How to force a long table to the page width

Question

I have a long table whose format I take directly from overleaf:

\begin{center}
    \begin{longtable}{|l|l|l||l|l|l|}
        \caption{A sample long table.} \label{tab:long} \\
    \hline \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\textbf{Second column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\textbf{Third column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{First column}}\\ \hline 
    \endfirsthead

    \multicolumn{6}{c}%
    {{\bfseries \tablename\ \thetable{} -- continued from previous page}} \\
    \hline \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\textbf{Second column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\textbf{Third column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{First column}}\\ \hline 
    \endhead

    \hline \multicolumn{6}{|r|}{{Continued on next page}} \\ \hline
    \endfoot

    \hline \hline
    \endlastfoot 
    One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 \\
    One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 \\
    One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 \\
    One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 \\

In my table I have 6 columns and since there are 6 columns the total width of the table exceeds the page. Is there a way I can fix it? Usually i use the following command for normal tables in my documents and they work perfectly well.

\resizebox{0.99\textwidth}{!}

I do not know how I can shrink the long table so that it is fit in the page like other tables.

even for normal tables it is usually best to avoid \resizebox as it leads to inconsistent font sizes. Just use \small or \footnotesize or whatever you need to select a suitable font before \begin{longtable} — David Carlisle, Dec 03 '21 at 16:31
please do not use external links, show the code in your question, especially links that say Restricted, sorry you don’t have permission to load this page. — David Carlisle, Dec 03 '21 at 16:32
don't put center around longtable (it does not centre it) but as I commented first use \small or a different size to make the table fit, as you have not provided a complete test file can not say what font size you need as have no information about your page size or fonts. — David Carlisle, Dec 03 '21 at 16:37
if you could tell how the size adjusting parameter can be added in the code, I can try. Thank you — Lalu, Dec 03 '21 at 16:39
just put \small before \begin{longtable} (and \normalsize after \end{longtable} if it is not already in some group) — David Carlisle, Dec 03 '21 at 16:42
you haven't given any information on your page width so I had to guess, \footnotesize is smaller than \small, \tiny is smaller than \footnotesize — David Carlisle, Dec 03 '21 at 16:46
how can i check the pagewidth, sorry if it too low level question, \tiny was way too small — Lalu, Dec 03 '21 at 16:52
You also can play with the value of \tabcolsep (the default is 6pt, which makes 72pt for a table with 6 columns). — Bernard, Dec 03 '21 at 18:50

Zarko · Answer 1 · 2021-12-04T00:54:10.323

You not provide MWE, so we can only ques about your pages layout. Assuming, that it is determined by geometry package and that dummy content of your table is close to real content, the table can be designed as follows:

It is produced by use of the tabularray package:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{geometry}
\usepackage{tabularray}
\UseTblrLibrary{booktabs}
  \ExplSyntaxOn
\NewChildSelector{eachfive}
  {
    \int_step_inline:nnnn {6}{5}{\l_tblr_childs_total_tl}
      { \clist_put_right:Nn \l_tblr_childs_clist {##1} }
  }
\ExplSyntaxOff
\begin{document}
\begin{longtblr}[
    caption = {A sample long table.}, 
      label = {tab:long}
                ]{rowhead = 1,
                  colspec = {@{} X[0.5,l]X[1.2,l]X[1,l]
                                 X[0.5,l]X[1.2,l]X[1,l] @{}},
                column{3} = {rightsep=2em},
                   rowsep = 0.5pt,
                   row{1} = {font=\small\bfseries},
             row{eachfive} = {abovesep=1ex},
                 }

    \toprule
{First\ column}

    & {Second\ column} 
        & {Third\ column}

            & {First\ column}
                & {Second\ column}
                        & {Third\ column}                              \
    \cmidrule[r=-0.5]{1-3}
    \cmidrule[l=-0.5]{4-6}
% table body
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 & One & abcdef ghjijklmn & 123.456778 \
    \bottomrule
\end{longtblr}
\end{document}

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 03 '21 at 19:03

As no MWE is provided, the answer is given assuming the standard article class.

Now, if a table width exceeds page width, then the good practice is to reduce the font size rather than resizing it. You may find the reason here.

Also, you may consider using fixed-width columns if reducing font size is not an option.

MWE:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{array}
\usepackage{longtable}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\newcolumntype{C}[1]{>{\centering\let\newline\\arraybackslash\hspace{0pt}}m{#1}}
\newcolumntype{R}[1]{>{\raggedleft\let\newline\\arraybackslash\hspace{0pt}}m{#1}}
\begin{document}
    \lipsum[1]
    \footnotesize
    \begin{longtable}{|l|l|l||l|l|l|}
        \caption{A sample long table (reduced font size).} \label{tab:long} \
    \hline \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\textbf{Second column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{c||}{\textbf{Third column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\textbf{First column}}\\ \hline 
    \endfirsthead

    \multicolumn{6}{c}%
    {{\bfseries \tablename\ \thetable{} -- continued from previous page}} \\
    \hline \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\textbf{Second column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\textbf{Third column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{First column}}\\ \hline 
    \endhead

    \hline \multicolumn{6}{|r|}{{Continued on next page}} \\ \hline
    \endfoot

    \hline \hline
    \endlastfoot 
    One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 &amp; \\
    One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 &amp;\\
    One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 &amp;\\
    One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 &amp;\\
\end{longtable}
\normalsize
\lipsum[2]

\begin{longtable}{*{6}{|p{1.5cm}}|}%{|l|l|l||l|l|l|}
    \caption{A sample long table (using fixed width column).} \label{tab:long2} \\

    \hline \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{C{1.5cm}|}{\textbf{Second column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{C{1.5cm}|}{\textbf{Third column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{C{1.5cm}|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{C{1.5cm}|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{C{1.5cm}|}{\textbf{First column}}\\ \hline 
    \endfirsthead

    \multicolumn{6}{c}%
    {{\bfseries \tablename\ \thetable{} -- continued from previous page}} \\
    \hline \multicolumn{1}{|C{1.5cm}|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{C{1.5cm}|}{\textbf{Second column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{C{1.5cm}|}{\textbf{Third column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{C{1.5cm}|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{C{1.5cm}|}{\textbf{First column}} &amp; \multicolumn{1}{C{1.5cm}|}{\textbf{First column}}\\ \hline  
    \endhead

    \hline \multicolumn{6}{|r|}{{Continued on next page}} \\ \hline
    \endfoot

    \hline \hline
    \endlastfoot 
    One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 &amp; \\
    One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 &amp;\\
    One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 &amp;\\
    One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 One &amp; abcdef ghjijklmn &amp; 123.456778 &amp;\\
\end{longtable}
\lipsum[3]

\end{document}

Output:

How to force a long table to the page width

2 Answers2