How to Make a LaTeX Table That Spans Multiple Pages

Standard tabular environments in LaTeX don't break across pages — if your table is longer than one page, it simply overflows or disappears. The fix is longtable (or its alternatives xtab and ltablex).

Using the longtable Package

The longtable package is the most widely used solution. It replaces tabular with a page-breaking version:

\\usepackage{longtable}
\\usepackage{booktabs}

\\begin{longtable}{lcc}
    \\caption{Experimental Results Across All Conditions} \\\\
    \\toprule
    Condition & Accuracy & p-value \\\\
    \\midrule
    \\endfirsthead

    \\multicolumn{3}{c}{\\textit{Continued from previous page}} \\\\
    \\toprule
    Condition & Accuracy & p-value \\\\
    \\midrule
    \\endhead

    \\midrule
    \\multicolumn{3}{r}{\\textit{Continued on next page}} \\\\
    \\endfoot

    \\bottomrule
    \\endlastfoot

    Exp 1 & 0.85 & 0.001 \\\\
    Exp 2 & 0.87 & 0.003 \\\\
    Exp 3 & 0.91 & < 0.001 \\\\
    % ... many more rows
\\end{longtable}

Key sections explained

• \\endfirsthead — header on the first page only
• \\endhead — header repeated on subsequent pages
• \\endfoot — footer on all pages except the last
• \\endlastfoot — footer on the final page only

Alternative: xtab

xtab is a simpler alternative that extends supertabular. It's easier to set up but less flexible:

\\usepackage{xtab}

\\tablefirsthead{\\toprule Method & Score \\\\ \\midrule}
\\tablehead{\\multicolumn{2}{c}{\\textit{Continued}} \\\\ \\toprule Method & Score \\\\ \\midrule}
\\tabletail{\\midrule \\multicolumn{2}{r}{\\textit{Continued}} \\\\}
\\tablelasttail{\\bottomrule}

\\begin{xtabular}{lc}
    Method A & 0.92 \\\\
    Method B & 0.88 \\\\
\\end{xtabular}

Combining longtable + tabularx

Need auto-width columns that also break across pages? Use ltablex:

\\usepackage{ltablex}

\\begin{tabularx}{\\textwidth}{lXc}
    \\caption{Results} \\\\
    \\toprule
    Name & Description & Score \\\\
    \\midrule
    \\endhead
    Model A & A long description that wraps automatically & 0.95 \\\\
\\end{tabularx}

Which should you use?

Package	Best for	Complexity
longtable	Most multi-page tables	Medium
xtab	Simple multi-page tables	Low
ltablex	Auto-width + page breaks	Medium

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