Roam Research Docs · Help & user documentation

Table

markdown version · view in Roam Research

• Tables display blocks as a grid you can edit in place: click into cells, sort columns, resize, and paste to and from spreadsheets.
• Every cell is a real Roam block, so cells can contain page links, block references, and formatting. They show up in search and linked references like any other block.
• This one is live: click into a cell, or try sorting the Price column from its pill. (Reading this on the help graph? Your edits here aren't saved, so play freely.)
• {{table}}
  • Item
    • Price
      • Last ordered
  • Coffee
    • $4.50
      • March 3rd, 2026
  • Tea
    • $3.25
      • June 12th, 2026
  • Croissant
    • $2.75
      • January 8th, 2026

Creating a table

• Type /table in a block, or write {{[[table]]}} yourself.
• A brand-new table asks for its size first. Pick rows and columns, hit Create table, and you get a grid ready to fill in:
• {{table}}
• Click any empty cell and start typing. Roam creates the blocks for you as the table grows.
• Under the hood, the grid is built from the blocks nested beneath the table block: each direct child starts a row, and each level of nesting is the next column. Existing nested-list tables render just as they always have.

Editing cells

• Click a cell to edit it. A cell edits like a normal block, including [[links]] and ((block refs)).
• Drag across cells, or hold Shift with the arrow keys, to select a range.
• With a selection: arrow keys move, Enter or just typing edits the focused cell, Tab / Shift-Tab step through cells, and Backspace clears contents.
• Copy or cut a selection (Cmd-c / Cmd-x) and paste it into a spreadsheet. Pasting a grid of spreadsheet cells into a table fills it in, creating cells as needed.

Rows and columns

• Hover over a column and click its pill to open the column menu: Header column, Sort, Insert left / right, Clear contents, and Delete.
• Rows have the same pill menu: Header row, Insert above / below, Clear contents, and Delete.
• Drag a column's edge to resize it, and drag a row or column by its pill to move it.

Sorting

• Sort a column ascending or descending from its column menu.
• Sorting understands numbers (including $, %, and thousands separators), dates, and plain text.
• The header row stays put; the rest of the rows are reordered.
• Sorting reorders the actual blocks, so the new order is what everyone sees. It's not a per-person view.
• If edits later knock the table out of order, the column offers Re-sort; Remove sort stops tracking it.