The border-collapse
CSS property specifies whether a table's borders are separated (cells have distinct borders from each other) or collapsed (adjacent cells share borders).
/* Keyword values */ border-collapse: collapse; border-collapse: separate; /* Global values */ border-collapse: inherit; border-collapse: initial; border-collapse: unset;
In the separated-border model only, the distance between cells is defined by the border-spacing
property.
In the collapsed-border model only, the border-style
value of inset
behaves like groove
, and outset
behaves like ridge
.
Initial value | separate |
---|---|
Applies to | table and inline-table elements |
Inherited | yes |
Media | visual |
Computed value | as specified |
Animation type | discrete |
Canonical order | the unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar |
Syntax
The border-collapse
property is specified as a single keyword, which may be chosen from the list below.
Values
separate
- Adjacent cells have distinct borders (the separated-border table rendering model).
collapse
- Adjacent cells have shared borders (the collapsed-border table rendering model).
Formal syntax
collapse | separate
Examples
A colorful table of browser engines
HTML
<table class="separate"> <caption><code>border-collapse: separate</code></caption> <tbody> <tr><th>Browser</th> <th>Layout Engine</th></tr> <tr><td class="fx">Firefox</td> <td class="gk">Gecko</td></tr> <tr><td class="ed">Edge</td> <td class="tr">EdgeHTML</td></tr> <tr><td class="sa">Safari</td> <td class="wk">Webkit</td></tr> <tr><td class="ch">Chrome</td> <td class="bk">Blink</td></tr> <tr><td class="op">Opera</td> <td class="bk">Blink</td></tr> </tbody> </table> <table class="collapse"> <caption><code>border-collapse: collapse</code></caption> <tbody> <tr><th>Browser</th> <th>Layout Engine</th></tr> <tr><td class="fx">Firefox</td> <td class="gk">Gecko</td></tr> <tr><td class="ed">Edge</td> <td class="tr">EdgeHTML</td></tr> <tr><td class="sa">Safari</td> <td class="wk">Webkit</td></tr> <tr><td class="ch">Chrome</td> <td class="bk">Blink</td></tr> <tr><td class="op">Opera</td> <td class="bk">Blink</td></tr> </tbody> </table>
CSS
.collapse { border-collapse: collapse; } .separate { border-collapse: separate; } table { display: inline-table; margin: 1em; border: dashed 5px; } table th, table td { border: solid 3px; } .fx { border-color: orange blue; } .gk { border-color: black red; } .ed { border-color: blue gold; } .tr { border-color: aqua; } .sa { border-color: silver blue; } .wk { border-color: gold blue; } .ch { border-color: red yellow green blue; } .bk { border-color: navy blue teal aqua; } .op { border-color: red; }
Result
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) The definition of 'border-collapse' in that specification. |
Recommendation | Initial definition |
Browser compatibility
The compatibility table in this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.
Feature | Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic support | 1 | Yes | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1.2 |
Feature | Android webview | Chrome for Android | Edge mobile | Firefox for Android | IE mobile | Opera Android | iOS Safari |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic support | 2.3 | ? | Yes | 4 | 7 | 11 | 3 |
See also
border-spacing
,border-style
- The
border-collapse
property alters the appearance of the<table>
HTML element.
Document Tags and Contributors
Tags:
Contributors to this page:
ddbeck,
Sheppy,
mfluehr,
pborenstein,
Jedeu,
erikadoyle,
Sebastianz,
fscholz,
jsx,
teoli,
J-Mackerel,
SiddharthBhatt,
kscarfone,
trevorh,
ethertank,
Rowno,
Jürgen Jeka,
BijuGC,
Mgjbot,
Nathymig,
Fredchat,
Backinblakk
Last updated by:
ddbeck,