To print a list in Tabular format in Python, you can use the format(), PrettyTable.add_rows(), tabulate() functions, or pandas.DataFrame() object. See details below.
Print A List In Tabular Format In Python
Using the format() function
You can use the format() function to print a list in Tabular format in Python. In this case, we will use the format() function to print each item in the initial list with the specified format.
Look at the example below.
# Create a list. customers = [ ['Alex', 'New York', 23], ['Fred', 'Manchester', 35], ['Casemiro', 'Manchester', 28], ['Shaw', 'Madrid', 27] ] # Print the header. print('{:<7} {:<14} {:<9}'.format('name', 'address', 'age')) # Print a list in Tabular format with the format() function. for item in customers: name, address, age = item print('{:<7} {:<14} {:<9}'.format(name, address, age))
Output
name address age
Alex New York 23
Fred Manchester 35
Casemiro Manchester 28
Shaw Madrid 27
Using the tabulate() function
Besides the format() function, you can use the tabulate() function to print a list in Tabular format in Python. It is built into the tabulate package. So you have to install the tabulate package first to use this function. With this function, you only need to assign the data and header as the hyperparameters.
Look at the example below.
from tabulate import tabulate # Create a list. customers = [ ['Alex', 'New York', 23], ['Fred', 'Manchester', 35], ['Casemiro', 'Manchester', 28], ['Shaw', 'Madrid', 27] ] # Print a list in Tabular format with the tabulate() function. tabular_table = tabulate(customers, headers=['name', 'address', 'age']) print(tabular_table)
Output
name address age
-------- ---------- -----
Alex New York 23
Fred Manchester 35
Casemiro Manchester 28
Shaw Madrid 27
Using the PrettyTable.add_rows() function
Moreover, you can use the PrettyTable.add_rows() function to print a list in Tabular format. Simply, you create a PrettyTable object first. Then, you add your data to this object with the PrettyTable.add_rows() function.
Look at the example below.
from prettytable import PrettyTable # Create a list. customers = [ ['Alex', 'New York', 23], ['Fred', 'Manchester', 35], ['Casemiro', 'Manchester', 28], ['Shaw', 'Madrid', 27] ] # Create a PrettyTable object. pretty_table = PrettyTable(['name', 'address', 'age']) # Add data to this table with the add_rows() function. pretty_table.add_rows(customers) print(pretty_table)
Output
+----------+------------+-----+
| name | address | age |
+----------+------------+-----+
| Alex | New York | 23 |
| Fred | Manchester | 35 |
| Casemiro | Manchester | 28 |
| Shaw | Madrid | 27 |
+----------+------------+-----+
Using the Pandas.DataFrame() object
In addition, you can use Pandas.DataFrame() object to print a list in Tabular format. More simply than the three ways above, you only need to create a Pandas.DataFrame() object with the specified data and print it out.
Look at the example below.
from pandas import DataFrame # Create a list. customers = [ ['Alex', 'New York', 23], ['Fred', 'Manchester', 35], ['Casemiro', 'Manchester', 28], ['Shaw', 'Madrid', 27] ] # # Print a list in Tabular format with the pandas.DataFrame() function. df = DataFrame(customers, columns=['name', 'address', 'age']) print(df)
Output
name address age
0 Alex New York 23
1 Fred Manchester 35
2 Casemiro Manchester 28
3 Shaw Madrid 27
Besides, you can learn how to print a dictionary in table format here.
Summary
We have shown you how to print a list in Tabular format in Python in 4 ways. Personally, you should use the tabulate() function because it is simple and the result is readable. Hope you have an enjoyable learning experience. Thanks!

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