Bhavitha Cherukuri: HTML Table Borders

HTML Table Borders

HTML tables can have borders of different styles and shapes.

How To Add a Border

To add a border, use the CSS border property on table , th, and td elements:

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
table, th, td {
  border: 1px solid black;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>

<h2>Table With Border</h2>

<p>Use the CSS border property to add a border to the table.</p>

<table style="width:100%">
  <tr>
    <th>Firstname</th>
    <th>Lastname</th> 
    <th>Rollno</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Jill</td>
    <td>Smith</td>
    <td>1</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Eve</td>
    <td>Jackson</td>
    <td>2</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>John</td>
    <td>Doe</td>
    <td>3</td>
  </tr>
</table>

</body>
</html>

Collapsed Table Borders

To avoid having double borders like in the example above, set the CSS border-collapse property to collapse.

This will make the borders collapse into a single border:

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
table, th, td {
  border: 1px solid black;
  border-collapse: collapse;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>

<h2>Collapsed Borders</h2>
<p>If you want the borders to collapse into one border, add the CSS border-collapse property.</p>

<table style="width:100%">
  <tr>
    <th>Firstname</th>
    <th>Lastname</th> 
    <th>Rollno</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Jill</td>
    <td>Smith</td>
    <td>1</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Eve</td>
    <td>Jackson</td>
    <td>2</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>John</td>
    <td>Doe</td>
    <td>3</td>
  </tr>
</table>

</body>
</html>

Style Table Borders

If you set a background color of each cell, and give the border a white color (the same as the document background), you get the impression of an invisible border:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
table, th, td {
  border: 1px solid white;
  border-collapse: collapse;
}
th, td {
  background-color: #96D4D4;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>

<h2>Table With Invisible Borders</h2>

<p>Style the table with white borders and a background color of the cells to make the impression of invisible borders.</p>

<table style="width:100%">
  <tr>
    <th>Firstname</th>
    <th>Lastname</th> 
    <th>Rollno</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Jill</td>
    <td>Smith</td>
    <td>1</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Eve</td>
    <td>Jackson</td>
    <td>2</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>John</td>
    <td>Doe</td>
    <td>3</td>
  </tr>
</table>

</body>
</html>

Dotted Table Borders

With the border-style property, you can set the appearance of the border.

The following values are allowed:

dotted
dashed
solid
double
groove
ridge
inset
outset
none
hidden

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
th, td {
  border-style: dotted;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>

<h2>Table With Dotted Borders</h2>

<p>Use the CSS border-style property to set the style of the borders.</p>

<table style="width:100%">
  <tr>
    <th>Firstname</th>
    <th>Lastname</th> 
    <th>Age</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Jill</td>
    <td>Smith</td>
    <td>50</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Eve</td>
    <td>Jackson</td>
    <td>94</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>John</td>
    <td>Doe</td>
    <td>80</td>
  </tr>
</table>

</body>
</html>