Pick a Table on the Page - Click to Capture Exactly One

## Why it matters

The automatic table list scans the page and shows every table it detects. That works most of the time, but not always. Tables inside scrollable containers, lazy-loaded tables that appear after a scroll, or tables deeply nested in the page structure can be missed or hard to find in a long list.

The picker lets you point at a table directly on the page and grab exactly that one. No hunting through a list. No worrying whether Scalpel found all tables.

## How it works

Click the "Pick on page" button in the popup header. The page goes into picker mode:

• Your cursor turns into a crosshair or highlight indicator
• As you move the mouse over the page, any detected table under your cursor is highlighted with an overlay
• Click to capture that table
• Press Escape or click outside the popup to cancel the picker

The highlight shows the exact boundaries of the table the detector found. If you see a table you want highlighted, click it and it's added to your export options.

## What does not matter

The picker doesn't modify the page. It reads the page as-is and leaves it unchanged when you cancel. There's no risk of breaking something by using the picker.

Also, picking one table doesn't exclude the others from the automatic list. If the page has ten tables, the automatic scan finds all ten, and the picker just gives you a shortcut to grab one of them without scrolling the list.

The picker also doesn't care about the table's order on the page. Whether a table is above or below the fold, inside a modal, or in a hidden section, if the detector found it, you can pick it.

## Code example

A page with a product table inside a horizontal scroll container, and the table is not obvious in the automatic list:

<div style="overflow-x: auto; width: 600px;">
  <table>
    <thead>
      <tr><th>Product</th><th>Price</th><th>Stock</th></tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
      <tr><td>Widget</td><td>9.99</td><td>100</td></tr>
      <tr><td>Gadget</td><td>19.99</td><td>50</td></tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>
</div>
Copy

Click "Pick on page", hover over the scrollable area, and the table inside highlights. Click it to capture it, even though the automatic list might have listed it ambiguously or missed its boundaries.

## How Scalpel Tables shows it

The "Pick on page" button sits in the popup header, next to the extension icon. Click it to start the picker. A faint overlay shows each table as you hover over it. Click the one you want, and it appears in your export options with a highlighting border showing exactly what was captured.

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Related:

• Web table detection
• Table detection confidence