Column Ordering (React) Guide

Examples#

Want to skip to the implementation? Check out these React examples:

• Column Ordering
• Column DnD

React Setup#

import { useTable, tableFeatures, columnOrderingFeature } from '@tanstack/react-table'

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

const table = useTable({
  features,
  rowModels: {},
  columns,
  data,
})

import { useTable, tableFeatures, columnOrderingFeature } from '@tanstack/react-table'

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

const table = useTable({
  features,
  rowModels: {},
  columns,
  data,
})

Column Ordering (React) Guide#

By default, columns are ordered in the order they are defined in the columns array. However, you can manually specify the column order using the columnOrder state. Other features like column pinning and grouping can also affect the column order.

What Affects Column Order#

There are 3 table features that can reorder columns, which happen in the following order:

1. Column Pinning - If pinning, columns are split into left, center (unpinned), and right pinned columns.
2. Manual Column Ordering - A manually specified column order is applied.
3. Grouping - If grouping is enabled, a grouping state is active, and tableOptions.groupedColumnMode is set to 'reorder' | 'remove', then the grouped columns are reordered to the start of the column flow.

Note: columnOrder state will only affect unpinned columns if used in conjunction with column pinning.

Column Order State#

If you don't provide a columnOrder state, TanStack Table will just use the order of the columns in the columns array. However, you can provide an array of string column ids to the columnOrder state to specify the order of the columns.

Default Column Order#

If all you need to do is specify the initial column order, you can just specify the columnOrder state in the initialState table option.

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

const table = useTable({
  features,
  rowModels: {},
  //...
  initialState: {
    columnOrder: ['columnId1', 'columnId2', 'columnId3'],
  },
  //...
})

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

const table = useTable({
  features,
  rowModels: {},
  //...
  initialState: {
    columnOrder: ['columnId1', 'columnId2', 'columnId3'],
  },
  //...
})

Note: If you are using the state table option to also specify the columnOrder state, the initialState will have no effect. Only specify particular states in either initialState or state, not both.

Managing Column Order State#

If you need to dynamically change the column order, or set the column order after the table has been initialized, you can manage the columnOrder state just like any other table state.

In v9, the recommended way to own a state slice is with an external atom passed to the table's atoms option. External atoms give you fine-grained subscriptions anywhere in your app, and other code can read or write the column order without re-rendering the component that owns the table.

import { useCreateAtom, useSelector } from '@tanstack/react-store'
import { useTable, tableFeatures, columnOrderingFeature } from '@tanstack/react-table'
import type { ColumnOrderState } from '@tanstack/react-table'

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

const columnOrderAtom = useCreateAtom<ColumnOrderState>([
  'columnId1',
  'columnId2',
  'columnId3',
])

const columnOrder = useSelector(columnOrderAtom) // subscribe wherever it is needed

const table = useTable({
  features,
  rowModels: {},
  //...
  atoms: {
    columnOrder: columnOrderAtom,
  },
  //...
})

import { useCreateAtom, useSelector } from '@tanstack/react-store'
import { useTable, tableFeatures, columnOrderingFeature } from '@tanstack/react-table'
import type { ColumnOrderState } from '@tanstack/react-table'

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

const columnOrderAtom = useCreateAtom<ColumnOrderState>([
  'columnId1',
  'columnId2',
  'columnId3',
])

const columnOrder = useSelector(columnOrderAtom) // subscribe wherever it is needed

const table = useTable({
  features,
  rowModels: {},
  //...
  atoms: {
    columnOrder: columnOrderAtom,
  },
  //...
})

Alternatively, the v8-style state.columnOrder plus onColumnOrderChange pattern is still supported. It can be convenient for simple integrations or when migrating v8 code, but it is less fine-grained than external atoms. See the Table State Guide for a deeper comparison.

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

const [columnOrder, setColumnOrder] = useState<ColumnOrderState>(['columnId1', 'columnId2', 'columnId3'])
//...
const table = useTable({
  features,
  rowModels: {},
  //...
  state: {
    columnOrder,
    //...
  },
  onColumnOrderChange: setColumnOrder,
  //...
})

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

const [columnOrder, setColumnOrder] = useState<ColumnOrderState>(['columnId1', 'columnId2', 'columnId3'])
//...
const table = useTable({
  features,
  rowModels: {},
  //...
  state: {
    columnOrder,
    //...
  },
  onColumnOrderChange: setColumnOrder,
  //...
})

Reordering Columns#

If the table has UI that allows the user to reorder columns, hook the drop event of your drag-and-drop solution up to table.setColumnOrder. The official Column DnD example does this with DnD Kit's arrayMove utility:

import { arrayMove } from '@dnd-kit/sortable'
import type { DragEndEvent } from '@dnd-kit/core'

// reorder columns after drag & drop
function handleDragEnd(event: DragEndEvent) {
  const { active, over } = event
  if (over && active.id !== over.id) {
    table.setColumnOrder((prevColumnOrder) => {
      const oldIndex = prevColumnOrder.indexOf(active.id as string)
      const newIndex = prevColumnOrder.indexOf(over.id as string)
      return arrayMove(prevColumnOrder, oldIndex, newIndex) // splice util
    })
  }
}

import { arrayMove } from '@dnd-kit/sortable'
import type { DragEndEvent } from '@dnd-kit/core'

// reorder columns after drag & drop
function handleDragEnd(event: DragEndEvent) {
  const { active, over } = event
  if (over && active.id !== over.id) {
    table.setColumnOrder((prevColumnOrder) => {
      const oldIndex = prevColumnOrder.indexOf(active.id as string)
      const newIndex = prevColumnOrder.indexOf(over.id as string)
      return arrayMove(prevColumnOrder, oldIndex, newIndex) // splice util
    })
  }
}

table.setColumnOrder works the same whether the table manages the columnOrder state internally, you control it with state + onColumnOrderChange, or you own it with an external atom.

Column Ordering APIs#

Use table.setColumnOrder to update the column order state directly. Use table.resetColumnOrder to reset the order to initialState.columnOrder, or pass true to clear the order state.

table.setColumnOrder(['lastName', 'firstName', 'age'])
table.resetColumnOrder()
table.resetColumnOrder(true)

table.setColumnOrder(['lastName', 'firstName', 'age'])
table.resetColumnOrder()
table.resetColumnOrder(true)

Columns expose helpers for reading their current position after column pinning, manual ordering, and grouping have been applied.

column.getIndex()
column.getIndex('left')
column.getIndex('center')
column.getIndex('right')

column.getIsFirstColumn()
column.getIsLastColumn()

column.getIndex()
column.getIndex('left')
column.getIndex('center')
column.getIndex('right')

column.getIsFirstColumn()
column.getIsLastColumn()

These helpers are useful for styling column boundaries or building drag-and-drop targets that need to know the current rendered order.

Drag and Drop Column Reordering Suggestions (React)#

TanStack Table is not opinionated about which drag-and-drop solution you use. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Use DnD Kit if you want a library. It is what the official Column DnD and Row DnD examples use (the @dnd-kit/core, @dnd-kit/sortable, @dnd-kit/modifiers, and @dnd-kit/utilities packages). It is modular, works with React Strict Mode, and plays well with semantic <table> markup.

2. Consider native browser drag events (onDragStart, onDragEnter, onDragEnd) with your own state if you want zero dependencies. This can be very lightweight, but you will need to do extra work for proper touch support on mobile. Material React Table implements TanStack Table column ordering this way with no DnD dependencies, and its source code is a good reference.

3. If you evaluate other DnD libraries, check their maintenance status, React version compatibility (especially with Strict Mode), bundle size, and how well they handle <table> markup before committing. Older libraries such as react-dnd and react-beautiful-dnd are no longer actively developed; Atlassian's Pragmatic drag and drop is the actively maintained successor to react-beautiful-dnd if you prefer that family of APIs.