Markdown Table Generator

Markdown tables are simple in principle — pipes between cells and a row of dashes under the header — but tedious to write by hand, and one missing pipe shifts every column. This generator gives you a spreadsheet-like grid instead: edit cells directly, set alignment per column, reorder columns, and copy correctly formatted Markdown for a README, a wiki or an issue.

The syntax behind it

A GitHub Flavored Markdown table has a header row, a delimiter row and any number of body rows, each starting and ending with a pipe. The delimiter row sets alignment: :--- for left, :---: for centre and ---: for right. GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps, Notion, Obsidian, Docusaurus and most static site generators render this syntax.

Editing the grid

Type in any cell to change it. The buttons above the table add a row or a column; each column header has buttons to move it left or right or delete it, and each row has a delete button. The table starts with a small example comparing Free and Pro plans, so you can see the result immediately; Clear starts from an empty two-column table.

Alignment

Choose L, C or R under each header. Numbers usually read best right-aligned so their digits line up, short labels centred and text left-aligned. The choice is written into the delimiter row; the example starts with | :------- | :-------: | :-------: |, left for the feature names and centred for the plans.

Importing existing data

Paste into the import box and load it into the editor. Cells copied from Excel or Google Sheets arrive tab-separated and keep their columns even when a cell contains a pipe character. CSV and other delimited text are detected automatically, and an existing Markdown or ASCII table can be pasted back in to edit it.

Special characters

A pipe inside a cell would start a new column, so it is written as \|. Markdown tables cannot contain real line breaks; a line break inside a cell becomes <br>, which GitHub and most renderers display as a new line. Inline Markdown such as bold text, code spans and links is copied as you type it.

Output options

“Align columns in the source” pads every cell so the raw Markdown lines up, which is easier to review in a diff; turn it off for compact output. Copy the Markdown, download a .md file, or copy an HTML version with text-align styles for places that accept HTML but not Markdown.

A worked example

Importing Name, Age and the rows Ana 31 and Bo | B 7 from a spreadsheet gives a two-column table in which the second name is written Bo \| B, so the pipe stays inside its cell.

When to use HTML instead

Markdown tables cannot merge cells, hold lists or paragraphs, or set column widths. For those, write an HTML table, which GitHub also renders, or link to a spreadsheet.

Related tools

Convert whole CSV or Excel files with CSV to Markdown Table, turn terminal output into tables with the ASCII Table Converter, write the rest of the document in the Markdown Editor, or add a contents list with the Markdown TOC Generator.