Is it possible to center tables in a markdown file?

Question

I have a table:

    | This | Is | A | Table |
    | :--- | -- | - | ----: |
    | foo  | ba | r | elbaT |

I'd like the table to display in the center of my Markdown file instead of left-aligned. I am not trying to align text, but the entire table itself. Do I need to resort to HTML/CSS to achieve what I want?

This is for an Apiary.io project.

For Material for MkDocs: https://github.com/squidfunk/mkdocs-material/issues/3430#issuecomment-1005973474 — phoenix, Jan 05 '22 at 18:34

score 60 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 08 '14 at 18:48

If you use the standard documentation, use the <center> tag like so.

Blueprint

FORMAT: 1A
HOST: http://www.google.com

# Tables
Notes API is a *short texts saving* service similar to its physical paper presence on your table.

<center>

| Tables   |      Are      |  Cool |
|----------|:-------------:|------:|
| col 1 is |  left-aligned | $1600 |
| col 2 is |    centered   |   $12 |
| col 3 is | right-aligned |    $1 |

</center>

# Group Notes

(...)

Preview

If you use the ‘New Documentation’, it's not possible to center a table (since the table takes a full width of the column).

Preview

While this at least directly answers my question, the second hit on Google (for me) leads to [a StackOverflow question asking why `center` is deprecated](http://stackoverflow.com/q/1798817/1708136). Thanks for the effort though — Meredith, Jul 11 '14 at 00:35

score 16 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 06 '20 at 05:22

16

It is simple. As you know the "|-|" is used for indicate the table and ":" is used for indicate the text alignment. If |:-| entered that is a right aligned text column. If |-:| entered that is a left aligned text and if |:-:| entered that is a centre aligned.

answered Apr 06 '20 at 05:22

yashod perera

229
2
3

4

As is sometimes the case, the actual answer is at the bottom – AIDoubt Oct 03 '20 at 23:19
5

The question, however, is for centering the table itself, and not its contents. I can see how it's easy to misunderstand though. – Bryan K Jan 26 '21 at 18:22

score 13 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 09 '14 at 19:41

Yes. You can have GFM tables in API Blueprint – check http://docs.tables.apiary.io for rendered version of the blueprint source bellow.

FORMAT: 1A

# Tables API 
Note: Tables can be handcrafted or generated at <http://www.tablesgenerator.com/markdown_tables>.

## Table 1
**Discussion option 1**

| Tables   |      Are      |  Cool |
|----------|:-------------:|------:|
| col 1 is |  left-aligned | $1600 |
| col 2 is |    centered   |   $12 |
| col 3 is | right-aligned |    $1 |

# Message [/pages]
## Create a Message [POST]

### Table 2
**Discussion option 2**

| Tables   |      Are      |  Cool |
|----------|:-------------:|------:|
| col 1 is |  left-aligned | $1600 |
| col 2 is |    centered   |   $12 |
| col 3 is | right-aligned |    $1 |

+ Request (application/json)

    ## Table 3
    **Discussion option 3**

    | Tables   |      Are      |  Cool |
    |----------|:-------------:|------:|
    | col 1 is |  left-aligned | $1600 |
    | col 2 is |    centered   |   $12 |
    | col 3 is | right-aligned |    $1 |

    + Headers

            Authorization:Bearer tokenString

    + Body

            { ... }

+ Response 201

Isn't the question about "centering the whole table on the page"? Whereas this response is about "centering the text within a single column"? I can't find anywhere that any Markdown variant allows centering or indenting text (except pre/code blocks, but they also literalize the Markdown that defines the table). — jackr, Jul 07 '14 at 17:18
Good point! I have misunderstood the answer – AFAIK there is no way to do it within Apiary. I will keep you updated on whether/how it is possible in the embedded documentation. — Zdenek, Jul 08 '14 at 10:44

score 10 · Answer 4 · edited Sep 05 '21 at 19:12

10

A simple method that everyone seems to have overlooked is to enclose the table within a div and use the align="center" property on it.

<div align="center">

| Tables   |      Are      |  Cool |
|----------|:-------------:|------:|
| col 1 is |  left-aligned | $1600 |
| col 2 is |    centered   |   $12 |
| col 3 is | right-aligned |    $1 |

</div>

Works just like <center> used to. No need to worry about <center> getting deprecated anymore. ;)

edited Sep 05 '21 at 19:12

codesnerd

627
2
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20

answered Aug 17 '21 at 16:08

Rohan Lekhwani

410
4
14

@Gangula sure that would center align text **within** the table but to center align the table itself within the markdown file (which is what the op actually wants) you'd need a `
`
– Rohan Lekhwani Oct 25 '21 at 12:30
Oh, my bad. I misunderstood the question. – Gangula Oct 25 '21 at 12:32

Meredith · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-11T01:17:21.210

7

My solution detailed by Gaffney in an Apiary.io issue comment.

Basically I add custom stylesheets and scripts within apiary.apib HTML blocks to style the page with HTML instead of headwalling that a Markdown dialect isn't CSS.

Also "How to Center Anything in CSS".

edited Jul 11 '14 at 01:17

answered Jul 11 '14 at 00:33

Meredith

3,264
3
30
57

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 18 '22 at 16:37

From Yihui's book(https://bookdown.org/yihui/rmarkdown-cookbook/kable.html) re: kable():

Tables are center-aligned by default when they are included in a table environment (i.e., when the table has a caption). If you do not want to center a table, use the argument centering = FALSE.

Is it possible to center tables in a markdown file?

6 Answers6

Blueprint

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