# Keyboard Navigation for Table Cells

> Documentation for Cell Keyboard Navigation for your React Infinite Table DataGrid component

Canonical page: https://infinite-table.com/docs/learn/keyboard-navigation/navigating-cells

By default, [keyboard navigation](https://infinite-table.com/docs/reference/infinite-table-props.md#keyboardNavigation) for table cells is enabled in React Infinite Table. When a cell is clicked, it shows a highlight that indicates it is the currently active cell. From that point onwards, the user can use the keyboard to navigate the table cells.

**Example**

Click on a cell in the table and use the arrow keys to navigate around.

```ts
import {
  InfiniteTable,
  DataSource,
  DataSourceData,
} from '@infinite-table/infinite-react';
import type { InfiniteTablePropColumns } from '@infinite-table/infinite-react';
import * as React from 'react';

type Developer = {
  id: number;
  firstName: string;
  lastName: string;
  country: string;
  city: string;
  currency: string;
  preferredLanguage: string;
  stack: string;
  canDesign: 'yes' | 'no';
  hobby: string;
  salary: number;
  age: number;
};

const dataSource: DataSourceData<Developer> = () => {
  return fetch(process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL + `/developers1k-sql?`)
    .then((r) => r.json())
    .then((data: Developer[]) => data);
};

const columns: InfiniteTablePropColumns<Developer> = {
  preferredLanguage: { field: 'preferredLanguage' },
  country: { field: 'country' },
  salary: {
    field: 'salary',
    type: 'number',
  },
  age: { field: 'age' },
  canDesign: { field: 'canDesign' },
  firstName: { field: 'firstName' },
  stack: { field: 'stack' },
  id: { field: 'id' },
  hobby: { field: 'hobby' },
  city: { field: 'city' },
  currency: { field: 'currency' },
};

export default function KeyboardNavigationForCells() {
  return (
    <>
      <DataSource<Developer> primaryKey="id" data={dataSource}>
        <InfiniteTable<Developer>
          debugId="navigating-cells-initial-example"
          // keyboardNavigation="cell" is the default, so no need to specify it
          columns={columns}
        />
      </DataSource>
    </>
  );
}
```

- Use `ArrowUp` and `ArrowDown` to navigate to the previous and next cells vertically.
- Use `ArrowLeft` and `ArrowRight` to navigate to the previous and next cells horizontally.

---

- Use `PageUp` and `PageDown` to navigate the cells vertically by pages (a page is considered equal to the visible row count).
- Use `Shift+PageUp` and `Shift+PageDown` to navigate the cells horizontally by pages (a page is considered equal to the visible column count).

---

- Use `Home` and `End` to navigate vertically to the cell above (that's on the first row) and the cell below (that's on the last row),
- Use `Shift+Home` and `Shift+End` to navigate horizontally to the first and respectively last cell in the current row.

[Watch video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4_jFYkfsUI)

Keyboard navigation is controlled by the [`keyboardNavigation`](https://infinite-table.com/docs/reference/infinite-table-props.md#keyboardNavigation) prop, which can be either `"cell"`, `"row"` or `false`. Navigating table cells is the default behavior.

## Using a default active cell

You can also specify an initial active cell, by using [defaultActiveCellIndex=[2,4]](https://infinite-table.com/docs/reference/infinite-table-props.md#defaultActiveCellIndex). This tells the table that there should be a default active cell, namely the one at index 2,4 (row 2, so third row; column 4, so fifth column).

The active cell should be an array of length 2, where the first number is the index of the row and the second number is the index of the column (both are zero-based).

**Example**

This example starts with cell `[2,0]` already active.

```ts
import {
  InfiniteTable,
  DataSource,
  DataSourceData,
} from '@infinite-table/infinite-react';
import type { InfiniteTablePropColumns } from '@infinite-table/infinite-react';
import * as React from 'react';

type Developer = {
  id: number;
  firstName: string;
  lastName: string;
  country: string;
  city: string;
  currency: string;
  preferredLanguage: string;
  stack: string;
  canDesign: 'yes' | 'no';
  hobby: string;
  salary: number;
  age: number;
};

const dataSource: DataSourceData<Developer> = () => {
  return fetch(process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL + `/developers1k-sql?`)
    .then((r) => r.json())
    .then((data: Developer[]) => data);
};

const columns: InfiniteTablePropColumns<Developer> = {
  preferredLanguage: { field: 'preferredLanguage' },
  country: { field: 'country' },
  salary: {
    field: 'salary',
    type: 'number',
  },
  age: { field: 'age' },
  canDesign: { field: 'canDesign' },
  firstName: { field: 'firstName' },
  stack: { field: 'stack' },
  id: { field: 'id' },
  hobby: { field: 'hobby' },
  city: { field: 'city' },
  currency: { field: 'currency' },
};

export default function KeyboardNavigationForCells() {
  return (
    <>
      <DataSource<Developer> primaryKey="id" data={dataSource}>
        <InfiniteTable<Developer>
          debugId="navigating-cells-uncontrolled-example"
          defaultActiveCellIndex={[2, 0]}
          columns={columns}
        />
      </DataSource>
    </>
  );
}
```

## Listening to active cell changes

You can easily listen to changes in the cell navigation by using the [onActiveCellIndexChange](https://infinite-table.com/docs/reference/infinite-table-props.md#onActiveCellIndexChange) callback.

When you use controlled [`activeCellIndex`](https://infinite-table.com/docs/reference/infinite-table-props.md#activeCellIndex), make sure to use [onActiveCellIndexChange](https://infinite-table.com/docs/reference/infinite-table-props.md#onActiveCellIndexChange) to update the prop value, as otherwise the component will not update on navigation

**Example**

This example starts with cell `[2,0]` already active and uses [onActiveCellIndexChange](https://infinite-table.com/docs/reference/infinite-table-props.md#onActiveCellIndexChange) to update [`activeCellIndex`](https://infinite-table.com/docs/reference/infinite-table-props.md#activeCellIndex).

```ts
import {
  InfiniteTable,
  DataSource,
  DataSourceData,
} from '@infinite-table/infinite-react';
import type { InfiniteTablePropColumns } from '@infinite-table/infinite-react';
import * as React from 'react';

type Developer = {
  id: number;
  firstName: string;
  lastName: string;
  country: string;
  city: string;
  currency: string;
  preferredLanguage: string;
  stack: string;
  canDesign: 'yes' | 'no';
  hobby: string;
  salary: number;
  age: number;
};

const dataSource: DataSourceData<Developer> = () => {
  return fetch(
    'https://infinite-table.com/.netlify/functions/json-server' +
      `/developers1k-sql?`,
  )
    .then((r) => r.json())
    .then((data: Developer[]) => data);
};

const columns: InfiniteTablePropColumns<Developer> = {
  preferredLanguage: { field: 'preferredLanguage' },
  country: { field: 'country' },
  salary: {
    field: 'salary',
    type: 'number',
  },
  age: { field: 'age' },
  canDesign: { field: 'canDesign' },
  firstName: { field: 'firstName' },
  stack: { field: 'stack' },
  id: { field: 'id' },
  hobby: { field: 'hobby' },
  city: { field: 'city' },
  currency: { field: 'currency' },
};

export default function KeyboardNavigationForCells() {
  const [activeCellIndex, setActiveCellIndex] = React.useState<
    [number, number]
  >([2, 0]);
  return (
    <>
      <div
        style={{
          color: 'var(--infinite-cell-color)',
        }}
      >
        Current active cell: {activeCellIndex[0]}, {activeCellIndex[1]}.
      </div>
      <DataSource<Developer> primaryKey="id" data={dataSource}>
        <InfiniteTable<Developer>
          debugId="navigating-cells-controlled-example"
          activeCellIndex={activeCellIndex}
          onActiveCellIndexChange={setActiveCellIndex}
          columns={columns}
        />
      </DataSource>
    </>
  );
}
```

## Toggling group rows

When the DataSource is [grouped](https://infinite-table.com/docs/reference/datasource-props/index.md#groupBy), you can use the keyboard to collapse/expand group rows, by pressing the `Enter` key on the active row.

Your active cell doesn't need to be in the group column in order for `Enter` key to collapse/expand the group row - being on a group row is enough.

**Example**

Press the `Enter` key on the active group row to toggle it.

```ts
import { InfiniteTable, DataSource } from '@infinite-table/infinite-react';
import type {
  DataSourceProps,
  InfiniteTableProps,
  InfiniteTablePropColumns,
} from '@infinite-table/infinite-react';
import * as React from 'react';

const columns: InfiniteTablePropColumns<Developer> = {
  country: {
    field: 'country',
  },
  firstName: {
    field: 'firstName',
    defaultHiddenWhenGroupedBy: '*',
  },
  stack: {
    field: 'stack',
  },
  age: { field: 'age' },
  id: { field: 'id' },
  preferredLanguage: {
    field: 'preferredLanguage',
  },
  canDesign: {
    field: 'canDesign',
  },
};

const defaultGroupBy: DataSourceProps<Developer>['groupBy'] = [
  {
    field: 'canDesign',
  },
  {
    field: 'stack',
  },
  {
    field: 'preferredLanguage',
  },
];

const groupColumn: InfiniteTableProps<Developer>['groupColumn'] = {
  field: 'firstName',

  defaultWidth: 300,
};

const domProps = {
  style: {
    flex: 1,
    minHeight: 500,
  },
};

export default function App() {
  return (
    <DataSource<Developer>
      data={dataSource}
      groupBy={defaultGroupBy}
      primaryKey="id"
    >
      <InfiniteTable<Developer>
        debugId="keyboard-toggle-group-rows-cell-nav"
        columns={columns}
        domProps={domProps}
        keyboardNavigation="cell"
        hideColumnWhenGrouped
        groupColumn={groupColumn}
        columnDefaultWidth={150}
      />
    </DataSource>
  );
}

const dataSource = () => {
  return fetch(process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL + '/developers100')
    .then((r) => r.json())
    .then((data: Developer[]) => data);
};

type Developer = {
  id: number;
  firstName: string;
  lastName: string;
  country: string;
  city: string;
  currency: string;
  email: string;
  preferredLanguage: string;
  stack: string;
  canDesign: 'yes' | 'no';
  hobby: string;
  salary: number;
  age: number;
};
```

## Selecting Rows with the Keyboard

When [`rowSelection`](https://infinite-table.com/docs/reference/datasource-props/index.md#rowSelection) is enabled (read more about it in the [row selection page](../selection/row-selection)), you can use the spacebar key to select a group row (or `shift` + spacebar to do multiple selection).

By default [`keyboardSelection`](https://infinite-table.com/docs/reference/infinite-table-props.md#keyboardSelection) is enabled, so you can use the **spacebar** key to select multiple rows, when [selectionMode="multi-row"](https://infinite-table.com/docs/reference/datasource-props/index.md#selectionMode). Using the spacebar key is equivalent to doing a mouse click, so expect the combination of **spacebar** + `cmd`/`ctrl`/`shift` modifier keys to behave just like clicking + the same modifier keys.

**Example: Multi row selection with keyboard support**

Use spacebar + optional `cmd`/`ctrl`/`shift` modifier keys just like you would do clicking + the same modifier keys.

```ts
import { InfiniteTable, DataSource } from '@infinite-table/infinite-react';
import type { InfiniteTablePropColumns } from '@infinite-table/infinite-react';
import * as React from 'react';
import { useState } from 'react';

const columns: InfiniteTablePropColumns<Developer> = {
  country: {
    field: 'country',
  },
  firstName: {
    field: 'firstName',
  },
  stack: {
    field: 'stack',
  },
  age: { field: 'age' },
  id: { field: 'id' },
  salary: {
    field: 'salary',
    type: 'number',
  },
  canDesign: { field: 'canDesign' },
};

export default function App() {
  const [keyboardSelection, setKeyboardSelection] = useState(true);
  return (
    <>
      <div
        style={{
          color: 'var(--infinite-cell-color)',
          padding: 10,
        }}
      >
        Keyboard selection is now{' '}
        <b>{keyboardSelection ? 'enabled' : 'disabled'}</b>.
        <button
          style={{
            border: '1px solid tomato',
            display: 'block',
            padding: 5,
            marginTop: 10,
          }}
          onClick={() => setKeyboardSelection((x) => !x)}
        >
          Click to toggle keyboard selection
        </button>
      </div>
      <DataSource<Developer>
        data={dataSource}
        selectionMode="multi-row"
        primaryKey="id"
      >
        <InfiniteTable<Developer>
          debugId="default-selection-mode-multi-row-keyboard-toggle-example"
          keyboardSelection={keyboardSelection}
          columns={columns}
          columnDefaultWidth={150}
        />
      </DataSource>
    </>
  );
}

const dataSource = () => {
  return fetch(process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL + '/developers100')
    .then((r) => r.json())
    .then((data: Developer[]) => data);
};

type Developer = {
  id: number;
  firstName: string;
  lastName: string;
  country: string;
  city: string;
  currency: string;
  email: string;
  preferredLanguage: string;
  stack: string;
  canDesign: 'yes' | 'no';
  hobby: string;
  salary: number;
  age: number;
};
```

For selection all the rows in the table, you can use `cmd`/`ctrl` + `A` keyboard shortcut.

Keyboard selection is also possible when there's a column configured with checkbox selection - [make sure you read more about it](../selection/row-selection#using-a-selection-checkbox).

## Theming

There are a number of ways to customize the appearance of the element that highlights the active cell.

The easiest is to override those three CSS variables:

- `--infinite-active-cell-border-color--r` - the `red` component of the border color
- `--infinite-active-cell-border-color--g` - the `green` component of the border color
- `--infinite-active-cell-border-color--b` - the `blue` component of the border color

The initial values for those are `77`, `149` and`215` respectively, so the border color is `rgb(77, 149, 215)`.
In addition, the background color of the active cell highlight element is set to the same color as the border color (computed based on the above `r`, `g` and `b` variables), but with an opacity of `0.25`, configured via the `--infinite-active-cell-background-alpha` CSS variable.

When the table is not focused, the opacity for the background color is set to `0.1`, which is the default value of the `--infinite-active-cell-background-alpha--table-unfocused` CSS variable.

 
To summarize, use

- `--infinite-active-cell-border-color--r`
- `--infinite-active-cell-border-color--g`
- `--infinite-active-cell-border-color--b`

to control border and background color of the active cell highlight element.

There are other CSS variables as well, that give you fined-tuned control over both the border and background color for the active cell, if you don't want to use the above three variables to propagate the same color across both border and background.

- `--infinite-active-cell-background` - the background color. If you use this, you need to set opacity yourself.
- `--infinite-active-cell-border` - border configuration (eg:`2px solid magenta`). If you use this, it will not be propagated to the background color.

**Example: Theming active cell highlight**

Use the color picker to configured the desired color for the active cell highlight

```ts
import * as React from 'react';
import { useState, useMemo, HTMLProps, ChangeEvent } from 'react';
import {
  InfiniteTable,
  DataSource,
  DataSourceData,
  debounce,
} from '@infinite-table/infinite-react';
import type { InfiniteTablePropColumns } from '@infinite-table/infinite-react';

type Developer = {
  id: number;
  firstName: string;
  lastName: string;
  country: string;
  city: string;
  currency: string;
  preferredLanguage: string;
  stack: string;
  canDesign: 'yes' | 'no';
  hobby: string;
  salary: number;
  age: number;
};

const dataSource: DataSourceData<Developer> = () => {
  return fetch(
    'https://infinite-table.com/.netlify/functions/json-server' +
      `/developers1k-sql?`,
  )
    .then((r) => r.json())
    .then((data: Developer[]) => data);
};

const columns: InfiniteTablePropColumns<Developer> = {
  preferredLanguage: { field: 'preferredLanguage' },
  country: { field: 'country' },
  salary: {
    field: 'salary',
    type: 'number',
  },
  age: { field: 'age' },
  canDesign: { field: 'canDesign' },
  firstName: { field: 'firstName' },
  stack: { field: 'stack' },
  id: { field: 'id' },
  hobby: { field: 'hobby' },
  city: { field: 'city' },
  currency: { field: 'currency' },
};

const rgb = {
  r: 77,
  g: 149,
  b: 215,
};
const defaultColor = `#${rgb.r.toString(16)}${rgb.g.toString(
  16,
)}${rgb.b.toString(16)}`;

export default function KeyboardNavigationForCells() {
  const [color, setColor] = useState({
    ...rgb,
  });

  const domProps = useMemo(() => {
    return {
      style: {
        '--infinite-active-cell-border-color--r': color.r,
        '--infinite-active-cell-border-color--g': color.g,
        '--infinite-active-cell-border-color--b': color.b,
        // for the same of the example being more obvious,
        // make the opacity of the unfocused table same as the one used on focus
        '--infinite-active-cell-background-alpha--table-unfocused': '0.25', // but this defaults to 0.1
      },
    } as HTMLProps<HTMLDivElement>;
  }, [color]);

  const onChange = useMemo(() => {
    const onColorChange = (event: ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
      const color = event.target.value;

      const r = parseInt(color.substr(1, 2), 16);
      const g = parseInt(color.substr(3, 2), 16);
      const b = parseInt(color.substr(5, 2), 16);

      setColor({
        r,
        g,
        b,
      });
    };
    return debounce(onColorChange, { wait: 200 });
  }, []);

  return (
    <>
      <div
        style={{
          color: 'var(--infinite-cell-color)',
        }}
      >
        Select color{' '}
        <input type="color" onChange={onChange} defaultValue={defaultColor} />
      </div>
      <DataSource<Developer> primaryKey="id" data={dataSource}>
        <InfiniteTable<Developer>
          debugId="navigating-cells-theming-example"
          defaultActiveCellIndex={[5, 0]}
          domProps={domProps}
          columns={columns}
        />
      </DataSource>
    </>
  );
}
```