HTML <th> Tag
The HTML <th> tag is used for specifying a header cell (or table header) within a table.
This tag must be nested inside a <tr> tag, which in turn must also be nested correctly. You can find out more by viewing the <table> tag specifications.
Also see the <td> tag for declaring table data.
Syntax
The <th> tag is written as <th></th> with the header text inserted between the start and end tags.
The <th> tag must be a child of a <tr> tag.
Like this:
Example
Attributes
Attributes can be added to an HTML element to provide more information about how the element should appear or behave.
The <th> element accepts the following attributes.
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
colspan | Specifies the number of columns the current cell spans across. Must be a positive integer. Defaults to 1 if omitted, and is capped at 1000. |
rowspan | Specifies the number of rows the current cell spans across. Must be a non-negative integer. Defaults to 1 if omitted, and is capped at 65534. |
headers | Specifies a space-separated list of header cells that contain information about this cell. Each token needs to correspond with the id of a header cell. This is mainly useful for accessibility in complex tables, where the simpler scope attribute below isn't enough to disambiguate which headers apply to a given cell. |
scope | This attribute is used on header cells and specifies the cells that will use this header's information.
Possible values:
|
abbr | Specifies an alternative label for the header cell. For example, this could be an abbreviated form of the full header cell, an expansion, or different phrasing. |
Global Attributes
The following attributes are standard across all HTML elements. Therefore, you can use these attributes with the <th> tag , as well as with all other HTML tags.
accesskeyautocapitalizeclasscontenteditabledata-*dirdraggablehiddenidinputmodeisitemiditempropitemrefitemscopeitemtypelangpartslotspellcheckstyletabindextitletranslate
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.
onabortonauxclickonbluroncanceloncanplayoncanplaythroughonchangeonclickoncloseoncontextmenuoncopyoncuechangeoncutondblclickondragondragendondragenterondragexitondragleaveondragoverondragstartondropondurationchangeonemptiedonendedonerroronfocusonformdataoninputoninvalidonkeydownonkeypressonkeyuponlanguagechangeonloadonloadeddataonloadedmetadataonloadstartonmousedownonmouseenteronmouseleaveonmousemoveonmouseoutonmouseoveronmouseuponpasteonpauseonplayonplayingonprogressonratechangeonresetonresizeonscrollonsecuritypolicyviolationonseekedonseekingonselectonslotchangeonstalledonsubmitonsuspendontimeupdateontoggleonvolumechangeonwaitingonwheel
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.