Markdown table generator
Build a table in a grid instead of counting pipes. Edit the cells below and the Markdown updates as you type — or paste an existing table in to edit it.
Built in this tab. Your data is never uploaded.
Why tables are the fiddliest Markdown element
Every other element is one character at the start of a line. A table needs a header row, a divider row with the right number of columns, and a pipe between every cell — and a single missing pipe turns the whole thing back into a paragraph. Editing one by hand later is worse than writing it.
Two things the generator handles for you
- Escaping. A literal
|in your data is escaped as\|so it does not split the cell. - Line breaks. Newlines inside a cell become
<br>, because the usual line-break syntax does not work inside a table.
Coming from a spreadsheet
Select the cells in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers and copy. Spreadsheets put tab-separated text on the clipboard, so pasting into the import box is all that is needed — no export step, no file, nothing uploaded.
Common questions
- How do I make a Markdown table without counting pipes?
- Edit the grid above and the Markdown updates as you type. Add rows and columns with the buttons, set each column's alignment from its dropdown, then copy the result.
- Can I paste an existing table in to edit it?
- Yes. Paste into the import box and it is read back into the grid. Markdown tables, CSV, tab-separated text copied straight from a spreadsheet, and JSON arrays of objects all work.
- How do I get a table out of Excel or Google Sheets?
- Select the cells and copy. Spreadsheets put tab-separated text on the clipboard, which the import box recognises, so pasting is all it takes.
- What happens to line breaks inside a cell?
- They become <br>, because neither trailing spaces nor a backslash works inside a table cell. Pipe characters are escaped as \| so they do not split the cell.
- Does the output line up in the source?
- Yes — columns are padded so the raw Markdown is readable. Padding makes no difference to how the table renders, but it makes hand-editing afterwards far easier.
- Is my data uploaded?
- No. The grid, the conversion and the clipboard all stay in this tab. Nothing is sent to a server, so a table of real figures is safe to work on here.