Most table scratches are finish damage. Match the depth first, then choose a touch-up that stays quiet under normal room light.
Shallow vs deep
If a fingernail does not catch, buffing compound, a furniture marker, or a wax stick often closes the look. If the nail catches into bare wood, use filler or a spot refinish.
Clean before you color
Wipe with a barely damp cloth and dry. Grease and polish residue keep stain and markers from bonding. Avoid soaking veneer edges.
Quick touch-ups
Matching furniture markers or crayons fill finish-only lines visually. Wipe excess immediately. Soft wax sticks work well on darker woods where a slight sheen difference is less obvious.
Deeper gouges
Fill with wood filler or hard wax tinted to the wood. Level with a plastic card, cure, then sand very lightly only on the repair. Spot-apply finish to match gloss. On high-visibility tops, feather into a larger zone rather than leaving a shiny island.
For more repairs like this, start in the Scratches & Surface Fixes hub. If you are working through a related problem next, see Scratched Wood Floor Repair: Restore Your Home’s Natural Glow or How to Fix Scratches in Laminate Flooring Without Replacing Planks.
