The HTML element table header cell <th> defines a cell as header of a group of table cells. This group is defined by the {{htmlattrxref("scope", "th")}} and {{htmlattrxref("headers", "th")}} attributes.
Usage context
| Content categories | None. |
| Permitted content |
Phrasing content.
|
| Tag omission | The start tag is mandatory. The end tag may be omitted, if it is immediately followed by a {{HTMLElement("th")}} or {{HTMLElement("td")}} element or if there are no more data in its parent element. |
| Permitted parent elements | A {{HTMLElement("tr")}} element. |
| Normative document | HTML5, section 4.9.10 (HTML4.01, section 11.2.6) |
Attributes
This element includes the global attributes.
- {{htmlattrdef("abbr")}} {{obsolete_inline}} in {{HTMLVersionInline("5")}}
- This attribute contains a short abbreviated description of the cell's content. A user-agent (e.g., a speech reader) may be present in front of the description.
Note: Do not use this attribute as it has become obsolete in the latest standard. Alternatively, you can put the abbreviated description inside the cell and place the long content in the title attribute.
- {{htmlattrdef("align")}} {{Deprecated_inline}} in {{HTMLVersionInline("4")}}, {{obsolete_inline}} in {{HTMLVersionInline("5")}}
- This enumerated attribute specifies how the cell content's horizontal alignment will be handled. Possible values are:
left, the content is aligned to the left of the cellcenter, the content is centered in the cellright, the content is aligned to the right of the celljustify, (with text only) the content is stretched out inside the cell so that it covers its entire widthchar, (with text only) the content is aligned to a character inside the <th> element with minimal offset and defined by {{htmlattrxref("char", "th")}} and {{htmlattrxref("charoff" attributes {{unimplemented_inline("2212")}}.
The
leftvalue is default when this attribute is not specified.Note: Do not use this attribute as it is no longer supported in the latest standard.- To achieve the same effect as the
left,center,rightorjustifyvalues, apply the CSS {{cssxref("text-align")}} property to the attribute. - To achieve the same effect as the
charvalue, give the {{cssxref("text-align")}} property the same value you would use for the {{htmlattrxref("char", "th")}}. {{unimplemented_inline}} in CSS3,.
- {{htmlattrdef("axis")}} {{obsolete_inline}} in {{HTMLVersionInline("5")}}
- This attribute contains a list of space-separated strings. Each string is the id of a group of cells that this header applies to.
Note: Do not use this attribute as it is obsolete in the latest standard: use the {{htmlattrxref("scope", "th")}} attribute instead.
- {{htmlattrdef("bgcolor")}} {{Non-standard_inline}}
- This attribute defines the background color of each cell in a column. It consists of a 6-digit hexadecimal code as defined in sRGB and is prefixed by '#'. This attribute may be used with one of sixteen predefined color strings:
black= "#000000"green= "#008000"silver= "#C0C0C0"lime= "#00FF00"gray= "#808080"olive= "#808000"white= "#FFFFFF"yellow= "#FFFF00"maroon= "#800000"navy= "#000080"red= "#FF0000"blue= "#0000FF"purple= "#800080"teal= "#008080"fuchsia= "#FF00FF"aqua= "#00FFFF"
- {{htmlattrdef("char")}} {{Deprecated_inline}} in {{HTMLVer
- ..sionInline("4")}}, {{obsolete_inline}} in {{HTMLVersionInline("5")}}
- This attribute is used to set the character to align the cells in a column on. Typical values for this include a period (.) when attempting to align numbers or monetary values. If {{htmlattrxref("align", "th")}} is not set to
char, this attribute is ignored.Note: Do not use this attribute as it is no longer supported) in the latest standard. To achieve the same effect as the {{htmlattrxref("char", "thead")}}, in CSS3, you can use the character set using the {{htmlattrxref("char", "th")}} attribute as the value of the {{cssxref("text-align")}} property {{unimplemented_inline}}.
- {{htmlattrdef("charoff")}} {{Deprecated_inline}} in {{HTMLVersionInline("4")}}, {{obsolete_inline}} in {{HTMLVersionInline("5")}}
- This attribute is used to indicate the number of characters to offset the column data from the alignment characters specified by the char attribute.
Note: Do not use this attribute as it is no longer supported) in the latest standard.
- {{htmlattrdef("colspan")}}
- This attribute contains a positive integer value that indicates over how many columns a cell extends. Its default value is
1. If its value is set to0, the cell is extended to the last element of the {{HTMLElement("colgroup")}}. Values higher than 1000 are clipped down to 1000. - {{htmlattrdef("headers")}}
- This attribute contains a list of space-separated strings, each corresponding to the id attributes of other {{HTMLElement("th")}} elements that relate to this element.
- {{htmlattrdef("rowspan")}}
- This attribute contains a positive integer value that indicates over how many rows a cells extends. Its default value is
1. If its value is set to0, the cell is extended to the last element of the table sections ({{HTMLElement("thead")}}, {{HTMLElement("tbody")}}, {{HTMLElement("tfoot")}}. Values higher than 65534 are clipped down to 65534. - {{htmlattrdef("scope")}}
- This enumerated attribute defines the cells that the header defined in the {{HTMLElement("th")}} element relates to. It may have the following values:
row, where the header relates to all cells in the row that this element belongs to;col, where the header relates to all cells in the column that this element belongs to;rowgroup, where the header relates to all remaining cells in the row group that this element belongs to. The remaining cells are either those to the right of this element, or to its left depending of the value of the {{htmlattrxref("dir", "table")}} attribute defined on the {{HTMLElement("table")}} element;colgroup, where the header relates to all remaining cells in the column group that this element belongs to;auto
- {{htmlattrdef("valign")}} {{Deprecated_inline}} in {{HTMLVersionInline("4")}}, {{obsolete_inline}} in {{HTMLVersionInline("5")}}
- This attribute specifies the vertical alignment of the text within each row of cells of the table header. Possible values for this attribute are:
baseline, which will put the text as close to the bottom of the cell as it is possible, but align it on the baseline of the characters instead of the bottom of them. If characters are all of the size, this has the same effect asbottom.bottom, which will put the text as close to the bottom of the cell as it is possible;middle, which will center the text in the cell;- and
top, which will put the text as close to the top of the cell as it is possible.
Note: Do not use this attribute as it is obsolete (and not supported) in the latest standard: instead set the CSS {{cssxref("vertical-align")}} property on it. - {{htmlattrdef("width")}} {{Deprecated_inline}} in {{HTMLVersionInline(4.01)}}
- This attribute is used to define a recommended cell width. Properties cellspacing and cellpadding may add additional space, and element {{HTMLElement("col")}} width may also have some effect. In general, if a column's width is too narrow to show a particular cell properly, it, and thus the cells in it, may be widened when displayed.
Note: Do not use this attribute in the latest standard: instead set the CSS {{cssxref("width")}} property.
DOM interface
This element implements the {{domxref("HTMLTableHeaderCellElement")}} interface.
Examples
See {{HTMLElement("table")}} for examples on <th>.
Browser compatibility
{{CompatibilityTable}}
| Feature | Chrome | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | 1.0 | {{CompatGeckoDesktop("1.0")}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} |
align/valign attribute |
1.0 | {{CompatNo}} [1] | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} |
char/charoff attribute |
1.0 | {{CompatNo}} [2] | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} |
bgcolor attribute {{Non-standard_inline}} |
{{CompatNo}} | {{CompatNo}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatNo}} | {{CompatNo}} |
| Feature | Android | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | IE Mobile | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatGeckoMobile("1.0")}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} |
align/valign attribute |
{{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatNo}} [1] | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} |
char/charoff attribute |
{{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatNo}} [2] | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} | {{CompatUnknown}} |
bgcolor attribute {{Non-standard_inline}} |
{{CompatNo}} | {{CompatNo}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatNo}} | {{CompatNo}} |
[1] See {{bug(915)}}.
[2] See {{bug(2212)}}.
See also
- Other table-related HTML Elements: {{HTMLElement("caption")}}, {{HTMLElement("col")}}, {{HTMLElement("colgroup")}}, {{HTMLElement("table")}}, {{HTMLElement("tbody")}}, {{HTMLElement("td")}}, {{HTMLElement("tfoot")}}, {{HTMLElement("thead")}}, {{HTMLElement("tr")}}.
{{HTMLRef}}