Skip to main content

Inline Editing

Inline editing is the core of Excel View. Every cell maps to a Frappe document field, and you can edit it directly in the grid without opening a form.


How Changes Are Tracked​

When you edit a cell:

  1. The cell background turns light amber — indicating an unsaved change
  2. The row number shows a pencil icon — indicating this row has pending changes
  3. The Save button in the toolbar turns orange with a count badge showing how many rows have changes
  4. The status bar shows "N unsaved rows"

Saving Changes​

Press Ctrl+S or click Save in the toolbar.

Excel View saves all pending rows in parallel using Frappe's API. A progress indicator appears. On completion:

  • A green success toast shows "Saved X rows"
  • Modified cells return to white background
  • Row pencil icons disappear

If any row fails to save, a red error toast appears for that row with the error message from Frappe.


Partial Saves​

If 5 out of 6 modified rows save successfully and 1 fails, the 5 successful rows are cleared from the pending state. The 1 failed row remains in the modified state with a red error indicator.


What Can Be Edited​

  • Any field where you have Write permission in Frappe
  • Non-virtual, non-read-only fields (as defined in DocType meta)
  • Fields not listed as read_only: 1 in the DocType definition

Fields that cannot be edited inline:

  • Attach / Attach Image — file uploads require the form
  • Password — masked and non-editable in grid
  • Read Only fields as marked in DocType definition
  • Virtual columns (_meta, _social, Smart Lookup join columns)
  • Submitted/Cancelled document fields (locked by docstatus)

Bulk Editing the Same Field​

To set the same value in multiple rows at once:

  1. Edit the first cell and enter the value
  2. Copy it (Ctrl+C)
  3. Select the cells below (Shift+click or Shift+arrow)
  4. Paste (Ctrl+V)

Or use Fill Down (Ctrl+D) if the cells are contiguous.


Editing Submitted Documents​

Documents with docstatus = 1 (Submitted) are locked — cells are read-only. To edit a submitted document you must cancel it first via the Frappe form (click the ID link to open the form).

Cancelled documents (docstatus = 2) are also read-only in the grid.