\section{Quick start}
Your first LaTeX table
Every LaTeX table uses the tabular environment. Columns are separated by & and rows end with \\.
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|l|c|r|}
\hline
\textbf{Name} & \textbf{Score} & \textbf{Grade} \\
\hline
Alice & 95 & A \\
Bob & 82 & B \\
Carol & 78 & C \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{Student grades}
\label{tab:grades}
\end{table}
\end{document}\section{Column alignment}
Understanding column specifiers
The column specification string (e.g. l|c|r) controls alignment and vertical borders.
Content is flush-left. Good for text columns like names.
Content is centered. Good for short values, grades, symbols.
Content is flush-right. Good for numbers and scores.
Paragraph column. Wraps content at the specified width.
\section{Borders}
Table borders
Use | in the column spec for vertical lines and \hline for horizontal rules. For publication-quality tables, use booktabs instead and avoid vertical lines entirely.
|
Vertical line between columns in the spec string
\hline
Full horizontal rule spanning all columns
\cline{2-4}
Partial rule from column 2 to column 4
\usepackage{booktabs}
Professional tables with booktabs
The booktabs package provides \toprule, \midrule, and \bottomrule — heavier rules at top and bottom, lighter in the middle, with correct spacing above and below. No vertical lines, no double rules.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{lcc}
\toprule
\textbf{Engine} & \textbf{Speed} & \textbf{Unicode} \\
\midrule
pdfLaTeX & Fast & Via inputenc \\
XeLaTeX & Medium & Native \\
LuaLaTeX & Slower & Native \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\caption{LaTeX engine comparison}
\end{table}
\end{document}\usepackage{multirow}
Multirow and multicolumn
Span cells across rows with \multirow (requires the multirow package) and across columns with \multicolumn (built-in). Use \cmidrule to draw partial horizontal rules under spanned headers.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{multirow}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{lllr}
\toprule
\multirow{2}{*}{\textbf{Team}} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{\textbf{Scores}} & \\
\cmidrule(lr){2-3}
& Q1 & Q2 & \textbf{Total} \\
\midrule
Alpha & 45 & 50 & 95 \\
Beta & 38 & 42 & 80 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\caption{Quarterly scores}
\end{table}
\end{document}\section{Positioning}
Float placement
The optional argument to \begin{table} hints where LaTeX should place the float. Use [H] from the float package to force the table exactly at the insertion point.
[h]
Here
Approximately here, if possible
[t]
Top
Top of the current page
[b]
Bottom
Bottom of the current page
[H]
Exact
Exactly here (requires float package)
\section{Common mistakes}
Avoid these pitfalls
Forgetting & separators
Each row must have exactly (n − 1) & separators for n columns. Too few causes a misaligned-table error; too many causes extra empty columns.
Mismatched column count
The number of columns in \begin{tabular}{spec} must match the cells in every row. LaTeX will compile but produce garbled output if they differ.
Bad float placement
Avoid [h!] or [!htbp] as a crutch. If the table lands in the wrong place, restructure your document or use \clearpage to flush all pending floats.
\section{Related guides}
Keep learning LaTeX
Explore more guides and try every example live in the FormaTeX playground.