# Editing a Table

> The table grid: selecting cells, keyboard shortcuts, copy and paste with Excel and Google Sheets, right-click menus, undo, filters and saving.

Source: https://docs.theavoxai.com/tables/editing

A table's **Data** tab is a grid that works like a spreadsheet: click a cell and type, select a
range with the mouse or the keyboard, copy and paste to and from Excel or Google Sheets, and
right-click for every action. Changes save on their own as you go.

You need **Create and edit tables** to change rows and columns. With **See tables** only, the
grid is read-only.

## The toolbar

| Control | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Search rows** | Finds rows with the words in any cell, including choice names. Type a number to find that row number. |
| **Filter** | Shows only rows that match up to 12 conditions, like *Status is Confirmed* or *Price is more than 500*. Each column type offers its own conditions (see [Column types](https://docs.theavoxai.com/tables/column-types#filters)). |
| **Sort** | Orders the rows by up to three columns. **Table order** goes back to the order you arranged. |
| **View** | **Hidden columns**, **Row height** (Compact, Normal, Tall) and **Frozen columns** (columns that stay on the left while you scroll sideways). |
| **Undo** and **Redo** | Step back and forward through your last 100 changes. |
| **Saved** / **Saving** | Shows whether your changes are saved. **Couldn't save. Retry** tries again after a dropped connection. |
| **Add column** and **Add row** | Add a column (with its type and settings), or a new row at the end. |
| **Import** and **Export** | Bring rows in from a CSV or Excel file, or download the table as CSV. See [Import and export](https://docs.theavoxai.com/tables/import-export). |

Under the toolbar you'll see how many rows the table has out of your plan's row limit, and how
many rows miss a value in a required column.

## Selecting and editing

- **Click** a cell to select it, then type to replace its value, or press `Enter` or
  `F2` to edit it.
- **Drag** or **Shift+click** to select a range. Click a row number to select rows, a column
  header to select the column, or the corner to select everything.
- Each type has its own editor: a calendar for dates, a time list for times, a searchable list
  for choices (with **Add option** for a new one), stars for ratings, and a box for longer text.
- A value that doesn't fit the column (text in a number column, a date Avox can't read) isn't
  saved; the editor stays open and says what the column expects.
- **Auto number** and **formula** cells are filled in by Avox and can't be typed in.

## Keyboard shortcuts

On a Mac, use `Cmd` where this says `Ctrl`.

| Keys | What they do |
| --- | --- |
| `Arrow keys` | Move one cell. With `Ctrl`, jump to the edge. With `Shift`, grow the selection. |
| `Tab` / `Shift` + `Tab` | Move right or left. |
| `Enter` or `F2` | Edit the cell. `Enter` again saves and moves down. |
| `Esc` | Stop editing without saving. |
| Any letter or number | Start editing with that character. |
| `Delete` or `Backspace` | Clear the selected cells. |
| `Space` | Tick or untick a checkbox cell. |
| `Ctrl` + `C` / `X` / `V` | Copy, cut and paste. |
| `Ctrl` + `D` | Fill down: copy the top cell of the selection into the cells below it. |
| `Ctrl` + `Z` | Undo. |
| `Ctrl` + `Shift` + `Z` or `Ctrl` + `Y` | Redo. |
| `Ctrl` + `A` | Select every cell. |
| `Home` / `End` | First or last cell in the row. With `Ctrl`, the first or last cell in the table. |
| `Page Up` / `Page Down` | Move a screen up or down. |

## Copy and paste with Excel and Google Sheets

Copy cells in the grid and paste them into Excel, Google Sheets or a document: they keep their
rows and columns. The other way works too: copy a range in your spreadsheet, click the cell where
it should start in Avox, and paste.

- Pasting one value into a selected range fills every cell of the range.
- Pasting past the last row adds new rows, up to 1,000 at a time. For more, use
  [Import](https://docs.theavoxai.com/tables/import-export).
- Extra columns past the last column are left out, and Avox tells you.
- Choice names that aren't options yet are added as new options.
- Auto number and formula columns are skipped.
- Every pasted value is checked like a typed one: numbers with commas, dates in your usual form
  and times like 2:30 pm are all read (see [Column types](https://docs.theavoxai.com/tables/column-types#how-typed-and-pasted-values-are-read)).

The keyboard shortcuts always work. The **Copy**, **Cut** and **Paste** items in the right-click
menu need your browser's permission to use the clipboard.

## Right-click menus

**On a cell:** Cut, Copy, Paste, Clear, Insert row above, Insert row below, Duplicate row, Delete
row, Open row details, Filter by this value, Sort A to Z, Sort Z to A.

**On a row number:** Insert row above, Insert row below, Duplicate row, Copy row, Open row
details, Delete row.

**On a column header** (also the arrow on each header): Sort A to Z, Sort Z to A, Filter by this
column, Rename, Change type and settings, Insert column left, Insert column right, Hide column,
Freeze up to this column (or Unfreeze columns), Resize to fit, Delete column.

## Columns

- **Resize** a column by dragging the edge of its header; double-click the edge to fit its
  contents.
- **Move** a column by dragging its header.
- **Change type and settings** opens the column's settings: name, type, options, required,
  unique, default value and description. Changing the type shows a preview of how the values
  convert first. See [Column types](https://docs.theavoxai.com/tables/column-types#changing-a-columns-type).
- **Delete column** asks again when a Flow, automation, template or formula uses the column.

## Row details

Click **Open row details** (or the open button next to a row number) to see one row as a form:
every column, hidden ones included, with the same editors, when the row was added and last
changed, and where it came from (the dashboard, a Flow, an automation, the API, an import or an
app). Use the arrows to go to the previous or next row. On a computer it opens at the side; on a
phone it opens from the bottom.

## On a phone

On a narrow screen the grid becomes a list of row cards: each card shows the row's title (pick
the column in the table's **Settings**) and a few other values. Tap a card to open the row
details and edit it, use **Add row** for a new one, and search or filter as usual. More rows load
as you scroll.

## Saving

Changes show straight away and save in the background a moment after you stop typing. If a save
fails, the cells go back to their saved values and a message says why, for example
[AVX-3469](https://docs.theavoxai.com/error-codes/avx-3469) when another row already has a value in a unique column. If the
connection drops, Avox keeps your changes and tries again. Your browser warns you before you
leave the page while changes are still saving.

### When two people change the same row

Several people, Flows, automations and the API can change a table at the same time. For each
cell, the last change wins. If someone else changed a row since you opened the table, your change
is still saved and Avox tells you ([AVX-3472](https://docs.theavoxai.com/error-codes/avx-3472)), so you can check the row.
If they deleted the row, your change can't be saved and Avox tells you that too.

## Deleted rows

Deleted rows are kept for 30 days. Open **Deleted rows** from the table's menu to see them and
bring any of them back. After 30 days they're removed for good. Deleted rows don't count towards
your plan's row limit.

## Required and unique columns

- **Required** cells left empty are marked in the grid, and the row number shows a red dot. You
  can leave them empty while you work; Flows, automations, imports and the API must fill them.
- **Unique** columns refuse a value another row already has. Capital letters and spaces at the
  ends don't make a value different.

## Archived tables

An archived table opens read-only with a banner and a **Restore** button.

## Related