Tag col

The <col> tag is used inside a table to apply styling or attributes to entire columns. It works in combination with the <colgroup> tag and does not contain content — it simply sets styles or widths for one or more columns.


✅ Basic Syntax

<table>
<colgroup>
<col span="1" style="background-color: #f2f2f2">
<col span="1" style="background-color: #d9edf7">
</colgroup>
<tr>
<th>Product</th>
<th>Price</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Apple</td>
<td>$1.00</td>
</tr>
</table>

📍 Result:

  • Column 1 (Product) has a light gray background
  • Column 2 (Price) has a light blue background

🧱 Where It Goes

  • The <col> tag must be placed inside a <colgroup> tag
  • <colgroup> is placed immediately after the opening <table> tag

🧩 Attributes

AttributeDescription
spanNumber of columns the <col> element should style
styleInline CSS to apply (e.g. background, width)
class / idCan also use CSS classes for styling

🎨 Example with Width and Colors

<table>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 70px; background-color: #eee;">
<col style="width: 100px; background-color: #cff;">
</colgroup>
<tr>
<th>Name</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jane</td>
<td>28</td>
</tr>
</table>

This sets custom widths and colors for each column.


🧠 Why Use <col>?

  • Makes it easier to style entire columns at once
  • Cleaner than applying styles to every <td> or <th> individually
  • Especially useful in large tables

⚠️ Limitations

  • <col> cannot target individual cells — only full columns
  • Doesn’t work well if the table structure is dynamic or frequently changes
  • Not all CSS styles (like padding) apply through <col>

✅ Summary

FeatureDescription
Tag<col>
UseApply style/width to one or more columns
Must be inside<colgroup>
Common attributesspanstyleclassid
Best forStyling entire table columns efficiently