How to Adjust HTML Table Column Width in Power Automate
Question details
The user needs to set a custom width for specific columns, such as the Details column, in an HTML table generated by a Power Automate flow.
- Product
- Microsoft Power Automate
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Generating structured HTML tables containing source data for weekly automated emails.
- Observed behavior
- The default Create HTML table action produces standard output without custom column widths, requiring manual HTML or CSS intervention.
Familiarize yourself with basic HTML tags and inline CSS attributes, as Power Automate requires manual styling implementation to override default table formatting in emails.
Apply CSS Styling to the HTML Table Output
Inject custom HTML and CSS styles into your flow's email action to explicitly define the width of specific table columns.
Since the default 'Create HTML table' action in Power Automate does not provide a visual interface to adjust column dimensions, you must use standard web styling techniques. Inline CSS is highly recommended to ensure the tables render correctly across different email clients like Outlook and Gmail.
Open your Power Automate flow and navigate to the step where the 'Send an email (V2)' action is configured to send the HTML table.
Click the 'Code View' (</>) button within the email body editor to switch from the standard rich-text view to raw HTML mode.
Add a <style> block above your dynamic table content, or use a 'Compose' action earlier in the flow to apply a Replace expression that inserts inline styles (e.g., style="width: 250px;") into the <th> or <td> tags of your target column.
Save your modified flow and execute a manual test run. Check the recipient inbox to confirm the HTML table displays with the adjusted column widths.
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While Power Automate handles your workflow automation, WPS Office provides a lightweight, highly compatible alternative to Microsoft Office for preparing, formatting, and analyzing the underlying spreadsheet data before it triggers your flows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I adjust Power Automate table widths without writing code?
No. The built-in 'Create HTML table' action generates basic, unstyled HTML. To adjust specific properties like column width or background color, you must utilize HTML and CSS styling within the flow.
Why are my CSS column widths ignored in Outlook?
Certain desktop email clients, including older versions of Outlook, have limited support for complex CSS stylesheets. To ensure your table columns size correctly, always use inline CSS attributes (e.g., <th style="width:150px;">) directly on the elements.
How do I format the actual data inside the HTML table columns?
Data formatting should be done before creating the HTML table. Use a 'Select' action with mapping, applying expressions like formatDateTime() or formatNumber() to your array elements before passing them to the Create HTML table action.
