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HTML: <thead> tag

This HTML tutorial explains how to use the HTML element called the <thead> tag with syntax and examples.

Description

The HTML <thead> tag defines a set of rows that make up the column headings in an HTML table. This tag is also commonly referred to as the <thead> element.

Syntax

In HTML, the syntax for the <thead> tag is: (example of a table with the columns headings - Item and Amount)

<body>
<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Item</th>
      <th>Amount</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Apples</td>
      <td>$15</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Peaches</td>
      <td>$3</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
</body>

Sample Output

Attributes

In addition to the Global Attributes, the following is a list of attributes that are specific to the <thead> tag:

Attribute Description HTML Compatibility
align Horizontal alignment of text in each cell within the table heading. It can be one of the following values: left, center, right, justify, char Deprecated in HTML 4.01, Obsolete in HTML5, use CSS
bgcolor Background color of each cell within the table heading Deprecated in HTML 4.01, Obsolete in HTML5, use CSS
char Set the character to align the cells in a column Deprecated in HTML 4.01, Obsolete in HTML5
charoff Number of characters to offset column data from the alignment characters (in char attribute) Deprecated in HTML 4.01, Obsolete in HTML5
valign Vertical alignment of text of each cell within the table heading. It can be one of the following values: baseline, bottom, middle, top Deprecated in HTML 4.01, Obsolete in HTML5, use CSS

Note

  • The HTML <thead> element is found in an HTML table within the <body> tag.
  • Since the <thead> tag defines the column headings for a table, you will normally find the <th> tags found within a row in the <thead> tag.
  • The <thead> tag must appear after the <caption> and <colgroup> tags in a table but before the <tbody> and <tfoot> tags.
  • The <thead> tag can contain zero or more <tr> tags.
  • In some browsers like Chrome, the contents of the <thead> are displayed at the top of each printed page when the table spans multiple printed pages.

Browser Compatibility

The <thead> tag is compatible with the following browsers:

  • Chrome
  • Android
  • Firefox (Gecko)
  • Firefox Mobile (Gecko)
  • Internet Explorer (IE)
  • Edge Mobile
  • Opera
  • Opera Mobile
  • Safari (WebKit)
  • Safari Mobile

Example

We will discuss the <thead> tag below, exploring examples of how to use the <thead> tag in HTML5, HTML 4.01 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Strict, and XHTML 1.1.

  • HTML5
  • HTML4
  • XHTML

HTML5 Document

If you created a new web page in HTML5, your <thead> tag might look like this:

<!doctype html>
<html>

<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>HTML5 Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Column 1 Heading</th>
      <th>Column 2 Heading</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Data in Column 1, Row 2</td>
      <td>Data in Column 2, Row 2</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Data in Column 1, Row 3</td>
      <td>Data in Column 2, Row 3</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
</body>

</html>

In this HTML5 Document example, we have created a table using the <table> tag that has 2 columns and 3 rows. Row 1 of the table is defined as a table heading using the <thead> tag and uses <th> tags to define table heading cells. Rows 2 and 3 of the table are defined as the table body using the <tbody> tag and use <td> tags to define standard table cells.

HTML 4.01 Transitional Document

If you created a new web page in HTML 4.01 Transitional, your <thead> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<title>HTML 4.01 Transitional Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Column 1 Heading</th>
      <th>Column 2 Heading</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Data in Column 1, Row 2</td>
      <td>Data in Column 2, Row 2</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Data in Column 1, Row 3</td>
      <td>Data in Column 2, Row 3</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
</body>

</html>

In this HTML 4.01 Transitional Document example, we have created a table using the <table> tag that has 2 columns and 3 rows. Row 1 of the table is defined as a table heading using the <thead> tag and uses <th> tags to define table heading cells. Rows 2 and 3 of the table are defined as the table body using the <tbody> tag and use <td> tags to define standard table cells.

XHTML 1.0 Transitional Document

If you created a new web page in XHTML 1.0 Transitional, your <thead> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>XHMTL 1.0 Transitional Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Column 1 Heading</th>
      <th>Column 2 Heading</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Data in Column 1, Row 2</td>
      <td>Data in Column 2, Row 2</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Data in Column 1, Row 3</td>
      <td>Data in Column 2, Row 3</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
</body>

</html>

In this XHTML 1.0 Transitional Document example, we have created a table using the <table> tag that has 2 columns and 3 rows. Row 1 of the table is defined as a table heading using the <thead> tag and uses <th> tags to define table heading cells. Rows 2 and 3 of the table are defined as the table body using the <tbody> tag and use <td> tags to define standard table cells.

XHTML 1.0 Strict Document

If you created a new web page in XHTML 1.0 Strict, your <thead> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>XHTML 1.0 Strict Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Column 1 Heading</th>
      <th>Column 2 Heading</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Data in Column 1, Row 2</td>
      <td>Data in Column 2, Row 2</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Data in Column 1, Row 3</td>
      <td>Data in Column 2, Row 3</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
</body>

</html>

In this XHTML 1.0 Strict Document example, we have created a table using the <table> tag that has 2 columns and 3 rows. Row 1 of the table is defined as a table heading using the <thead> tag and uses <th> tags to define table heading cells. Rows 2 and 3 of the table are defined as the table body using the <tbody> tag and use <td> tags to define standard table cells.

XHTML 1.1 Document

If you created a new web page in XHTML 1.1, your <thead> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>XHTML 1.1 Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Column 1 Heading</th>
      <th>Column 2 Heading</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Data in Column 1, Row 2</td>
      <td>Data in Column 2, Row 2</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Data in Column 1, Row 3</td>
      <td>Data in Column 2, Row 3</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
</body>

</html>

In this XHTML 1.1 Document example, we have created a table using the <table> tag that has 2 columns and 3 rows. Row 1 of the table is defined as a table heading using the <thead> tag and uses <th> tags to define table heading cells. Rows 2 and 3 of the table are defined as the table body using the <tbody> tag and use <td> tags to define standard table cells.

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