Table Fixed Header and Scrollable Body

Question

I am trying to make a table with fixed header and a scrollable content using the bootstrap 3 table. Unfortunately the solutions I have found does not work with bootstrap or mess up the style.

Here there is a simple bootstrap table, but for some reason to me unknown the height of the tbody is not 10px.

height: 10px !important; overflow: scroll;

Example:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="//">

<table class="table table-striped">
    <thead>
    <tr>
        <th>Make</th>
        <th>Model</th>
        <th>Color</th>
        <th>Year</th>
    </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody style="height: 10px !important; overflow: scroll; ">
    <tr>
        <td class="filterable-cell">111 Ford</td>
        <td class="filterable-cell">Escort</td>
        <td class="filterable-cell">Blue</td>
        <td class="filterable-cell">2000</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td class="filterable-cell">Ford</td>
        <td class="filterable-cell">Escort</td>
        <td class="filterable-cell">Blue</td>
        <td class="filterable-cell">2000</td>
    </tr>
            <tr>
        <td class="filterable-cell">Ford</td>
        <td class="filterable-cell">Escort</td>
        <td class="filterable-cell">Blue</td>
        <td class="filterable-cell">2000</td>
    </tr>
     <tr>
        <td class="filterable-cell">Ford</td>
        <td class="filterable-cell">Escort</td>
        <td class="filterable-cell">Blue</td>
        <td class="filterable-cell">2000</td>
    </tr>
    </tbody>
    
</table>

Accepted Answer

Fixed table head - CSS-only

Simply position: sticky; top: 0; your th elements. (Chrome, FF, Edge)

.tableFixHead          { overflow: auto; height: 100px; }
.tableFixHead thead th { position: sticky; top: 0; z-index: 1; }

/* Just common table stuff. Really. */
table  { border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; }
th, td { padding: 8px 16px; }
th     { background:#eee; }

<div class="tableFixHead">
  <table>
    <thead>
      <tr><th>TH 1</th><th>TH 2</th></tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
      <tr><td>A1</td><td>A2</td></tr>
      <tr><td>B1</td><td>B2</td></tr>
      <tr><td>C1</td><td>C2</td></tr>
      <tr><td>D1</td><td>D2</td></tr>
      <tr><td>E1</td><td>E2</td></tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>
</div>

For both sticky vertical TH and horizontal TH columns (inside TBODY):

.tableFixHead          { overflow: auto; height: 100px; width: 240px; }
.tableFixHead thead th { position: sticky; top: 0; z-index: 1; }
.tableFixHead tbody th { position: sticky; left: 0; }

.tableFixHead          { overflow: auto; height: 100px; width: 240px; }
.tableFixHead thead th { position: sticky; top: 0; z-index: 1; }
.tableFixHead tbody th { position: sticky; left: 0; }

/* Just common table stuff. Really. */
table  { border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; }
th, td { padding: 8px 16px; white-space: nowrap; }
th     { background:#eee; }

<div class="tableFixHead">
  <table>
    <thead>
      <tr><th></th><th>TH 1</th><th>TH 2</th></tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
            <tr><th>Foo</th><td>Some long text lorem ipsum</td><td>Dolor sit amet</td></tr>
            <tr><th>Bar</th><td>B1</td><td>B2</td></tr>
            <tr><th>Baz</th><td>C1</td><td>C2</td></tr>
            <tr><th>Fuz</th><td>D1</td><td>D2</td></tr>
            <tr><th>Zup</th><td>E1</td><td>E2</td></tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>
</div>

Must Read

TH borders problem fix

Since border cannot be painted properly on a translated TH element, to recreate and render "borders" use the box-shadow property:

/* Borders (if you need them) */
.tableFixHead,
.tableFixHead td {
  box-shadow: inset 1px -1px #000;
}
.tableFixHead th {
  box-shadow: inset 1px 1px #000, 0 1px #000;
}

.tableFixHead          { overflow: auto; height: 100px; }
.tableFixHead thead th { position: sticky; top: 0; z-index: 1; }

/* Just common table stuff. Really. */
table  { border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; }
th, td { padding: 8px 16px; }
th     { background:#eee; }

/* Borders (if you need them) */
.tableFixHead,
.tableFixHead td {
  box-shadow: inset 1px -1px #000;
}
.tableFixHead th {
  box-shadow: inset 1px 1px #000, 0 1px #000;
}

<div class="tableFixHead">
  <table>
    <thead>
      <tr><th>TH 1</th><th>TH 2</th></tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
      <tr><td>A1</td><td>A2</td></tr>
      <tr><td>B1</td><td>B2</td></tr>
      <tr><td>C1</td><td>C2</td></tr>
      <tr><td>D1</td><td>D2</td></tr>
      <tr><td>E1</td><td>E2</td></tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>
</div>

Table Fixed Header and Scrollable Body

29 Answers

Fixed table head - CSS-only

Must Read

TH borders problem fix

Sarah Jenkins