Keyboard shortcuts

Access all Handsontable features using just your keyboard. Use shortcuts you know from Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel.

Overview

This page lists all of Handsontable’s default keyboard shortcuts.

To register these keys with addShortcut(), use key-name strings instead of display glyphs. For example, use control/meta for ⌘ and ArrowLeft for ←. For the full naming convention, see custom shortcuts.

These keyboard shortcuts work when you navigate the grid. They come from Handsontable’s Core, so they work out of the box, with no need for additional plugins.

By default, Tab moves the active cell one column to the right and Shift+Tab moves it one column to the left — matching standard spreadsheet navigation in Excel and Google Sheets. This behavior is controlled by the tabMoves option (default: { row: 0, col: 1 }) and can be customized.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
Arrow keys	Arrow keys	Move one cell up, down, left, or right	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`Backspace`	`⌘`+`Backspace`	Scroll the viewport to show the focused cell or header	✗	✓
`Ctrl`+`↑`	`⌘`+`↑`	Move to the first cell of the current column	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`↓`	`⌘`+`↓`	Move to the last cell of the current column	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`←`	`⌘`+`←`	Move to the leftmost cell of the current row	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`→`	`⌘`+`→`	Move to the rightmost cell of the current row	✓	✓
`F2`	`F2`	Enter the editing mode of the active cell	✓	✓
`Enter`	`Enter`	Enter the editing mode of the active cell	✗	✓
`Shift`+`Enter`	`⇧`+`Enter`	Enter the editing mode of the active cell	✗	✓
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Enter`	`⌘`+`⇧`+`Enter`	Save and close editor	✓	✓
Alphanumeric keys	Alphanumeric keys	Enter the editing mode of the active cell and enter the pressed key’s value into the cell	✓	✓
`Tab`	`Tab`	Move to the next cell to the right by default^* (if there’s only one column available, move one cell down) — direction set by `tabMoves`	✓	✓
`Shift`+`Tab`	`⇧`+`Tab`	Move to the previous cell to the left by default^* (if there’s only one column available, move one cell up) — direction set by `tabMoves`	✓	✓
`Home`	`Home`	Move to the first non-frozen cell of the current row^*	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`Home`	`⌘`+`Home`	Move to the first non-frozen cell of the grid^*	✗	✓
`End`	`End`	Move to the last non-frozen cell of the current row^*	✗	✓
`Ctrl`+`End`	`⌘`+`End`	Move to the last non-frozen cell of the grid^*	✗	✓
`Page Up`	`Page Up`	Move one screen up	✓	✓
`Page Down`	`Page Down`	Move one screen down	✓	✓

^* This action depends on your layout direction.

Selection keyboard shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts help you select cells. They come from Handsontable’s Core, so they work out of the box, with no need for additional plugins.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
`Ctrl`+`A`	`⌘`+`A`	Select all cells	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Space`	`⌘`+`⇧`+`Space`	Select all cells and headers	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`Space`	`⌃`+`Space`	Select the entire column^*	✓	✓
`Shift`+`Space`	`⇧`+`Space`	Select the entire row	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`↑`	`⌘`+`⇧`+`↑`	Extend the selection to the first cell of the current column^**	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`↓`	`⌘`+`⇧`+`↓`	Extend the selection to the last cell of the current column^**	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`←`	`⌘`+`⇧`+`←`	Extend the selection to the leftmost cell of the current row^**	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`→`	`⌘`+`⇧`+`→`	Extend the selection to the rightmost cell of the current row^**	✓	✓
`Shift` + Arrow keys	`⇧` + Arrow keys	Extend the selection by one cell	✓	✓
`Shift`+`Home`	`⇧`+`Home`	Extend the selection to the first non-frozen cell of the current row^***	✓	✗
`Shift`+`End`	`⇧`+`End`	Extend the selection to the last non-frozen cell of the current row^***	✗	✗
`Shift`+`Page Up`	`⇧`+`Page Up`	Extend the selection by one screen up	✓	✓
`Shift`+`Page Down`	`⇧`+`Page Down`	Extend the selection by one screen down	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`Enter`	`⌘`+`Enter`	Fill the selected range of cells with the value of the active cell^****	✗	✓
`Delete`	`Delete`	Clear the contents of the selected cells	✓	✓
`Backspace`	`Backspace`	Clear the contents of the selected cells	✓	✓

^* Does not work on macOS with multiple keyboard layouts. To work around this issue, add Fn to the key combination.
^** In case of multiple selection layers, only the last selection layer gets extended.
^*** This action depends on your layout direction.
^**** This action works only for selections of two or more cells. The active highlight must be on a cell, not on a row header, column header, or corner.

Edition keyboard shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts work when you’re editing a cell’s contents. They come from Handsontable’s Core, so they work out of the box, with no need for additional plugins.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
Arrow keys	Arrow keys	Move the cursor through the text	✓	✓
Alphanumeric keys	Alphanumeric keys	Enter the pressed key’s value into the cell	✓	✓
`Enter`	`Enter`	Complete the cell entry and move to the cell below	✓	✓
`Shift`+`Enter`	`⇧`+`Enter`	Complete the cell entry and move to the cell above	✓	✓
`Tab`	`Tab`	Complete the cell entry and move to the next cell (right by default)^* — direction set by `tabMoves`	✓	✓
`Shift`+`Tab`	`⇧`+`Tab`	Complete the cell entry and move to the previous cell (left by default)^* — direction set by `tabMoves`	✓	✓
`Delete`	`Delete`	Delete one character after the cursor^*	✓	✓
`Backspace`	`Backspace`	Delete one character before the cursor^*	✓	✓
`Home`	`Home`	Move the cursor to the beginning of the text^*	✓	✓
`End`	`End`	Move the cursor to the end of the text^*	✓	✓
`Ctrl` + Arrow keys	`⌘` + Arrow keys	Move the cursor to the beginning or to the end of the text	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`Shift` + Arrow keys	`⌘`+`⇧` + Arrow keys	Extend the selection to the beginning or to the end of the text	✓	✓
`Page Up`	`Page Up`	Complete the cell entry and move one screen up	✓	✓
`Page Down`	`Page Down`	Complete the cell entry and move one screen down	✓	✓
`Alt`+`Enter`	`⌥`+`Enter`	Insert a line break	✗	✓
`Ctrl`+`Enter`	`⌃`/`⌘`+`Enter`	Insert a line break	✗	✓
`Escape`	`Escape`	Cancel the cell entry and exit the editing mode	✓	✓

^* This action depends on your layout direction.

Checkbox editor keyboard shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts work in the checkbox cell editor.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
`Space`	`Space`	Check or uncheck the checkbox	✗	✓
`Enter`	`Enter`	Check or uncheck the checkbox	✗	✓
`Delete`	`Delete`	Uncheck the checkbox	✗	✓
`Backspace`	`Backspace`	Uncheck the checkbox	✗	✓

`handsontable` editor keyboard shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts work in the handsontable cell editor.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
`↑`	`↑`	Move to the cell above the active cell	✗	✗
`↓`	`↓`	Move to the cell below the active cell	✗	✗

Select editor keyboard shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts work in the select cell editor.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
`↑`	`↑`	Select the previous option	✗	✗
`↓`	`↓`	Select the next option	✗	✗

Autocomplete editor keyboard shortcuts

The autocomplete cell editor uses the same keyboard shortcuts as the handsontable editor. In strict mode, a few of these shortcuts behave differently — see Autocomplete strict mode.

The dropdown cell editor is an autocomplete editor with strict mode always on, so it uses the same keyboard shortcuts as Autocomplete strict mode.

MultiSelect editor keyboard shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts work in the multiselect cell editor.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
`↑` / `↓`	`↑` / `↓`	Move the focus between items in the dropdown list	✗	✗
`Space`	`Space`	Toggle the selection of the focused item	✗	✗
`Enter`	`Enter`	Toggle the focused item’s selection, or close the editor and commit the selection, depending on the `enterCommits` option	✗	✗

For the full behavior, including how searchInput affects initial focus, see Keyboard navigation.

Numeric editor keyboard shortcuts

The numeric cell editor is a text editor, so it uses the standard edition keyboard shortcuts above. It has no numeric-specific key bindings.

Date editor keyboard shortcuts

The intl-date/date cell editor opens the browser’s native date picker. Keyboard navigation inside the picker comes from the browser, so it varies between browsers and operating systems.

Time editor keyboard shortcuts

The intl-time/time cell editor opens the browser’s native time picker. Keyboard navigation inside the picker comes from the browser, so it varies between browsers and operating systems.

Password editor keyboard shortcuts

The password cell editor is a text editor, so it uses the standard edition keyboard shortcuts above. It has no password-specific key bindings.

Plugin keyboard shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts work with particular plugins.

Clipboard keyboard shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts work when the CopyPaste plugin is enabled.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
`Ctrl`+`X`	`⌘`+`X`	Cut the contents of the selected cells to the system clipboard	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`C`	`⌘`+`C`	Copy the contents of the selected cells to the system clipboard	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`V`	`⌘`+`V`	Paste from the system clipboard	✓	✓

Cell merging keyboard shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts work when the MergeCells plugin is enabled.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
`Ctrl`+`M`	`⌃`+`M`	Merge or unmerge the selected cells	✗	✗

Undo and redo keyboard shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts work when the UndoRedo plugin is enabled.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
`Ctrl`+`Z`	`⌘`+`Z`	Undo the last action	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`Y`	`⌘`+`Y`	Redo the last action	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Z`	`⌘`+`⇧`+`Z`	Redo the last action	✓	✓

These keyboard shortcuts work in context menus. To activate them, enable the ContextMenu plugin.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`\` or `Shift`+`F10`	`⌘`+`⇧`+`\` or `⇧`+`F10`	Open the context menu	✗	✓
Arrow keys	Arrow keys	Move one available menu item up, down, left, or right	✓	✓
`Page Up`	`Page Up`	Move to the first visible item of the context menu or submenu	✓	✗
`Page Down`	`Page Down`	Move to the last visible item of the context menu or submenu	✓	✗
`Escape`	`Escape`	Close the context menu or submenu	✓	✓
`Enter`	`Enter`	Run the action of the selected menu item	✓	✗

Column groups keyboard shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts work in column groups, also known as “nested headers”. To activate them, enable the NestedHeaders plugin.

The Enter shortcut works only when a collapsible column group header is focused. Enable navigableHeaders: true to move focus onto headers with the arrow keys. For more details, see Keyboard navigation.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
`Enter`	`Enter`	Collapse or expand the column group	✗	✗

Row parent-child keyboard shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts work in row groups, also known as “nested rows”. To activate them, enable the NestedRows plugin.

The Enter shortcut works only when a row header is focused. Enable navigableHeaders: true to move focus onto headers with the arrow keys. For more details, see Keyboard navigation.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
`Enter`	`Enter`	Collapse or expand the row group	✗	✗

Rows sorting keyboard shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts work with rows sorting. To activate them, enable the ColumnSorting, or the MultiColumnSorting plugin.

These header-focused shortcuts work only when a column header is focused. Enable navigableHeaders: true to move focus onto headers with the arrow keys. For more details, see Keyboard navigation.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
`Enter`	`Enter`	Sort by the focused column, cycling through ascending, descending, and original order	✗	✗
`Shift`+`Enter`	`⇧`+`Enter`	Append the focused column to the active sort criteria. Requires the `MultiColumnSorting` plugin.	✗	✗

These keyboard shortcuts work with the column menu. To activate them, enable the DropdownMenu plugin.

The Shift+Alt+↓ shortcut works from a data cell. The Ctrl/⌘+Enter shortcut works only when a column header is focused. Enable navigableHeaders: true to move focus onto headers with the arrow keys. For more details, see Keyboard navigation.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
`Shift`+`Alt`+`↓`	`⇧`+`⌥`+`↓`	Open the column menu. Works in any cell, if the respective column header displays the menu button.	✗	✗
`Ctrl`+`Enter`	`⌘`+`Enter`	Open the column menu. Works only when a column header with the column menu button is focused.	✗	✗
Arrow keys	Arrow keys	Move one available menu item up, down, left, or right.	✓	✓
`Ctrl`+`↑` or `Home`	`⌘`+`↑` or `Home`	Move to the first available menu item.	✓	✗
`Ctrl`+`↓` or `End`	`⌘`+`↓` or `End`	Move to the last available menu item.	✓	✗
`Page Up`	`Page Up`	Move one visible menu page up.	✓	✗
`Page Down`	`Page Down`	Move one visible menu page down.	✓	✗
`Escape`	`Escape`	Close the column menu or submenu.	✓	✓
`Enter` or `Space`	`Enter` or `Space`	Run the action of the selected menu item, or open its submenu.	✓	✗

Column filter keyboard shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts work with the column filter. To activate them, enable the Filters plugin and the DropdownMenu plugin.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
`Alt`+`A`	`⌥`+`A`	Clear all filters	✗	✗
`Tab`	`Tab`	Move focus to the next filtering component in the open filter menu.	✗	✗
`Shift`+`Tab`	`⇧`+`Tab`	Move focus to the previous filtering component in the open filter menu.	✗	✗
`↑` / `↓`	`↑` / `↓`	When the filter search input is focused, move through the Filter by value list.	✗	✗
`Enter` / `Space`	`Enter` / `Space`	When Select all or Clear all is focused, run the action.	✗	✗

Comments keyboard shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts work with comments. To activate them, enable the Comments plugin.

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`M`	`⌃`+`⌥`+`M`	Add or edit a comment	✗	✓
`Ctrl`+`Enter`	`⌘`+`Enter`	Save and exit the current comment	✗	✓
`Escape`	`Escape`	Exit the current comment without saving	✗	✗
`Tab`	`Tab`	Save and exit the current comment, move the selection to the next cell	✗	✗
`Shift + Tab`	`Shift + Tab`	Save and exit the current comment, move the selection to the previous cell	✗	✗