HTML <thead> Tag

The HTML <thead> tag represents the headers within an HTML table. This is the block of rows that consist of the column labels for the parent <table> element.

The <thead> tag can be used with the <tbody> tag and the <tfoot> tag in determining each part of the table (header, footer, body). Browsers can use this information to enable scrolling of the table body independently of the header and footer - particuarly useful for large tables. Also, when printing a large table that spans multiple pages, this information can enable the table header and footer to be printed at the top and bottom of each page.

Syntax

The <thead> tag is written as <thead></thead> with the table header inserted between the start and end tags.

The <thead> tag can contain zero or more <tr> elements and script-supporting elements (<script>, <template>).

Like this:

Note: If you use the <thead> tag, it must be used in the following context:

  • As a child of a <table> element, after any <caption>, and <colgroup> elements and before any <tbody>, <tfoot>, and <tr> elements, but only if there are no other <thead> elements that are children of the <table> element.
  • The <thead> tag can contain zero or more <tr> elements and script supporting elements.

Example

In this example, a table uses the <thead> element. The CSS background-color property has been used to change the background color of the <thead> element.

Attributes

Attributes can be added to an HTML element to provide more information about how the element should appear or behave.

The <thead> element accepts the following attributes.

AttributeDescription
None 

Global Attributes

The following attributes are standard across all HTML elements. Therefore, you can use these attributes with the <thead> tag , as well as with all other HTML tags.

For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 global attributes.

Event Handlers

Event handler content attributes enable you to invoke a script from within your HTML. The script is invoked when a certain "event" occurs. Each event handler content attribute deals with a different event.

Most event handler content attributes can be used on all HTML elements, but some event handlers have specific rules around when they can be used and which elements they are applicable to.

For more detail, see HTML event handler content attributes.