Now, let’s talk about Tables, or more specifically, Simple Tables. Why are they called simple? Well, that’s because there are basically two concepts of a table in Notion.
[Screenshot differentiating between Simple Tables and Table Database views]
We can of course create text-based tables, which we’ll talk about in this lesson But we can also have table database views, which we’ll cover very soon in our databases module. Many people often confuse those terms. That’s why it’s do important to differentiate between them.
A Simple Table is best for quickly previewing text in a table format — it does not have any calculation features and the like — that’s reserved for databases. The cells of a Simple Table are just text fields with the same formatting as a normal paragraph block.
Whenever we talk about a text table, we’ll use the term “Simple Table”. And whenever we use the term “Table View”, we are referring to Notion databases, which are quite a bit more powerful, but also more complex to use than simple text tables. We’re going to cover databases in module 6 – so hang tight!
Copy link to headingCreating a Simple Table
You can add a Simple Table on any Notion page by using the /table command. Keep in mind that the same command can also spawn a Database view, if you choose so. It’s easy to confuse both, as the only real differentiator in the / menu is a “Database” sub-title on the Table-Database option. Take a look at this screenshot:
The first option that says just “Table” will create a Simple Table block. Confusingly, both options have the same icon, so watch out whenever you add a Table, be it a Simple Table, or a Database view with the Table layout.
Copy link to headingAdding text
Once your Simple Table is created, it will by default have two columns and three rows. If you click on any of the cells, you’ll be able to type as in a normal paragraph block, with the same formatting options available.
A single Simple Table is one Block – if you try dragging and dropping, the whole Table will be moved.
Copy link to headingModifying the table
Simple Tables have variable width – by default, they won’t take up the entire width of the page. You can expand them horizontally either by dragging the right-most column’s right border further right, or clicking the “←→” icon that will appear whenever your cursor in any of the table’s cells.
Right next, you’ll see a little “Options” menu which lets you enable or disable the Header Row and Header Column. They’re just the first column and row, and they’ll be highlighted if you decide to enable those features. There’s no additional functionality in header rows and columns beyond the visual identification.
You can add more rows and columns to the table by clicking the little “+” that will appear to the left and on the bottom of the table.
[Table screenshot with + buttons]
You can also add more rows or columns in between already existing ones by clicking on the little six-dot menu that appears on the top of every column and to the left of every row;
[Table screenshot with modifier menu]
This little menu will also let you clear out the text from an entire row/column, modify the color, duplicate, or delete.
Copy link to headingSummary
Simple Tables are a great way to add some better formatting to your text, but they don’t have anywhere near the capacity of a Table Database view.
Now, let’s talk about Images, Videos, and Files!