CSS empty-cells Property

Last Updated : 22 May, 2026

The empty-cells property in CSS is used to control the visibility of borders and backgrounds in empty table cells. It helps improve the appearance and formatting of HTML tables.

  • Used mainly with tables that have separate borders.
  • Common values are show and hide.
  • Helps create cleaner and more organized table layouts.

Syntax:

empty-cells: show | hide | initial | inherit;

Default Value: show

Property values: 

  • show property: This property is used to display the borders on empty cells.
  • hide property: This property is used to hide the border in empty-cell in the table.
  • initial property: This property is used to set the default property.
  • inherit property: This property is used to inherit the property from its parent.

Example: Here, we are using empty-cell: show property.

html
<!--Driver Code Starts-->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  
<head>
    <title>empty-cell property</title>
<!--Driver Code Ends-->

    <style>
        table.geek {
            empty-cells: show;
        }

        td {
            text-align: center;
        }

        .gfg {
            font-size: 40px;
            font-weight: bold;
            color: green;
        }

        .geeks {
            font-size: 17px;
        }
    </style>

<!--Driver Code Starts-->
</head>

<body>
    <center>
        <div class="gfg">GeeksforGeeks</div>
        <div class="geeks">A computer science
            portal for geeks</div>

        <h2>empty-cells: show;</h2>
        <table class="geek" border="1">
            <tr>
                <td>C Programming</td>
                <td>C++ Programming</td>
            <tr>
                <td>Java</td>
                <td></td>
            </tr>
        </table>
    </center>
</body>
  
</html>
<!--Driver Code Ends-->

Example: Here, we are using empty-cell: hide property.

html
<!--Driver Code Starts-->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  
<head>
    <title>empty-cell property</title>
<!--Driver Code Ends-->

    <style>
        table.geek {
            empty-cells: hide;
        }

        td {
            text-align: center;
        }

        .gfg {
            font-size: 40px;
            font-weight: bold;
            color: green;
        }

        .geeks {
            font-size: 17px;
        }
    </style>

<!--Driver Code Starts-->
</head>

<body>
    <center>
        <div class="gfg">GeeksforGeeks</div>
        <div class="geeks">A computer science
            portal for geeks</div>

        <h2>empty-cells: show;</h2>
        <table class="geek" border="1">
            <tr>
                <td>C Programming</td>
                <td>C++ Programming</td>                
            <tr>
                <td>Java</td>
                <td></td>
            </tr>
        </table>
    </center>
</body>
  
</html>
<!--Driver Code Ends-->

Example: Here, we are using empty-cell: initial property.

html
<!--Driver Code Starts-->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  
<head>
    <title>empty-cell property</title>
<!--Driver Code Ends-->

    <style>
        table.geek {
            empty-cells: initial;
        }

        td {
            text-align: center;
        }

        .gfg {
            font-size: 40px;
            font-weight: bold;
            color: green;
        }

        .geeks {
            font-size: 17px;
        }
    </style>

<!--Driver Code Starts-->
</head>

<body>
    <center>
        <div class="gfg">GeeksforGeeks</div>
        <div class="geeks">A computer science
            portal for geeks</div>

        <h2>empty-cells: show;</h2>
        <table class="geek" border="1">
            <tr>
                <td>C Programming</td>
                <td>C++ Programming</td>                
            <tr>
                <td>Java</td>
                <td></td>
            </tr>
        </table>
    </center>
</body>
  
</html>
<!--Driver Code Ends-->

Example:  Here, we are using empty-cell: inherit property.

html
<!--Driver Code Starts-->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  
<head>
    <title>empty-cell property</title>
<!--Driver Code Ends-->

    <style>
        table.geek {
            empty-cells: initial;
        }

        .g4g {
            empty-cells: inherit;
        }

        td {
            text-align: center;
        }

        .gfg {
            font-size: 40px;
            font-weight: bold;
            color: green;
        }

        .geeks {
            font-size: 17px;
        }
    </style>

<!--Driver Code Starts-->
</head>

<body>
    <center>
        <div class="gfg">GeeksforGeeks</div>
        <div class="geeks">A computer science
            portal for geeks</div>

        <h2>empty-cells: show;</h2>
        <table class="geek" border="1">
            <tr>
                <td>C Programming</td>
                <td>Algorithm</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td></td>
                <td>
                    <table class="g4g" border="1">
                        <tr>
                            <td>DP</td>
                            <td>Backtracking</td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td>Sorting</td>
                            <td></td>
                        </tr>
                    </table>
                </td>
            </tr>
        </table>
    </center>
</body>
  
</html>
<!--Driver Code Ends-->
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