HTML <col> Tag Definition, Usage and Examples

The <col> HTML Tag is used to provide column characteristics for each column within a <colgroups> element. If developers need to provide styles across one or more columns, the <col> HTML tag might come in helpful. Rather from applying styles to individual < td> HTML Tag, you may apply them to the <col> HTML Tag. Then all <td> (and <th>) components within that <col> will be styled appropriately. The <col> HTML Tag is part of Tables Tags category in HTML Element Reference. The attributes of the <col> HTML Tag are span, global attributes and events attributes.

<col> code block example to learn how it works is given below. 

<table>
<colgroup>
<col class="col-1">
<col span="2" class="normal">
</colgroup>
<tr>
<td>Cell</td>
<td>Cell</td>
<td>Cell</td>
</tr>
</table>

The second example usage of the “<col>” code block example is below. 

<style>
table, td, th {
    border: 1px solid black;
}   
</style>
<table>
<colgroup>
<col style="background:#AEF542;">
<col span="3" style="background:#F4CBEA;">
<col style="background:orange;">
</colgroup>
<tr>
<th>Header 1</th>
<th>Header 2</th>
<th>Header 3</th>
<th>Header 4</th>
<th>Header 5</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Cell</td>
<td>Cell</td>
<td>Cell</td>
<td>Cell</td>
<td>Cell</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Cell</td>
<td>Cell</td>
<td>Cell</td>
<td>Cell</td>
<td>Cell</td>
</tr>
</table>

What is <col> HTML Tag?

The <col> HTML Tag is used to describe the column attributes for each column included inside a <colgroup> HTML Tag. This tag is used to specify the style property for the column. This tag contains no closing tags.

How to Use <col> HTML Tag?

To use the <col> HTML Tag, The site developer should write <col> (no end tag). The span attribute may be used to define the number of columns to span. The tag should be used within an <colgroup> HTML tag that lacks a span property.

Example Usage of <col> HTML Tag?

The following example of usage of <col> HTML tag is given below. 

<table>
  <colgroup>
    <col span="2" style="background-color:red">
    <col style="background-color:pink">
  </colgroup>
  <tr>
    <th>ISBN</th>
    <th>Title</th>
    <th>Price</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>3476896</td>
    <td>My first HTML</td>
    <td>$55</td>
  </tr>
</table>

What are the Attributes of <col> HTML Tag?

There are multiple attributes for the <col> HTML Tag. The following attributes are listed below.

  • Global Attributes: The <col> HTML Tag supports Global Attributes. All HTML elements, even those not specified in the standard, can have global attributes. This means that any non-standard elements must nevertheless allow certain characteristics, even if using such elements makes the content non-HTML5 compliant.
  • Event Attributes: The <col> HTML Tag supports Event Attributes. The Event Attributes always have a name that begins with “on” and is followed by the name of the event for which it is intended. They specify a script to run when an event of the defined type is dispatched to the element with the specified attributes.
  • Span Attributes: The <col> HTML Tag supports Span Attributes. The Span Attribute determines how many columns a column group should span.

What are the Default CSS Settings for <col> HTML Tag?

The following is the Default CSS Setting for the <col> HTML Tag.

col {
  display: table-column;
}

What are the Related other HTML Tags to <col>?

The other related HTML Tags to the <col> HTML Tag are listed below. 

  • <caption> HTML Tag: The <caption> HTML Tag is related to <col> HTML Tag because they are both tables tags. The <caption> HTML Tag specifies the caption for a table.
  • <th> HTML Tag: The <th> HTML Tag is related to <col> HTML Tag because they are both tables tags. The <th> HTML Tag specifies a table header cell.
  • <tr> HTML Tag: The <tr> HTML Tag is related to <col> HTML Tag because they are both tables tags. The <tr> HTML Tag specifies a table row.
  • <td> HTML Tag: The <td> HTML Tag is related to <col> HTML Tag because they are both tables tags. The td> HTML Tag specifies a table cell.
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HTML <col> Tag Definition, Usage and Examples

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