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HTML-tables

HTML tables allow web developers to arrange data into rows and columns.

CompanyContactCountrys
Alfreds FutterkisteMaria AndersGermany
Centro comercial MoctezumaFrancisco ChangMexico
Ernst HandelRoland MendelAustria
Island TradingHelen BennettUK
Laughing Bacchus WinecellarsYoshi TannamuriCanada
Magazzini Alimentari RiunitiGiovanni RovelliItaly

Define an HTML Table A table in HTML consists of table cells inside rows and columns.

Example

A simple HTML table:

<table>
<tr>
<th>Company</th>
<th>Contact</th>
<th>Country</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Alfreds Futterkiste</td>
<td>Maria Anders</td>
<td>Germany</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Centro comercial Moctezuma</td>
<td>Francisco Chang</td>
<td>Mexico</td>
</tr>
</table>

table

Table Cells Each table cell is defined by a <td> and a </td> tag.

td stands for table data.

Everything between <td> and </td> are the content of the table cell.

Example

<table>
<tr>
<td>Email</td>
<td>Tobias</td>
<td>Linus</td>
</tr>
</table>

table

Note:

A table cell can contain all sorts of HTML elements: text, images, lists, links, other tables, etc.

Table Rows

Each table row starts with a <tr> and ends with a </tr> tag.

tr stands for table row.

Example

<table>
<tr>
<td>Emil</td>
<td>Tobias</td>
<td>Linus</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>16</td>
<td>14</td>
<td>10</td>
</tr>
</table>

table

You can have as many rows as you like in a table; just make sure that the number of cells are the same in each row.

Note: There are times when a row can have less or more cells than another. You will learn about that in a later chapter.

Table Headers

Sometimes you want your cells to be table header cells. In those cases use the <th> tag instead of the <td> tag:

th stands for table header.

Example

Let the first row be table header cells:

<table>
<tr>
<th>Person 1</th>
<th>Person 2</th>
<th>Person 3</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Emil</td>
<td>Tobias</td>
<td>Linus</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>16</td>
<td>14</td>
<td>10</td>
</tr>
</table>

table

By default, the text in <th> elements are bold and centered, but you can change that with CSS.

HTML Table Tags

TagDescription
<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