How to Make a Markdown Table (Alignment, Escaping, and Limits)

Tables in Markdown look like text-art: columns separated by pipe characters, with a row of dashes under the header. They're part of GitHub Flavored Markdown and supported by most modern renderers.

Basic syntax

| Name  | Role   | Score |
| ----- | ------ | ----: |
| Ada   | Admin  |    98 |
| Lin   | User   |    87 |

• The first row is the header, and the second row of dashes is required.
• Each line is one row, with cells separated by pipes.
• The outer pipes are optional, but including them is clearer.
• Columns don't have to line up in the source, though aligned text is easier to edit.

Column alignment

• |:---| aligns the column left.
• |:---:| centers it.
• |---:| aligns it right, which suits numbers.

Special characters

• A literal pipe inside a cell must be escaped as \|.
• You can use inline formatting inside cells: bold, italic, code, and links.
• Line breaks inside a cell need an HTML <br> tag in most renderers.
• Backticks are handy for code that itself contains a pipe, but escape rules vary.

What tables can't do

• Merge cells (no colspan or rowspan).
• Hold multi-paragraph content or lists in a cell without HTML.
• Wrap long text nicely in source form; long cells make the raw Markdown hard to read.

For complex layouts, use an HTML table instead; most Markdown renderers accept it.

1. 1Copy the data from your spreadsheet or CSV.
2. 2Paste it into a table generator and set alignment.
3. 3Copy the Markdown into your document.
4. 4Preview it to make sure the header and pipes rendered correctly.