# Start / stop editing
## Start
> Live demo: Inline editing - https://svgrid.com/demos/05-inline-editing/
| Trigger | Behaviour |
| ------- | --------- |
| Double-click a cell | Opens the editor with all text selected. |
| `Enter` on a focused cell | Same as double-click. |
| `F2` on a focused cell | Opens the editor with the caret at the end (no text selection). |
| Typing a character | Opens the editor and replaces the value with the typed character. |
The cell must be **focused** (the grid's active cell). Click any cell or
use the arrow keys to set focus.
The cell must also be **editable** - its column must have an
`editorType`, and the grid must have `enableInlineEditing={true}`.
## Stop
| Trigger | Outcome |
| ------- | ------- |
| `Enter` | Commit. Move focus down one row. |
| `Tab` | Commit. Move focus to the next editable cell in the same row. |
| `Shift+Tab` | Commit. Move focus to the previous editable cell. |
| `Esc` | Cancel. Revert to the pre-edit value. |
| Click outside the cell | Commit. |
## Programmatic start/stop
Drive the editor from outside the grid with the `SvGridApi`:
The examples on this page run against these rows:
```svelte
```
```ts
// begin editing a cell (as a double-click would); returns true if it started
api.startEditing(rowIndex, columnId)
api.stopEditing() // commit the active edit (default)
api.stopEditing(true) // cancel / discard the active edit
```
`startEditing` returns `false` when the cell doesn't exist, isn't editable, or
inline editing is disabled. `stopEditing` returns `true` if an edit was in
progress. Combine with `selectCells` and `onActiveCellChange` to build
form-style / guided-entry flows entirely on the API:
> **`rowIndex` is the displayed index.** `startEditing`, `selectCells` and
> `onActiveCellChange` all address rows by their position **as rendered** -
> after a sort or filter that differs from your source data array. If you scan
> your own data to decide what to edit next, walk `api.getDisplayedRows()` (it
> returns the rows in display order) and use that index - indexing your unsorted
> source array would open the wrong cell once the grid is sorted.
```svelte
(api = a)}
onActiveCellChange={(e) => (active = { rowIndex: e.rowIndex, columnId: e.columnId })} />
```
> Live demo: Programmatic editing (start/stop) - https://svgrid.com/demos/176-programmatic-editing/
## Try it
`startEditing(rowIndex, columnId)` opens an editor without a click, which is how
you wire "edit this row" from a toolbar or a keyboard shortcut.
`stopEditing(true)` cancels rather than commits.
```svelte
(api = next)} />
```
## See also
- [Validation](https://svgrid.com/docs/help/editing/validation/)
- [Provided editors](https://svgrid.com/docs/help/editing/provided-editors/)
---
SvGrid is the Svelte 5 data grid (`npm install @svgrid/grid`, MIT). This page: https://svgrid.com/docs/help/editing/start-stop-editing/ . All docs: https://svgrid.com/llms.txt