Handsontable 14.3.0 introduces a new feature, enhanced navigation within the selected range of cells, that you may know from popular spreadsheet software like Excel or Google Sheets. We’ve also improved focus management and, as always, fixed some issues reported by the community.

This minor release is free of breaking changes, but if you encounter any issues while updating, please report them on the GitHub repository.

For a detailed overview of all the changes in this release, see the release notes page in Handsontable’s data grid documentation.

New feature: Navigation within selection

The newly added feature lets you move the focus between the already selected cells. This is very useful for power users and for those who want to use Tab to move between a pre-selected part of the grid. To move in the desired direction, use the following keys:

• Tab or Shift+Tab to move to the left or right
• Enter or Shift+Enter to move to the cell above or below

To edit the cell, start typing any alphanumeric character. It works perfectly even with dropdowns and date-type cells.

To try it out, hold down shift while selecting the cell with arrow keys, or use a mouse to select. Once the cells are selected, you can travel between them with Tab/Enter keys.

Improved cell focus management for collapsed selections

In this release, we’ve also improved cell focus behavior, especially when handling collapsed selections. Previously, collapsing a grid selection while your cell focus is set within a collapsible area could result in a focus loss.

This upgrade is especially helpful for users who rely on keyboard navigation or screen readers, ensuring our data grid meets accessibility standards.

With version 14.3.0, we’ve made sure that when you collapse the current selection, the cell focus remains and will move to the most relevant visible column. By default, it will prioritize the following:

• First visible column to the right
• If no visible columns exist on the right side, the first visible column to the left

What’s next?

At the beginning of the year, we decided to refresh the design of Handsontable and its documentation. That project is now in its final stages 🚀. We’re just a few weeks away from unveiling a new documentation portal with enhanced search functionality and integration with popular playgrounds like CodeSandbox and StackBlitz.

We haven’t forgotten about Handsontable itself. Introducing fresh themes — both light ☀ and dark 🌙 — will bring the long-awaited refresh to the library. CSS variables will add more flexibility when playing with the grid’s appearance to match the design of your app. We are very excited about this change and believe that this project is set to redefine how end users interact with the Handsontable data grid.

Last but not least, we’ve refactored the React wrapper for Handsontable and will soon roll it out. With this update, working with Handsontable will be much more intuitive.

Upgrade today

• Install the latest version from npm: JavaScript, React, Angular, Vue
• Get it on NuGet
• Import it from CDN: jsDelivr, UNPG
• Fork it on GitHub

Do you need help with the upgrading process? Here are some places where you can discuss the upgrade with the community. You can also contact us directly. We’re here to help you.

If your commercial support plan is active, contact our Support team at support@handsontable.com or use this contact form instead.

• Start a discussion on Handsontable’s data grid forum
• Ask a question on Stack Overflow
• Report an issue on GitHub