Cause of HTML Table Overflow in Forms, Including Contact Form 7

When using tables in web development, have you ever encountered the issue where the table content overflows its parent element? I struggled with this issue for hours, so I’ve summarized a CSS solution to fix it.

Common Issue: Table Width Exceeding the Parent Element and Screen Width

By default, HTML tables determine cell widths based on content length. This behavior often causes tables to exceed the max-width of their parent elements, especially in mobile displays.

This issue can also occur in Contact Form 7 forms.

Solution: Apply table-layout: fixed;

To prevent table overflow, you can fix the table layout using table-layout: fixed;.

CSS to Apply table-layout: fixed;

table {
    width: 100%;
    table-layout: fixed;
}

By applying this CSS, the table width is fixed, ensuring that it does not overflow its parent element—even in mobile displays!