HTML <table> Tag

Definition and Usage

The <table> tag defines an HTML table.

A simple HTML table consists of the table element and one or more tr, th, and td elements.

The tr element defines a table row, the th element defines a table header, and the td element defines a table cell.

A more complex HTML table may also include caption, col, colgroup, thead, tfoot, and tbody elements.

Browser Support

The <table> tag is supported in all major browsers.

Differences Between HTML and XHTML

The "align" and "bgcolor" attributes of the table element were deprecated in HTML 4.01, and are not supported in XHTML 1.0 Strict DTD.

Optional Attributes

DTD indicates in which DTD the attribute is allowed. S=Strict, T=Transitional, and F=Frameset.

Attribute	Value	Description	DTD
align	left center right	Deprecated. Use styles instead. Specifies the alignment of a table according to surrounding text	TF
bgcolor	rgb(x,x,x) #xxxxxx colorname	Deprecated. Use styles instead. Specifies the background color for a table	TF
border	pixels	Specifies the width of the borders around a table	STF
cellpadding	pixels	Specifies the space between the cell wall and the cell content	STF
cellspacing	pixels	Specifies the space between cells	STF
frame	void above below hsides lhs rhs vsides box border	Specifies which parts of the outside borders that should be visible	STF
rules	none groups rows cols all	Specifies which parts of the inside borders that should be visible	STF
summary	text	Specifies a summary of the content of a table	STF
width	pixels %	Specifies the width of a table	STF

Standard Attributes

The <table> tag supports the following standard attributes:

Attribute	Value	Description	DTD
class	classname	Specifies a classname for an element	STF
dir	rtl ltr	Specifies the text direction for the content in an element	STF
id	id	Specifies a unique id for an element	STF
lang	language_code	Specifies a language code for the content in an element	STF
style	style_definition	Specifies an inline style for an element	STF
title	text	Specifies extra information about an element	STF
xml:lang	language_code	Specifies a language code for the content in an element, in XHTML documents	STF

More information about Standard Attributes.

Event Attributes

The <table> tag supports the following event attributes:

Attribute	Value	Description	DTD
onclick	script	Script to be run on a mouse click	STF
ondblclick	script	Script to be run on a mouse double-click	STF
onmousedown	script	Script to be run when mouse button is pressed	STF
onmousemove	script	Script to be run when mouse pointer moves	STF
onmouseout	script	Script to be run when mouse pointer moves out of an element	STF
onmouseover	script	Script to be run when mouse pointer moves over an element	STF
onmouseup	script	Script to be run when mouse button is released	STF
onkeydown	script	Script to be run when a key is pressed	STF
onkeypress	script	Script to be run when a key is pressed and released	STF
onkeyup	script	Script to be run when a key is released	STF

More information about Event Attributes.

Try it Yourself - Examples

Table borders
HTML tables with different borders.

Table headers
How to create table headers.

Empty cells
How to use "&nbsp;" to handle cells that have no content.

Table with a caption
An HTML table with a caption.

Tags inside a table
How to display elements inside other elements.

Cells that span more than one row/column
How to define table cells that span more than one row or one column.

Cellpadding
How to use cellpadding to create more white space between the cell content and its borders.

Cellspacing
How to use cellspacing to increase the distance between the cells.

Add a background color or a background image to a table
How to add a background to a table.

The frame attribute
How to use the "frame" attribute to control the borders around the table.

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