Column Ordering (Solid) Guide

Examples

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

Column Ordering

Use getters for reactive inputs such as data when passing Solid signals to createTable.

Solid Setup

tsx

import { createTable, tableFeatures, columnOrderingFeature } from '@tanstack/solid-table'

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

const table = createTable({
  features,
  columns,
  get data() {
    return data()
  },
})

import { createTable, tableFeatures, columnOrderingFeature } from '@tanstack/solid-table'

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

const table = createTable({
  features,
  columns,
  get data() {
    return data()
  },
})

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:

Column Pinning - If pinning, columns are split into left, center (unpinned), and right pinned columns.
Manual Column Ordering - A manually specified column order is applied.
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.

tsx

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

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

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

const table = createTable({
  features,
  //...
  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 going through the component that owns the table.

tsx

import { createAtom, useSelector } from '@tanstack/solid-store'
import { createTable, tableFeatures, columnOrderingFeature } from '@tanstack/solid-table'
import type { ColumnOrderState } from '@tanstack/solid-table'

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

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

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

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

import { createAtom, useSelector } from '@tanstack/solid-store'
import { createTable, tableFeatures, columnOrderingFeature } from '@tanstack/solid-table'
import type { ColumnOrderState } from '@tanstack/solid-table'

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

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

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

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

Alternatively, the v8-style state.columnOrder plus onColumnOrderChange pattern is still supported with Solid signals. 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.

tsx

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

const [columnOrder, setColumnOrder] = createSignal<ColumnOrderState>(['columnId1', 'columnId2', 'columnId3'])
//...
const table = createTable({
  features,
  //...
  state: {
    get columnOrder() {
      return columnOrder() // connect the signal back down to the table
    },
    //...
  },
  onColumnOrderChange: setColumnOrder,
  //...
})

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

const [columnOrder, setColumnOrder] = createSignal<ColumnOrderState>(['columnId1', 'columnId2', 'columnId3'])
//...
const table = createTable({
  features,
  //...
  state: {
    get columnOrder() {
      return columnOrder() // connect the signal back down to the table
    },
    //...
  },
  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. For example, with native browser drag events on the header cells:

tsx

const [movingColumnId, setMovingColumnId] = createSignal<string | null>(null)

// move the dragged column in front of the column it was dropped on
const handleDrop = (targetColumnId: string) => {
  const fromId = movingColumnId()
  if (!fromId || fromId === targetColumnId) return
  table.setColumnOrder((prevColumnOrder) => {
    const newColumnOrder = [...prevColumnOrder]
    newColumnOrder.splice(
      newColumnOrder.indexOf(targetColumnId),
      0,
      newColumnOrder.splice(newColumnOrder.indexOf(fromId), 1)[0]!,
    )
    return newColumnOrder
  })
  setMovingColumnId(null)
}

const [movingColumnId, setMovingColumnId] = createSignal<string | null>(null)

// move the dragged column in front of the column it was dropped on
const handleDrop = (targetColumnId: string) => {
  const fromId = movingColumnId()
  if (!fromId || fromId === targetColumnId) return
  table.setColumnOrder((prevColumnOrder) => {
    const newColumnOrder = [...prevColumnOrder]
    newColumnOrder.splice(
      newColumnOrder.indexOf(targetColumnId),
      0,
      newColumnOrder.splice(newColumnOrder.indexOf(fromId), 1)[0]!,
    )
    return newColumnOrder
  })
  setMovingColumnId(null)
}

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. The official Column Ordering example calls it with a full array of leaf column ids.

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.

tsx

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.

tsx

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 (Solid)

TanStack Table is not opinionated about which drag-and-drop solution you use, and there is no official Solid DnD example yet. Here are a few suggestions:

Consider native browser drag events (onDragStart, onDragEnter, onDragEnd) with your own signals 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; the approach translates directly to Solid since it is just DOM events feeding table.setColumnOrder.
If you want a library, look at Solid-specific options such as @thisbeyond/solid-dnd, or framework-agnostic ones such as Atlassian's Pragmatic drag and drop. Check maintenance status, bundle size, and how well they handle semantic <table> markup before committing.
Do NOT reach for React-only DnD libraries (including DnD Kit's @dnd-kit/* packages). They depend on React's component model and do not work with Solid.

Column Ordering (Solid) Guide

Examples#

Solid Setup#