HTML Tables

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

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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.

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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>

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	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;
}

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

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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 »

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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 »

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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>

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

Example

th {
    text-align: left;
}

Try it Yourself »

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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;
}

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

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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 »

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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 »

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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.

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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;
}

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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 »

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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

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Test Yourself with Exercises!

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

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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