empty-cells CSS property

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.

The empty-cells CSS property sets whether borders and backgrounds appear around <table> cells that have no visible content.

This property has an effect only when the border-collapse property is separate.

Try it

empty-cells: show;
empty-cells: hide;
<section class="default-example" id="default-example">
  <table class="transition-all" id="example-element">
    <tbody>
      <tr>
        <th>Client Name</th>
        <th>Age</th>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td></td>
        <td>25</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Louise Q.</td>
        <td></td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Owen B.</td>
        <td></td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Stan L.</td>
        <td>71</td>
      </tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>
</section>
th,
td {
  border: 2px solid #aa1199;
  padding: 0.25rem 0.5rem;
}

Syntax

css
/* Keyword values */
empty-cells: show;
empty-cells: hide;

/* Global values */
empty-cells: inherit;
empty-cells: initial;
empty-cells: revert;
empty-cells: revert-layer;
empty-cells: unset;

The empty-cells property is specified as one of the keyword values listed below.

Values

show

Borders and backgrounds are drawn like in normal cells.

hide

No borders or backgrounds are drawn.

Formal definition

Initial valueshow
Applies totable-cell elements
Inheritedyes
Computed valueas specified
Animation typediscrete

Formal syntax

empty-cells = 
show |
hide

Examples

Showing and hiding empty table cells

HTML

html
<table class="table_1">
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Moe</td>
      <td>Larry</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Curly</td>
      <td></td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
<br />
<table class="table_2">
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Moe</td>
      <td>Larry</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Curly</td>
      <td></td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

CSS

css
.table_1 {
  empty-cells: show;
}

.table_2 {
  empty-cells: hide;
}

td,
th {
  border: 1px solid gray;
  padding: 0.5rem;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
Cascading Style Sheets Level 2
# empty-cells

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
empty-cells
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 1 (Release date: 2008-12-11)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 1 (Release date: 2004-11-09)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 4 (Release date: 2000-06-28)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 1.2 (Release date: 2004-02-02)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 18 (Release date: 2012-06-27)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 4 (Release date: 2011-03-29)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 10.1 (Release date: 2010-11-09)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1 (Release date: 2013-04-27)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 4.4 (Release date: 2013-12-09)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
footnote Full support
hide
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 1 (Release date: 2008-12-11)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 1 (Release date: 2004-11-09)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 4 (Release date: 2000-06-28)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 1.2 (Release date: 2004-02-02)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 18 (Release date: 2012-06-27)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 4 (Release date: 2011-03-29)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 10.1 (Release date: 2010-11-09)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1 (Release date: 2013-04-27)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 4.4 (Release date: 2013-12-09)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
footnote Full support
show
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 1 (Release date: 2008-12-11)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 1 (Release date: 2004-11-09)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 4 (Release date: 2000-06-28)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 1.2 (Release date: 2004-02-02)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 18 (Release date: 2012-06-27)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 4 (Release date: 2011-03-29)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 10.1 (Release date: 2010-11-09)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1 (Release date: 2013-04-27)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 4.4 (Release date: 2013-12-09)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
footnote Full support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support

See also