td>
  </tr>
</table>
Try it Yourself »

The border attribute is on its way out of the HTML standard! It is better to use CSS.

To add borders, use the CSS border property:

Example

table, th, td {
    border: 1px solid black;
}
Try it Yourself »

Remember to define borders for both the table and the table cells.

An HTML Table with Collapsed Borders

If you want the borders to collapse into one border, add CSS border-collapse:

Example

table, th, td {
    border: 1px solid black;
    border-collapse: collapse;
}
Try it Yourself »

An HTML Table with Cell Padding

Cell padding specifies the space between the cell content and its borders.

If you do not specify a padding, the table cells will be displayed without padding.

To set the padding, use the CSS padding property:

Example

table, th, td {
    border: 1px solid black;
    border-collapse: collapse;
}
th, td {
    padding: 15px;
}
Try it Yourself »

HTML Table Headings

Table headings are defined with the <th> tag.

By default, all major browsers display table headings as bold and centered:

Example

<table style="width:100%">
  <tr>
    <th>Firstname</th>
    <th>Lastname</th>
    <th>Points</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Eve</td>
    <td>Jackson</td>
    <td>94</td>
  </tr>
</table>
Try it Yourself »

To left-align the table headings, use the CSS text-align property:

Example

th {
    text-align: left;
}
Try it Yourself »

An HTML Table with Border Spacing

Border spacing specifies the space between the cells.

To set the border spacing for a table, use the CSS border-spacing property:

Example

table {
    border-spacing: 5px;
}
Try it Yourself »

If the table has collapsed borders, border-spacing has no effect.

Table Cells that Span Many Columns

To make a cell span more than one column, use the colspan attribute:

Example

<table style="width:100%">
  <tr>
    <th>Name</th>
    <th colspan="2">Telephone</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Bill Gates</td>
    <td>555 77 854</td>
    <td>555 77 855</td>
  </tr>
</table>
Try it Yourself »

Table Cells that Span Many Rows

To make a cell span more than one row, use the rowspan attribute:

Example

<table style="width:100%">
  <tr>
    <th>Name:</th>
    <td>Bill Gates</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th rowspan="2">Telephone:</th>
    <td>555 77 854</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>555 77 855</td>
  </tr>
</table>
Try it Yourself »

An HTML Table With a Caption

To add a caption to a table, use the <caption> tag:

Example

<table style="width:100%">
  <caption>Monthly savings</caption>
  <tr>
    <th>Month</th>
    <th>Savings</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>January</td>
    <td>$100</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>February</td>
    <td>$50</td>
  </tr>
</table>
Try it Yourself »

The <caption> tag must be inserted immediately after the <table> tag.

A Special Style for One Table

To define a special style for a special table, add an id attribute to the table:

Example

<table id="t01">
  <tr>
    <th>Firstname</th>
    <th>Lastname</th>
    <th>Points</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Eve</td>
    <td>Jackson</td>
    <td>94</td>
  </tr>
</table>

Now you can define a special style for this table:

table#t01 {
    width: 100%;
    background-color: #f1f1c1;
}
Try it Yourself »

And add more styles:

table#t01 tr:nth-child(even) {
    background-color: #eee;
}
table#t01 tr:nth-child(odd) {
    background-color: #fff;
}
table#t01 th {
    color: white;
    background-color: black;
}
Try it Yourself »

Chapter Summary

  • Use the HTML <table> element to define a table
  • Use the HTML <tr> element to define a table row
  • Use the HTML <td> element to define a table data
  • Use the HTML <th> element to define a table heading
  • Use the HTML <caption> element to define a table caption
  • Use the CSS border property to define a border
  • Use the CSS border-collapse property to collapse cell borders
  • Use the CSS padding property to add padding to cells
  • Use the CSS text-align property to align cell text
  • Use the CSS border-spacing property to set the spacing between cells
  • Use the colspan attribute to make a cell span many columns
  • Use the rowspan attribute to make a cell span many rows
  • Use the id attribute to uniquely define one table

Test Yourself with Exercises!

Exercise 1 »  Exercise 2 »  Exercise 3 »  Exercise 4 »  Exercise 5 »  Exercise 6 »

HTML Table Tags

Tag Description
<table> Defines a table
<th> Defines a header cell in a table
<tr> Defines a row in a table
<td> Defines a cell in a table
<caption> Defines a table caption
<colgroup> Specifies a group of one or more columns in a table for formatting
<col> Specifies column properties for each column within a <colgroup> element
<thead> Groups the header content in a table
<tbody> Groups the body content in a table
<tfoot> Groups the footer content in a table

 

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