Comments

Add a comment (a note) to a cell, using the context menu, just like in Excel. Edit and delete comments. Make comments read-only.

Enable the plugin

Set the comments configuration option to true to enable the feature and add all the needed context menu items. For example:

<HotTable
  data={[
    ['A1', 'B1', 'C1'],
    ['A2', 'B2', 'C2'],
  ]}
  comments={true}
/>

Add comments via the context menu

After you’ve enabled the plugin, the Context Menu gains a few new items:

• Add/Edit comment
• Delete comment
• Read-only comment

Set up pre-set comments

You can also pre-define comments for your table. Comments are stored in the table’s/column’s/cell’s metadata object and you can declare as any value of the respective type. For example:

cell={[
  { row: 1, col: 1, comment: { value: 'Hello world!' } }
]}

In this example, the comment “Hello world!” is added to the cell at (1,1).

Basic example

Source code

JavaScript

import { HotTable } from '@handsontable/react-wrapper';
import { registerAllModules } from 'handsontable/registry';

// register Handsontable's modules
registerAllModules();

const ExampleComponent = () => {
  return (
    <HotTable
      data={[
        ['', 'Tesla', 'Nissan', 'Toyota', 'Honda', 'Mazda', 'Ford'],
        ['2017', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2018', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2019', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2020', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2021', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
      ]}
      rowHeaders={true}
      colHeaders={true}
      contextMenu={true}
      comments={true}
      cell={[
        { row: 1, col: 1, comment: { value: 'Some comment' } },
        { row: 2, col: 2, comment: { value: 'More comments' } },
      ]}
      height="auto"
      autoWrapRow={true}
      autoWrapCol={true}
      licenseKey="non-commercial-and-evaluation"
    />
  );
};

export default ExampleComponent;

TypeScript

import { HotTable } from '@handsontable/react-wrapper';
import { registerAllModules } from 'handsontable/registry';

// register Handsontable's modules
registerAllModules();

const ExampleComponent = () => {
  return (
    <HotTable
      data={[
        ['', 'Tesla', 'Nissan', 'Toyota', 'Honda', 'Mazda', 'Ford'],
        ['2017', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2018', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2019', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2020', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2021', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
      ]}
      rowHeaders={true}
      colHeaders={true}
      contextMenu={true}
      comments={true}
      cell={[
        { row: 1, col: 1, comment: { value: 'Some comment' } },
        { row: 2, col: 2, comment: { value: 'More comments' } },
      ]}
      height="auto"
      autoWrapRow={true}
      autoWrapCol={true}
      licenseKey="non-commercial-and-evaluation"
    />
  );
};

export default ExampleComponent;

Make a comment read-only

By default, all comments are editable. To change this, set the readOnly configuration option to true when adding a comment. This example makes the “Tesla” comment attached to a cell read-only, whereas the “Honda” comment attached to another cell is editable.

Source code

JavaScript

import { HotTable } from '@handsontable/react-wrapper';
import { registerAllModules } from 'handsontable/registry';

// register Handsontable's modules
registerAllModules();

const ExampleComponent = () => {
  return (
    <HotTable
      data={[
        ['', 'Tesla', 'Toyota', 'Honda', 'Ford'],
        ['2018', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2019', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2020', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
      ]}
      rowHeaders={true}
      colHeaders={true}
      contextMenu={true}
      comments={true}
      cell={[
        {
          row: 0,
          col: 1,
          comment: { value: 'A read-only comment.', readOnly: true },
        },
        { row: 0, col: 3, comment: { value: 'You can edit this comment' } },
      ]}
      height="auto"
      autoWrapRow={true}
      autoWrapCol={true}
      licenseKey="non-commercial-and-evaluation"
    />
  );
};

export default ExampleComponent;

TypeScript

import { HotTable } from '@handsontable/react-wrapper';
import { registerAllModules } from 'handsontable/registry';

// register Handsontable's modules
registerAllModules();

const ExampleComponent = () => {
  return (
    <HotTable
      data={[
        ['', 'Tesla', 'Toyota', 'Honda', 'Ford'],
        ['2018', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2019', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2020', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
      ]}
      rowHeaders={true}
      colHeaders={true}
      contextMenu={true}
      comments={true}
      cell={[
        {
          row: 0,
          col: 1,
          comment: { value: 'A read-only comment.', readOnly: true },
        },
        { row: 0, col: 3, comment: { value: 'You can edit this comment' } },
      ]}
      height="auto"
      autoWrapRow={true}
      autoWrapCol={true}
      licenseKey="non-commercial-and-evaluation"
    />
  );
};

export default ExampleComponent;

Set a comment box’s size

To set the width and height of a comment box, use the style parameter.

Source code

JavaScript

import { HotTable } from '@handsontable/react-wrapper';
import { registerAllModules } from 'handsontable/registry';

// register Handsontable's modules
registerAllModules();

const ExampleComponent = () => {
  return (
    <HotTable
      data={[
        ['', 'Tesla', 'Nissan', 'Toyota', 'Honda', 'Mazda', 'Ford'],
        ['2017', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2018', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2019', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
      ]}
      rowHeaders={true}
      colHeaders={true}
      contextMenu={true}
      comments={true}
      cell={[
        { row: 1, col: 1, comment: { value: 'Some comment' } },
        // add the `style` parameter
        {
          row: 2,
          col: 2,
          comment: {
            value: 'Comment 200x50 px',
            style: { width: 200, height: 50 },
          },
        },
      ]}
      height="auto"
      autoWrapRow={true}
      autoWrapCol={true}
      licenseKey="non-commercial-and-evaluation"
    />
  );
};

export default ExampleComponent;

TypeScript

import { HotTable } from '@handsontable/react-wrapper';
import { registerAllModules } from 'handsontable/registry';

// register Handsontable's modules
registerAllModules();

const ExampleComponent = () => {
  return (
    <HotTable
      data={[
        ['', 'Tesla', 'Nissan', 'Toyota', 'Honda', 'Mazda', 'Ford'],
        ['2017', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2018', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2019', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
      ]}
      rowHeaders={true}
      colHeaders={true}
      contextMenu={true}
      comments={true}
      cell={[
        { row: 1, col: 1, comment: { value: 'Some comment' } },
        // add the `style` parameter
        {
          row: 2,
          col: 2,
          comment: {
            value: 'Comment 200x50 px',
            style: { width: 200, height: 50 },
          },
        },
      ]}
      height="auto"
      autoWrapRow={true}
      autoWrapCol={true}
      licenseKey="non-commercial-and-evaluation"
    />
  );
};

export default ExampleComponent;

Set a delay for displaying comments

To display comments after a pre-configured time delay, use the displayDelay parameter.

Source code

JavaScript

import { HotTable } from '@handsontable/react-wrapper';
import { registerAllModules } from 'handsontable/registry';

// register Handsontable's modules
registerAllModules();

const ExampleComponent = () => {
  return (
    <HotTable
      data={[
        ['', 'Tesla', 'Toyota', 'Honda', 'Ford'],
        ['2018', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2019', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2020', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
      ]}
      rowHeaders={true}
      colHeaders={true}
      contextMenu={true}
      comments={{
        // on mouseover, wait 2 seconds before the comment box displays
        displayDelay: 2000,
      }}
      cell={[{ row: 1, col: 1, comment: { value: 'Some comment' } }]}
      height="auto"
      autoWrapRow={true}
      autoWrapCol={true}
      licenseKey="non-commercial-and-evaluation"
    />
  );
};

export default ExampleComponent;

TypeScript

import { HotTable } from '@handsontable/react-wrapper';
import { registerAllModules } from 'handsontable/registry';

// register Handsontable's modules
registerAllModules();

const ExampleComponent = () => {
  return (
    <HotTable
      data={[
        ['', 'Tesla', 'Toyota', 'Honda', 'Ford'],
        ['2018', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2019', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
        ['2020', 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16],
      ]}
      rowHeaders={true}
      colHeaders={true}
      contextMenu={true}
      comments={{
        // on mouseover, wait 2 seconds before the comment box displays
        displayDelay: 2000,
      }}
      cell={[{ row: 1, col: 1, comment: { value: 'Some comment' } }]}
      height="auto"
      autoWrapRow={true}
      autoWrapCol={true}
      licenseKey="non-commercial-and-evaluation"
    />
  );
};

export default ExampleComponent;

Related keyboard shortcuts

Windows	macOS	Action	Excel	Sheets
Ctrl+Alt+M	Ctrl+Option+M	Add or edit a comment	✗	✓
Ctrl+Enter	Cmd+Enter	Save and exit the current comment	✗	✓
Escape	Escape	Exit the current comment without saving	✗	✗

Related API reference

Configuration options

commentedCellClassName→

comments→