Question

Utilities for controlling whether table borders should collapse or be separated.

Quick reference

Class	Properties
border-collapse	border-collapse: collapse;
border-separate	border-collapse: separate;

Basic usage

Collapse

Use border-collapse to combine adjacent cell borders into a single border when possible. Note that this includes collapsing borders on the top-level <table> tag.

State	City
Indiana	Indianapolis
Ohio	Columbus
Michigan	Detroit

<table class="border-collapse border border-slate-400 ...">
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th class="border border-slate-300 ...">State</th>
      <th class="border border-slate-300 ...">City</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td class="border border-slate-300 ...">Indiana</td>
      <td class="border border-slate-300 ...">Indianapolis</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td class="border border-slate-300 ...">Ohio</td>
      <td class="border border-slate-300 ...">Columbus</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td class="border border-slate-300 ...">Michigan</td>
      <td class="border border-slate-300 ...">Detroit</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table><table class="border-collapse border border-slate-500 ...">
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th class="border border-slate-600 ...">State</th>
      <th class="border border-slate-600 ...">City</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td class="border border-slate-700 ...">Indiana</td>
      <td class="border border-slate-700 ...">Indianapolis</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td class="border border-slate-700 ...">Ohio</td>
      <td class="border border-slate-700 ...">Columbus</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td class="border border-slate-700 ...">Michigan</td>
      <td class="border border-slate-700 ...">Detroit</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Separate

Use border-separate to force each cell to display its own separate borders.

State	City
Indiana	Indianapolis
Ohio	Columbus
Michigan	Detroit

<table class="border-separate border border-slate-400 ...">
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th class="border border-slate-300 ...">State</th>
      <th class="border border-slate-300 ...">City</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td class="border border-slate-300 ...">Indiana</td>
      <td class="border border-slate-300 ...">Indianapolis</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td class="border border-slate-300 ...">Ohio</td>
      <td class="border border-slate-300 ...">Columbus</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td class="border border-slate-300 ...">Michigan</td>
      <td class="border border-slate-300 ...">Detroit</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table><table class="border-separate border border-slate-500 ...">
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th class="border border-slate-600 ...">State</th>
      <th class="border border-slate-600 ...">City</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td class="border border-slate-700 ...">Indiana</td>
      <td class="border border-slate-700 ...">Indianapolis</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td class="border border-slate-700 ...">Ohio</td>
      <td class="border border-slate-700 ...">Columbus</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td class="border border-slate-700 ...">Michigan</td>
      <td class="border border-slate-700 ...">Detroit</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

---

Applying conditionally

Hover, focus, and other states

Tailwind lets you conditionally apply utility classes in different states using variant modifiers. For example, use hover:border-collapse to only apply the border-collapse utility on hover.

<table class="hover:border-collapse">
  <!-- ... -->
</table>

For a complete list of all available state modifiers, check out the Hover, Focus, & Other States documentation.

Breakpoints and media queries

You can also use variant modifiers to target media queries like responsive breakpoints, dark mode, prefers-reduced-motion, and more. For example, use md:border-collapse to apply the border-collapse utility at only medium screen sizes and above.

<table class="md:border-collapse">
  <!-- ... -->
</table>

To learn more, check out the documentation on Responsive Design, Dark Mode and other media query modifiers.