Column Ordering (Vue) Guide

Examples#

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

• Column Ordering

Vue refs can be passed directly where the adapter expects reactive table options.

Vue Setup#

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

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

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

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

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

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

Column Ordering (Vue) 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,
  //...
  initialState: {
    columnOrder: ['columnId1', 'columnId2', 'columnId3'],
  },
  //...
})

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

const table = useTable({
  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 depending on the table instance.

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

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

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

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

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

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

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

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

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

const table = useTable({
  features,
  //...
  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. Pass the current ref value through a getter so the adapter can track it. See the Table State Guide for a deeper comparison.

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

const columnOrder = ref<ColumnOrderState>(['columnId1', 'columnId2', 'columnId3'])
//...
const table = useTable({
  features,
  //...
  state: {
    get columnOrder() {
      return columnOrder.value
    },
    //...
  },
  onColumnOrderChange: (updater) => {
    columnOrder.value = updater instanceof Function ? updater(columnOrder.value) : updater
  },
  //...
})

const features = tableFeatures({ columnOrderingFeature })

const columnOrder = ref<ColumnOrderState>(['columnId1', 'columnId2', 'columnId3'])
//...
const table = useTable({
  features,
  //...
  state: {
    get columnOrder() {
      return columnOrder.value
    },
    //...
  },
  onColumnOrderChange: (updater) => {
    columnOrder.value = updater instanceof Function ? updater(columnOrder.value) : updater
  },
  //...
})

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. It accepts either a new array or an updater function that receives the previous order:

// reorder columns after drag & drop (or any other interaction)
function handleColumnDrop(movingColumnId: string, targetColumnId: string) {
  table.setColumnOrder((prevColumnOrder) => {
    const newColumnOrder = [...prevColumnOrder]
    const fromIndex = newColumnOrder.indexOf(movingColumnId)
    const toIndex = newColumnOrder.indexOf(targetColumnId)
    newColumnOrder.splice(toIndex, 0, newColumnOrder.splice(fromIndex, 1)[0]!)
    return newColumnOrder
  })
}

// reorder columns after drag & drop (or any other interaction)
function handleColumnDrop(movingColumnId: string, targetColumnId: string) {
  table.setColumnOrder((prevColumnOrder) => {
    const newColumnOrder = [...prevColumnOrder]
    const fromIndex = newColumnOrder.indexOf(movingColumnId)
    const toIndex = newColumnOrder.indexOf(targetColumnId)
    newColumnOrder.splice(toIndex, 0, newColumnOrder.splice(fromIndex, 1)[0]!)
    return newColumnOrder
  })
}

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 Vue Column Ordering example uses table.setColumnOrder to shuffle the column order with a button click.

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 (Vue)#

TanStack Table is not opinionated about which drag-and-drop solution you use, and there is not currently an official Vue drag-and-drop column reordering example. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Use a SortableJS-based Vue wrapper such as vuedraggable or vue-draggable-plus if you want a library with idiomatic Vue components. Hook its drop/end event up to table.setColumnOrder as shown above, and verify it handles semantic <table> markup the way you need.

2. Consider native browser drag events (@dragstart, @dragenter, @dragend) with your own refs if you want zero dependencies. This can be very lightweight, but you will need to do extra work for proper touch support on mobile.

3. Atlassian's Pragmatic drag and drop is framework-agnostic (its core has no React dependency) and works well with Vue. Avoid React-specific DnD libraries (including DnD Kit); they will not work in a Vue app.