Add tables and totals to a note
Insert a table, edit it cell by cell, sort it and add totals with =SUM and other formulas. The exact Markdown a Prior table is made of.
A table in a note is a standard Markdown table. You edit it like a small spreadsheet, and a few formulas total a column for you. Tables work in personal notes and in shared notes.
Insert a table
- Choose Table in the bar above the note, then pick a size on the grid. The grid goes up to 6 rows by 7 columns, header row included.
- Or type / and choose Table. It adds a table of 3 columns and 3 rows.
- Or paste cells copied from a spreadsheet. Tab-separated text becomes a table.
Edit a table
Click a cell to edit it. The tools appear under the table (above it on a phone).
- Click a cell and type. Tab moves to the next cell and Shift+Tab to the previous one. Tab in the last cell adds a row.
- Press Enter to go down one row. On the last row it adds a new one. Shift+Enter adds a line break inside the cell.
- Use Row to insert a row above or below, or to delete the row. Use Column to insert a column left or right, sort the table, set the alignment or delete the column.
- Press Esc, or click outside the table, when you are done.
The dashed buttons on the right and at the bottom (Add a column, Add a row) add one more. The trash button, Delete table, removes the whole table and can be undone. The header row cannot be deleted.
Pasting cells from a spreadsheet while a cell is open fills the table from that cell and adds the rows and columns it needs.
Sort ascending and Sort descending sort the rows by the column you are in. Numbers sort as numbers, text in natural order, and empty cells go last. Rows that hold a formula stay out of the sort.
Add totals
Choose Total to add a row at the bottom. It puts the label Total in the first column, when that column holds text, and =SUM under every column that holds numbers.
You can also type a formula into any cell. It shows its result and works on the numbers above it in the same column, from the first row under the header.
| Formula | Result |
|---|---|
=SUM | The sum. Also =SOMME, =SUMME, =SUMA, =SOMA and =TOTAL. |
=AVG | The average. Also =AVERAGE, =MOYENNE, =MITTELWERT, =PROMEDIO and =MEDIA. |
=MIN | The smallest number |
=MAX | The largest number |
=COUNT | How many numbers. Also =NB, =ANZAHL and =CONTAR. |
Write the name alone, or with empty parentheses (=SUM()). Capitals do not matter. Click a formula cell to see and edit its text.
Prior reads numbers the way people write them: 1 234,5, 1,234.5, 12 %, 4,5 €, $3. The first unit it finds (a currency sign, %) is used for the result, and the result is shown with at most two decimals in your language. Text that holds a digit but is not a number, like Item 1, is ignored. A k after a number multiplies it by a thousand, so 3k is 3,000. M and G right after the number, or m and g after a currency, mean a million and a billion: 2M is 2,000,000 and $3m is 3,000,000. Anything else is a unit: 5 m is 5 metres and 5 g is 5 grams.
Columns made only of numbers line up on the right. Set an alignment on the column to change that.
The Markdown behind a table
| Item | Price | Qty |
| --- | ---: | :---: |
| Pens | 12 € | 3 |
| Paper | 8.50 € | 10 |
| **Total** | =SUM | =SUM |- The first line is the header. The second line, with dashes, marks it as a table.
:---aligns a column left,:---:centers it and---:aligns it right.- A pipe inside a cell is written
\|, and a line break inside a cell is<br>. - Rows can have fewer cells than the header. The missing ones show empty, and the first edit adds them.
An older version of Prior, or any app that does not know tables, shows the same text with pipes. Nothing is lost.
In a shared note
Two people can work in the same table at once. Edits are as small as possible, so typing in different cells, adding rows and adding columns all merge. If two people type in the same cell, both texts stay. Sorting rewrites the rows in one go: it is the one action that can overwrite a word someone typed in the same instant.
Updated 5 November 2026