diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/FooterRow.tsx b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/FooterRow.tsx
index 8e9cc1e423c..3811205ec6c 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/FooterRow.tsx
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/FooterRow.tsx
@@ -14,11 +14,10 @@ export interface FooterRowProps {
   footerGroups: HeaderGroup[];
   footerValues: FooterItem[];
   isPaginationVisible: boolean;
-  height: number;
 }
 
 export const FooterRow = (props: FooterRowProps) => {
-  const { totalColumnsWidth, footerGroups, height, isPaginationVisible } = props;
+  const { totalColumnsWidth, footerGroups, isPaginationVisible } = props;
   const e2eSelectorsTable = selectors.components.Panels.Visualization.Table;
   const tableStyles = useStyles2(getTableStyles);
 
@@ -33,14 +32,8 @@ export const FooterRow = (props: FooterRowProps) => {
       {footerGroups.map((footerGroup: HeaderGroup) => {
         const { key, ...footerGroupProps } = footerGroup.getFooterGroupProps();
         return (
-          <div
-            className={tableStyles.tfoot}
-            {...footerGroupProps}
-            key={key}
-            data-testid={e2eSelectorsTable.footer}
-            style={height ? { height: `${height}px` } : undefined}
-          >
-            {footerGroup.headers.map((column: ColumnInstance) => renderFooterCell(column, tableStyles, height))}
+          <div className={tableStyles.tfoot} {...footerGroupProps} key={key} data-testid={e2eSelectorsTable.footer}>
+            {footerGroup.headers.map((column: ColumnInstance) => renderFooterCell(column, tableStyles))}
           </div>
         );
       })}
@@ -48,7 +41,7 @@ export const FooterRow = (props: FooterRowProps) => {
   );
 };
 
-function renderFooterCell(column: ColumnInstance, tableStyles: TableStyles, height?: number) {
+function renderFooterCell(column: ColumnInstance, tableStyles: TableStyles) {
   const footerProps = column.getHeaderProps();
 
   if (!footerProps) {
@@ -58,9 +51,6 @@ function renderFooterCell(column: ColumnInstance, tableStyles: TableStyles, heig
   footerProps.style = footerProps.style ?? {};
   footerProps.style.position = 'absolute';
   footerProps.style.justifyContent = (column as any).justifyContent;
-  if (height) {
-    footerProps.style.height = height;
-  }
 
   return (
     <div className={tableStyles.headerCell} {...footerProps}>
diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/HeaderRow.tsx b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/HeaderRow.tsx
index 7d9147e4a41..ddd7c598692 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/HeaderRow.tsx
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/HeaderRow.tsx
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ export const HeaderRow = (props: HeaderRowProps) => {
   const tableStyles = useStyles2(getTableStyles);
 
   return (
-    <div role="rowgroup">
+    <div role="rowgroup" className={tableStyles.headerRow}>
       {headerGroups.map((headerGroup: HeaderGroup) => {
         const { key, ...headerGroupProps } = headerGroup.getHeaderGroupProps();
         return (
@@ -62,9 +62,12 @@ function renderHeaderCell(column: any, tableStyles: TableStyles, showTypeIcons?:
               <Icon name={getFieldTypeIcon(field)} title={field?.type} size="sm" className={tableStyles.typeIcon} />
             )}
             <div>{column.render('Header')}</div>
-            <div>
-              {column.isSorted && (column.isSortedDesc ? <Icon name="arrow-down" /> : <Icon name="arrow-up" />)}
-            </div>
+            {column.isSorted &&
+              (column.isSortedDesc ? (
+                <Icon size="lg" name="arrow-down" className={tableStyles.sortIcon} />
+              ) : (
+                <Icon name="arrow-up" size="lg" className={tableStyles.sortIcon} />
+              ))}
           </button>
           {column.canFilter && <Filter column={column} tableStyles={tableStyles} field={field} />}
         </>
diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/Table.tsx b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/Table.tsx
index e858c5af919..aafd34af3d4 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/Table.tsx
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/Table.tsx
@@ -150,13 +150,13 @@ export const Table = memo((props: Props) => {
   const variableSizeListScrollbarRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
   const tableStyles = useStyles2(getTableStyles);
   const theme = useTheme2();
-  const headerHeight = noHeader ? 0 : tableStyles.cellHeight;
+  const headerHeight = noHeader ? 0 : tableStyles.rowHeight;
   const [footerItems, setFooterItems] = useState<FooterItem[] | undefined>(footerValues);
   const [expandedIndexes, setExpandedIndexes] = useState<Set<number>>(new Set());
   const prevExpandedIndexes = usePrevious(expandedIndexes);
 
   const footerHeight = useMemo(() => {
-    const EXTENDED_ROW_HEIGHT = 33;
+    const EXTENDED_ROW_HEIGHT = headerHeight;
     let length = 0;
 
     if (!footerItems) {
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ export const Table = memo((props: Props) => {
     }
 
     return EXTENDED_ROW_HEIGHT;
-  }, [footerItems]);
+  }, [footerItems, headerHeight]);
 
   // React table data array. This data acts just like a dummy array to let react-table know how many rows exist
   // The cells use the field to look up values
@@ -288,7 +288,9 @@ export const Table = memo((props: Props) => {
   if (enablePagination) {
     listHeight -= tableStyles.cellHeight;
   }
-  const pageSize = Math.round(listHeight / tableStyles.cellHeight) - 1;
+
+  const pageSize = Math.round(listHeight / tableStyles.rowHeight) - 1;
+
   useEffect(() => {
     // Don't update the page size if it is less than 1
     if (pageSize <= 0) {
@@ -473,7 +475,6 @@ export const Table = memo((props: Props) => {
           )}
           {footerItems && (
             <FooterRow
-              height={footerHeight}
               isPaginationVisible={Boolean(enablePagination)}
               footerValues={footerItems}
               footerGroups={footerGroups}
diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/styles.ts b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/styles.ts
index ebc27d5b979..afb821a7853 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/styles.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/styles.ts
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@ import { css, CSSObject } from '@emotion/css';
 import { GrafanaTheme2 } from '@grafana/data';
 
 export const getTableStyles = (theme: GrafanaTheme2) => {
-  const { colors } = theme;
-  const headerBg = theme.colors.background.secondary;
   const borderColor = theme.colors.border.weak;
   const resizerColor = theme.colors.primary.border;
   const cellPadding = 6;
@@ -107,27 +105,29 @@ export const getTableStyles = (theme: GrafanaTheme2) => {
     `,
     thead: css`
       label: thead;
-      height: ${cellHeight}px;
+      height: ${rowHeight}px;
       overflow-y: auto;
       overflow-x: hidden;
-      background: ${headerBg};
       position: relative;
     `,
     tfoot: css`
       label: tfoot;
-      height: ${cellHeight}px;
+      height: ${rowHeight}px;
+      border-top: 1px solid ${borderColor};
       overflow-y: auto;
       overflow-x: hidden;
-      background: ${headerBg};
       position: relative;
     `,
+    headerRow: css`
+      label: row;
+      border-bottom: 1px solid ${borderColor};
+    `,
     headerCell: css`
       padding: ${cellPadding}px;
       overflow: hidden;
       white-space: nowrap;
-      color: ${colors.primary.text};
-      border-right: 1px solid ${theme.colors.border.weak};
       display: flex;
+      font-weight: ${theme.typography.fontWeightMedium};
 
       &:last-child {
         border-right: none;
@@ -141,8 +141,15 @@ export const getTableStyles = (theme: GrafanaTheme2) => {
       white-space: nowrap;
       overflow: hidden;
       text-overflow: ellipsis;
+      font-weight: ${theme.typography.fontWeightMedium};
       display: flex;
+      align-items: center;
       margin-right: ${theme.spacing(0.5)};
+
+      &:hover {
+        text-decoration: underline;
+        color: ${theme.colors.text.link};
+      }
     `,
     cellContainer: buildCellContainerStyle(undefined, undefined, true),
     cellContainerNoOverflow: buildCellContainerStyle(undefined, undefined, false),
@@ -152,6 +159,9 @@ export const getTableStyles = (theme: GrafanaTheme2) => {
       user-select: text;
       white-space: nowrap;
     `,
+    sortIcon: css`
+      margin-left: ${theme.spacing(0.5)};
+    `,
     cellLink: css`
       cursor: pointer;
       overflow: hidden;
@@ -173,12 +183,10 @@ export const getTableStyles = (theme: GrafanaTheme2) => {
     `,
     paginationWrapper: css`
       display: flex;
-      background: ${headerBg};
       height: ${cellHeight}px;
       justify-content: center;
       align-items: center;
       width: 100%;
-      border-top: 1px solid ${theme.colors.border.weak};
       li {
         margin-bottom: 0;
       }
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/panel/table/module.tsx b/public/app/plugins/panel/table/module.tsx
index 5872e486f2b..5f81d88069d 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/panel/table/module.tsx
+++ b/public/app/plugins/panel/table/module.tsx
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ const footerCategory = 'Table footer';
 export const plugin = new PanelPlugin<PanelOptions, TableFieldOptions>(TablePanel)
   .setPanelChangeHandler(tablePanelChangedHandler)
   .setMigrationHandler(tableMigrationHandler)
-  .setNoPadding()
   .useFieldConfig({
     useCustomConfig: (builder) => {
       builder