Adding tables to your WordPress posts and pages can help organize data and make information easier for your readers to digest. WordPress simplifies this process by offering straightforward tools that require no HTML coding.
This guide will show you how to easily create and manage tables in WordPress. You will learn not only the basics of inserting tables but also how to enhance them with advanced features like sorting and searching, all without needing any plugins.
By the end of this article, you will be equipped with the knowledge to effectively use tables to improve the presentation and functionality of your content.
Video Tutorial
If you prefer written instructions, then just keep reading.
Creating Tables in the WordPress Block Editor
WordPress makes it super easy to add tables using the default WordPress block editor.
Simply create a new post or page or edit an existing one. Once inside the content editor, click the ‘+’ symbol to add a new block, then select the Table block.
You can find it under the ‘Text’ section, or you can type ‘Table’ into the search bar.
Next, you will be prompted to choose the number of columns and rows you want for your table. Both figures default to 2.
Don’t worry if you are not 100% sure about the exact number because you can always add/remove table columns and rows later.
Simply enter the number of rows and columns and click the ‘Create Table’ button.
The block will then generate your table and display it on the screen.
You can type in the table cells, and they will automatically resize based on the amount of content in each one.
You can set this option on the right side if you prefer your cells to be fixed-width. Here, you can also add a table header or footer section.
From the settings panel, you can also switch to the Style tab.
Your WordPress theme may offer a bunch of styles for the table block, or you can choose the background and text colors.
If you want to add a new row or column, just click on a cell at the point in the table where you want to add it. Next, click the ‘Edit Table’ button.
This will show a bunch of options to add or remove rows and columns to your table.
By default, the text in your table’s columns is aligned to the left.
You can change this by clicking inside a column and then clicking the ‘Change Column Alignment’ button:
You can also change the alignment of your whole table within the post or page.
Just click the ‘Change alignment’ button and select an option from the list.
Note that these options can make your table display beyond the normal boundaries of your post area.
Some may look odd on your WordPress website, so please preview your post or page to check how the table will appear.
Here’s our table set to ‘Wide Width’ as it appears on our demo site:
As you can see, it stretches beyond the post area’s left and right margins.
The table tools built into the Gutenberg editor give you much flexibility in displaying your tables. You can use the Table block to show data to readers in an easy-to-understand format.
However, the block doesn’t have advanced features like search filtering, custom sorting, and more.
It also doesn’t let you efficiently use the same table across multiple areas of your WordPress website, such as sidebar widgets or other pages.
To create advanced tables, you will need to use a WordPress table plugin.
Creating Tables Using the TablePress Plugin
TablePress is one of the best WordPress tables plugins on the market. It is a free plugin and allows you to create and manage tables easily. Plus, you can edit your table separately and even add a large number of rows.
If you are using the older classic WordPress editor, which does not have the table functionality, then TablePress would be the best way to add tables in your posts and pages.
First, you need to install and activate the TablePress plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
You will then see a TablePress menu item in your WordPress dashboard. Go to TablePress » Add New to create a new table.
You need to type in a name for your table and decide how many rows and columns you want. You can always add/remove table rows and columns later as well.
Once you have added the table name, rows, and columns, go ahead and click the ‘Add Table’ button to create your table.
Next, you will see a screen with your table’s information and an area where you can add content.
Simply type the data you want into the cells of your table.
To add or remove rows and columns or perform sorting operations, simply right-click inside the table. This will show an options menu where you can make more changes.
Advanced options, such as’ Table Manipulation, ‘ are below the ‘Table Content’ area.
From here, you can add, remove, and duplicate rows.
In ‘Table Options’, you can add a header and/or footer row, which won’t be sorted in with the data.
You can also decide where to show the table name and description:
Finally, you can set various options in the ‘Table Features for Site Visitors’ section.
These settings allow you to create responsive tables that can be filtered, searched, and sorted by your readers.
Once you are happy with your table, just click ‘Save Changes’.
After that, copy the Table shortcode. You will need it in the next step.
Now, edit the post or page where you want to display the table and add the Shortcode block to the editor.
After that, add the shortcode you copied earlier into the Shortcode block.
Don’t forget to update or save your changes.
On the other hand, if you are using the classic editor, then simply add the shortcode straight into your post:
If you want to change your table in the future, you can return to TablePress in your dashboard and make changes. Your table will be automatically updated in any posts and pages you have used it in.
TablePress also allows you to import data from spreadsheets and CSV files. Similarly, you can export TablePress table data to a CSV file, which you can open with any spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
We hope this article helped you learn how to add tables to WordPress posts and pages without using HTML. You might also like our guide on how to create a table of contents in WordPress and our expert picks for the best WordPress table plugins.
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Harindu Perera
How to show grid lines in TablePress???
Lorraine
Many thanks. This made things so clear.
Can Erik
Great article. Thank you very much. Easy to install and understand to use. Cheers!
mangi khumakcham
Good table plugin but not mobile friendly.
The table right side get clipped in mobile view.
Sany
Hey
Can someone show me, how I can create dynamic table?
I am new to WordPress. I like to maintain a database of gadgets say phones. I want an interface for me as admin to enter the specs and a picture of the item. For users, they will have the option to filter by brand and also compare 2 or more of these gadgets in a table format. They should also query an item and see all the specs in a table format. Please advice as to how this can be easily managed or maybe you have an article already for this!?
thanks
Stephen Ainsworth
Amazing people don’t know how to use
and have to use a plugin. Sigh.
Noman S Baranian
That is nice thing to learn and gain.. nice blog
Thanks for this! Now, how do I...
Please, other readers, don’t be to harsh with me (especially using the R word). I am very new to all of this and feel successful in creating my first table. Now, how do I change the look and feel of the text in the table? I am using it to link to materials contained further on the page and highlight important pieces.
a guy
You need to use CSS. There’s a bit of a learning curve to all this (in your case, you might want to style the table, rows, table cells, paragraphs in table cells, links, hover effects etc etc), so only start if it’s really important.
Tablepress - warning
I just lost a Table that I created using Tablepress. I don’t know how it was deleted, but I also just found out that there is no way to recover a deleted table. Since I don’t know how the table was deleted, I am worried about relying on Tablepress.
WPBeginner Support
If you have a backup plugin in place then you can recover your table by restoring to an earlier backup.
We don’t think it is a plugin issue.
Admin
Lilli
Great! Great! Just what I was looking for! Thanks a million
David
Is it me or Wordpress is retarded? I mean any WYSIWYG editor can do a table on the fly these days, but the biggest CMS can’t? I must be missing something here, but using a plugin or iframes is so much trouble for a simple table… I’ll code it myself.
Vituz Andersen
David,- I am with you. I dont get it. My first HTML editor back in 1998 had tables…. how come it has become easy to make a CMS based website, but you cant make a table…. Hellooooooo!!
Mayur
Hi David,
I initially wanted to code it in myself, but wordpress kept formatting my table all over the place. Is there a specific was to use HTML in a page?
Many Thanks
Sirje Koop Palmqvist
I copied a table from Word into Wordpress and the code is neat and clean. It works well. Now I want to try the same table with the FooTable plugin to make it responsive, althought it already is responsive in a way. Thought that a webdesigner keeps the material on the local computer anyway and thus can make changes in Word and replace the table in WP. This might be cheating but it works. Sirje
Radu
TablePress is an amazing plugin.
Thank you for this post.
Actually today I downloaded it and already donated some money to their team.
Have a fantastic day everyone.
Emily
Use it with FooTable to make it Responsive. They both support each other. Perfect!
Ernest
Hi,
Is there any way to remove the table lines from showing?
Neal
The problems with plugins like this is that if you ever abandon the plugin the content linked to that plugin is busted across your entire site.
While very slick plugin I try to minimize my database dependency on them as much as possible.
WPBeginner Support
Neal, you are right about that. However, TablePress uses custom post types for tables. This means your tables are stored in the database even if you deactivate the plugin. You can still export the data.
Admin
Group Of Oceninfo
Hello Wpbeginner Team,
Is it possible to call script in same way ?
For ex. I have 1000 different scripts for 500 different post.
I want to call 2 table in each post and in that table Want to run script not text so Is it possible to call two scripts in table ?
ore
Thanks for this! what resources can I use to create a table in which my clients can log in and post the prices of items they want to either buy and sell and which remains visible to the public
Balaji
Thanks for helping me find the plugin.
Rátkai Tamás
I’m interested in adding a table to a form or page. So if a user goes to the page, he can add the Quantity in the cells and at the bottom of the form he can send the table to me.
Basically it would be a really simple order page without any payment options.
um
how many table we can add in a wordpress without using plugin
Pierre
I’v been trying to insert a table in a blog post by using the tablepress plug in. Suddenly, the word Edit inside a pair of brackets has been appearing in the lower left corner of each page of my web site. I can’t get rid of it. Do you know how I can fix this?
Many thanks!
Pierre
Jennifer
Exactly what I needed to create my press page. You rock.
Allii Allee
i want to add simple tables anyone knows how to add ?
okemini otum
this is awesome, helped me tremendously
Nouman Younas
superb… i just install it after reading this post… i am having some issues when i go for mobile preview… lets see, overall great plugin and post (Y)
sady
How to add Subscribe form like yours??
Thanks
Alicia Rades
Wow! I love this plugin. Thank you!
Anil Anvesh
Ok, I installed the plugin and used a short code to add table to post. Now my query is what google reads short code or table content? Is it seo friendly? Give me a linke to your post where you used this plugin?
Andrew
I like the plugin, but I cannot figure out how to customize the width/height of the columns/rows, or how to have a particular cell be only as large as the contents inside it. Is there any way to do this? Thank you.
WPBeginner Support
Yes look at the support page on the plugin download page.
Admin
reGz
How to split a column in Combine cells?
any idea?
Thanks
Sylvester
Please, is the data entered using tablepress stored in MySQL tables?
Simon
Good question, I’m interested in the answer too. Anybody knows. Thanks! I’ll see if I can check.
Arnel leo Aranquez
is there a way to use this plugin in viewing data from mysql?
WPBeginner Support
No we don’t think it was written for that. However you can export a mysql table as CSV and import it in TablePress.
Admin
Lindberg
It would be awesome if it could view any mysql tables in the database.. should be an easy thing to fix and increase usefullness of this plugin so much
Helen Edwards
How do I remove the “Show xx entries” at the top of the table and “showing 1 to 6 of 6 entries” at the bottom?
Emily
Actually it is out there when you add row and table. The setting is just below it. Look carefully.
Jaya
Hi,
how can i use the tablepress form in my post section to particular user can able to add tables using copy, import files… Please help me to use…Thank you.
regards
Jaya
Bamboo
This is a huge time saver. Thank you!
Amanda
This is a great plugin. i have one question – i nee ot make the font bigger for the info that’s in my table. is there any way to do this other than entering code for each cell individually?
Editorial Staff
For that you would have to modify the CSS.
Admin
Amy
So which WordPress version are you writing for? WordPress.com or WordPress.org, because I can’t find the plugin option on my dashboard. You really should specify this … now I’m back to writing code by hand after getting my hopes up.
Editorial Staff
All articles on WPBeginner are written for self-hosted WordPress
Admin
Jimi Mikusi
Wow.
I’m not easily impressed but this managed to do it.
Within minute after adding the plugin I had a visual pleasing and easily maintainable table on my site.
Thanks!
Editorial Staff
Glad you got it to work
Admin
Eddu
Love this plugin.
Tried to style the table with Headway. No luck so far. Did someone else tried also? Would be great if it would be possible to do so.
Again, great plugin
Ed.
William Lower
What a treasure this was to find! This non-programmer was having a serious non-day trying to create tables with code.
Chrissy
Thanks for this ! Ive been searching the web trying to find a solution because I see all these awesome pricing tables on websites and Ive been using the TinyMCE plugin, which works but its not what I am really needing. Thanks again you guys rock
Vickie
Thanks for another very useful post!
Please does anyone know if it is possible to add code into a cell? I need to add paypal code into a table but not sure the best way to do it?
Jeff Cohan
Did you try simply pasting the code into the cell?
Yvonne Finn
Thanks so much for this relatively simple to use plugin. It has saved me from much frustration as I am no techie and don’t actually want to spend hours doing what can be done with a plugin.
I tried some of the other plugins for creating tables and was not impressed with their user-friendliness or lack thereof.
Much appreciation!
Yvonne
Jon Mason
THIS is a work of art! Nicely done and it is responsive too!
M.Aswad Mehtab
Thanks for This post very helpful for those who are not good with html and css !!
David
This looks like Tables Reloaded, which we use on some sites. However, it looks easier to use and manage. How well does it work with caching plugins like w3 total cache?
Editorial Staff
This is the successor of WP Tables Reloaded plugin worked on by the same developer (Tobias). Tobias also commented on this post saying that the next version will be compatible with W3 Total Cache.
Admin
Jeff Cohan
Absolutely agree: TablePress is THE BEST plugin for creating tables in WordPress (IMHO).
Just a few things to add:
1) TablePress is the successor to what USED TO BE the best plugin for creating tables in WordPress: WP-Table Reloaded (now retired). Both are the work of developer Tobias Bathge.
2) Tables built with WP-Table Reloaded can be migrated to TablePress.
3) Tobias’ support is extraordinary. When I first used TablePress in November of 2012, I encountered a bug in the HTML import function and reported it in the support forum at WordPress.org. Within an hour, Tobias published a fix to Github. But don’t take my word for it. Check out the support forum.
Jeff Cohan
Keith Davis
Thanks Guys
This could be the table plugin for me.
In the past I’ve created tables in Dreamweaver then cut and pasted the code.
I’ll throw out a few tweets on this one.
Editorial Staff
Keith, this is by far the best one we found so far as well. Totally appreciate the social media love that you send us
Admin
Jason
I just got this plug in last week as an alternative to using google docs iframe functions. This works great and allows a client to update the table without updating the pages or posts. I did find that you have to make sure you empty the caches if you are using the W3 plugin, or else you will get a cached version of the table. Great write up.
TobiasBg
Great to hear that you like the plugin!
What you say about caching plugins, like W3 Total Cache, is true. Good thing though: The next version of TablePress will automatically clear the W3 Total Cache page cache, to make sure that all shown tables are up-to-date
Best wishes,
Tobias
Author of TablePress
Rod Salm
Seems odd to put a table creating tab in the main Wordpress menu. The menu is supposed to be for top level functions. It seems that it should be in tools maybe, or in the post menu, where you select the tables, have the table making function accessible in the edit functions. Most times people are creating tables in posts and pages and would need to edit the table as well as the data within it.
Having said that, it’s a pretty slick table maker.
Rod Salm
TobiasBg
I agree that the main menu is not always the best option, like when you only maintain a few tables once in a while. So, I made this an option
In the TablePress Plugin Options, you can actually choose where you want the TablePress menu entry to appear. Moving it to “Tools” or “Posts” is no problem with that 
(The predecessor of TablePress put its menu under “Tools” by default. I then however got questions from users who couldn’t find it, after activating it. That is why TablePress will sit in the main menu by default.)
Best wishes,
Tobias
Author of TablePress
Artem Russakovskii
You can change the placement in the plugin settings.
Editorial Staff
Not odd at all. It is done for organizational purposes similar to contact forms, sliders, etc. By doing it this way, you can easily go to the menu and look at all the tables you have ever created rather than searching through the individual posts.
Admin
Blograzzi
This is good. I use it. But I want to ask something. What if i have 7 column and 10252 rows excel table?
Editorial Staff
10,000 rows? Why in the world would you want that to be part of your blog post? Attach it as a separate file, so those who want to download it can do so if they like. It would freak the user out to see how long the page is if you have that many rows.
Admin
TobiasBg
As the editorial staff pointed out already, there are better methods for such large tables, like offering a download, or using a custom PHP/mySQL solution.
You can certainly try using TablePress with a table of that size, but I don’t really recommend it. It should work, but it will probably be slow, especially on the “Edit” screen of the table.
Best wishes,
Tobias
ivica
Absolutely THE best table WordPress plugin at the moment. I tried them all, and this one is the most robust/powerful and yet at the same time the most simple to use. Good choice!