Basic Tables, Multicolumn Cells, and Long Tables

Use tabular for a single-page table, booktabs for clear horizontal rules, and longtable when a table must span pages. Design tables for comparison and lookup, not as a grid for long prose.

EasyLaTeX compiler setting: pdfLaTeX with article. Load booktabs; multipage tables also need longtable.

A Minimal Table#

Column letters specify left, centered, and right alignment: l, c, and r. Separate cells with & and end a row with \\:

\begin{tabular}{lcr}
  Name & Group & Value \\
  Sample A & Control & 12.3 \\
  Sample B & Treatment & 15.8 \\
\end{tabular}

Right alignment helps compare numbers; it does not itself align decimal points exactly. Specialized numeric columns can provide that when needed.

Clear Horizontal Rules#

After loading booktabs, use \toprule, \midrule, and \bottomrule:

\usepackage{booktabs}

\begin{tabular}{lcr}
  \toprule
  Name & Group & Value \\
  \midrule
  Sample A & Control & 12.3 \\
  Sample B & Treatment & 15.8 \\
  \bottomrule
\end{tabular}

Their spacing and weight are designed for readable tables. Vertical lines and a rule after every row are usually unnecessary.

Fixed-Width Text Columns#

p{width} creates a paragraph column with automatic wrapping:

\begin{tabular}{lp{7cm}r}
  \toprule
  ID & Description & Score \\
  \midrule
  A1 & This longer description wraps within the specified width. & 95 \\
  \bottomrule
\end{tabular}

If the table is too wide, shorten headings, wrap text, or split it. Do not automatically shrink all text with \resizebox.

Spanning Columns#

\multicolumn{count}{alignment}{content} spans columns:

\begin{tabular}{lcc}
  \toprule
  \multicolumn{1}{c}{Sample} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Measurements} \\
  \cmidrule(lr){2-3}
  Name & First & Second \\
  \midrule
  A & 12.3 & 12.6 \\
  B & 15.8 & 16.1 \\
  \bottomrule
\end{tabular}

\cmidrule(lr){2-3} draws a partial rule across columns 2–3, useful for grouped headings.

Tables Across Pages#

tabular does not break automatically across pages. Use longtable without enclosing it in a table float:

\usepackage{longtable}
\usepackage{booktabs}

\begin{longtable}{llr}
  \caption{Sample measurement log}\label{tab:measurements} \\
  \toprule
  ID & Date & Value \\
  \midrule
  \endfirsthead
  \toprule
  ID & Date & Value \\
  \midrule
  \endhead
  A1 & 2026-07-01 & 12.3 \\
  A2 & 2026-07-02 & 12.6 \\
  % Add more rows; the table breaks across pages automatically.
  \bottomrule
\end{longtable}

The material before \endfirsthead is the first-page heading; the next heading ends at \endhead and is used on later pages. Page-breaking tables do not follow ordinary float placement.

Common Problems#

Extra alignment tab has been changed to \cr#

Compare separators with the column count. An ordinary three-column row has two separating & characters. Escape an ampersand that is part of the cell text as \&; account for merged cells separately.

The Table Exceeds the Margins#

Use paragraph columns for long text, simplify headings, or split the table. Consider landscape or scaling only after those options.

A Long Table Has Unexpected Placement#

Do not nest longtable inside table; they have different page-placement mechanisms.

Complete Example#

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{article}
\usepackage{booktabs}

\begin{document}

\begin{table}[tbp]
  \centering
  \caption{Sample measurements}
  \label{tab:results}
  \begin{tabular}{lcr}
    \toprule
    Name & Group & Value \\
    \midrule
    Sample A & Control & 12.3 \\
    Sample B & Treatment & 15.8 \\
    \bottomrule
  \end{tabular}
\end{table}

Table  \ref{tab:results}  summarizes the measurements for two samples.

\end{document}