Column Pinning Table

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Introduction

Column pinning keeps important columns visible while users scroll horizontally. Pin identifier columns (like Order ID) to the left and action columns to the right.

Installation

1. Add the required components:

npx shadcn@latest add table input button dropdown-menu badge

2. Add tanstack/react-table dependency:

npm install @tanstack/react-table

3. Copy the DataTable components into your project. See the Installation Guide for detailed instructions.

Prerequisites

We’ll build a table showing orders. Here’s our data:

type Order = {
  id: string
  customer: string
  product: string
  amount: number
  status: "pending" | "shipped" | "delivered" | "cancelled"
  date: string
  region: string
}

const data: Order[] = [
  {
    id: "ORD-001",
    customer: "John Doe",
    product: "Premium Widget",
    amount: 299.99,
    status: "delivered",
    date: "2024-01-15",
    region: "North America",
  },
  // ...
]

Basic Column Pinning

Set initialState.columnPinning to pin columns on mount:

column-pinning.tsx

<DataTableRoot
  data={data}
  columns={columns}
  initialState={{
    columnPinning: {
      left: ["id"], // Pin Order ID to left
      right: ["actions"], // Pin actions to right
    },
  }}
>
  <DataTable>
    <DataTableHeader />
    <DataTableBody />
  </DataTable>
</DataTableRoot>

Column Definitions

Set explicit size for each column to enable horizontal scrolling:

columns.tsx

const columns: DataTableColumnDef<Order>[] = [
  {
    accessorKey: "id",
    size: 110,
    header: () => (
      <DataTableColumnHeader>
        <DataTableColumnTitle title="Order ID" />
        <DataTableColumnSortMenu />
      </DataTableColumnHeader>
    ),
    meta: { label: "Order ID" },
  },
  {
    accessorKey: "customer",
    size: 160,
    header: () => (
      <DataTableColumnHeader>
        <DataTableColumnTitle title="Customer" />
        <DataTableColumnSortMenu />
      </DataTableColumnHeader>
    ),
    meta: { label: "Customer" },
  },
  // ... more columns
]

Interactive Pinning

Add pinning options to column actions for user-controlled pinning:

{
  accessorKey: "customer",
  size: 160,
  header: () => (
    <DataTableColumnHeader>
      <DataTableColumnTitle title="Customer" />
      <DataTableColumnActions>
        <DataTableColumnSortOptions />
        <DataTableColumnPinOptions />
      </DataTableColumnActions>
    </DataTableColumnHeader>
  ),
}

Controlled State

Manage pinning state externally:

column-pinning-state.tsx

import { useState } from "react"
import { type ColumnPinningState } from "@tanstack/react-table"

export function ControlledPinningTable({ data }: { data: Order[] }) {
  const [columnPinning, setColumnPinning] = useState<ColumnPinningState>({
    left: ["id"],
    right: ["actions"],
  })

  return (
    <DataTableRoot
      data={data}
      columns={columns}
      state={{ columnPinning }}
      onColumnPinningChange={setColumnPinning}
    >
      {/* ... */}
    </DataTableRoot>
  )
}

When to Use

✅ Use Column Pinning when:

• Tables have many columns requiring horizontal scroll
• Key identifiers (ID, Name) must stay visible
• Actions column should be always accessible

❌ Consider other options when:

• All columns fit on screen (no scrolling needed)
• Mobile-first design (pinning adds complexity)

Next Steps

• Virtualization Table - Combine pinning with virtual scrolling
• Advanced Table - Persistent pinning state