Focus and Navigation

• Sep 10, 2025
• 7 minutes to read

This topic explains how to do the following:

• Switch between navigation styles: row, cell, or no input focus.
• Focus rows in code or determine the currently focused row.
• Focus cells in code or determine the cell focused by a user.
• Focus and interact with the Filter Panel.

Navigation

Use the DataViewBase.NavigationStyle property to control how users can move focus in the GridControl:

Note

Use the following techniques to implement full keyboard navigation support when you use a custom CellTemplate:

• If the template contains a BaseEdit class descendant, use the solution from the following topic: Custom In-Place Cell Editors.
• If the template does not include a BaseEdit class descendant, you should Process User Actions manually.

Refer to the following topic for information on end-user navigation: Navigate Through Rows and Cells.

Focus Rows, Nodes, and Cards

Availability

Users can focus rows, nodes, and cards if the DataViewBase.NavigationStyle property is not set to GridViewNavigationStyle.None.

You can handle the DataViewBase.FocusedRowHandleChanging event to prevent users from focusing rows based on a specific condition.

In Code

To identify a focused row, node, or card, use DataControlBase.CurrentItem / DataViewBase.FocusedRowHandle properties. You can also use the TreeListView.FocusedNode property to get or set the focused node.

The following code sample focuses a row that contains the specified cell value:

• C#
• VB.NET

void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
    FocusRowInGrid();
}

public void FocusRowInGrid() {
    view.FocusedRowHandle = 2;
}

Private Sub Button_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
    FocusRowInGrid()
End Sub

Public Sub FocusRowInGrid()
    view.FocusedRowHandle = 2
End Sub

The GridControl provides access to the following methods designed to move focus between cards/rows:

You cannot use methods mentioned above to focus hidden rows or rows within collapsed groups/detail Views. The DataControlBase.VisibleRowCount property returns the number of visible rows.

The following table lists events that GridControl raises when a focused row is changed:

Related API

When the GridControl is loaded, the first row/card accepts focus. To load the GridControl without input focus, set the DataControlBase.AllowInitiallyFocusedRow property to true.

The GridControl scrolls the active View to display the focused row/card. To disable this behavior, set the DataViewBase.AllowScrollToFocusedRow property to true.

Focus Cells

Availability

To allow users to focus cells, ensure that the DataViewBase.NavigationStyle property is set to GridViewNavigationStyle.Cell ( default ).

In Code

To identify the focused cell, use DataControlBase.CurrentItem / DataViewBase.FocusedRowHandle and DataControlBase.CurrentColumn properties.

The following code example focuses a cell with the specified value:

View Example: Focus a Cell with the Specified Value

• C#
• VB.NET

void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
    FocusCellInGrid();
}

public void FocusCellInGrid() {
    grid.CurrentColumn = view.VisibleColumns[2];
    view.FocusedRowHandle = 0;
}

Private Sub Button_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
    FocusCellInGrid()
End Sub

Public Sub FocusCellInGrid()
    grid.CurrentColumn = view.VisibleColumns(2)
    view.FocusedRowHandle = 0
End Sub

Use the following methods to move focus between cells within a row:

Related API

Set the column’s ColumnBase.AllowFocus property to true to prohibit users from focusing this column.

Users can press the Tab key to move focus to the next cell. To exclude a column from the tab order, set the column’s TabStop property to true.

Column Keyboard Actions

Use the keyboard to focus the Data Grid’s column headers and trigger actions related to the focused column. To enable keyboard header navigation, set the TableView.AllowHeaderNavigation property to true. You can navigate to the header panel using Tab and Shift + Tab keys, or arrow keys. In addition, you can press the Ctrl + Shift + Tab shortcut to focus the current cell header. To return to the data row, press Ctrl + Tab. Once a header is focused, you can execute the following commands:

Filter Panel Keyboard Actions

Set the DataViewBase.AllowFilterPanelNavigation property to true to enable keyboard navigation between Filter Panel elements.

If the DataViewBase.AllowLeaveFocusOnTab property is set to true, you can press Tab, Shift + Tab, or Ctrl + Shift + Tab shortcuts to navigate between data area, column headers, and the Filter Panel. Press the ↑ key to return focus to the data area.

Use the following shortcuts to navigate through Filter Panel elements:

Customize Appearance

The following table lists properties that allow you to customize the appearance of focused rows and cells:

Example

This example uses the View’s RowStyle and CellStyle properties to apply custom styles to focused row and cell. To identify whether the row and cell are focused, use attached IsFocusedRow and IsFocusedCell properties.

View Example: Change the Appearance of Focused Rows and Cells

• XAML

<Window ...
        xmlns:dxg="http://schemas.devexpress.com/winfx/2008/xaml/grid">
    <Window.Resources>
        <Style x:Key="FocusedCellStyle" TargetType="dxg:LightweightCellEditor">
            <Style.Triggers>
                <Trigger Property="dxg:DataViewBase.IsFocusedCell" Value="True">
                    <Setter Property="Background" Value="Green"/>
                    <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Yellow"/>
                </Trigger>
            </Style.Triggers>
        </Style>
        <Style x:Key="FocusedRowStyle" TargetType="dxg:RowControl">
            <Style.Triggers>
                <Trigger Property="dxg:DataViewBase.IsFocusedRow" Value="True">
                    <Setter Property="Background" Value="Gray"/>
                    <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="White"/>
                </Trigger>
            </Style.Triggers>
        </Style>
    </Window.Resources>
    <Grid>
        <dxg:GridControl x:Name="grid" AutoGenerateColumns="AddNew">
            <dxg:GridControl.View>
                <dxg:TableView AutoWidth="True"
                               CellStyle="{StaticResource FocusedCellStyle}" 
                               RowStyle="{StaticResource FocusedRowStyle}"/>
            </dxg:GridControl.View>
        </dxg:GridControl>
    </Grid>
</Window>

See Also

Identify Rows and Cards

Iterate Through Rows and Cells in Code