Canvas App – present grid data

This post will present a possible answer to a question I’ve recently received:

Can I present in a Canvas App a grid of data similar to what I see in an Excel spreadsheet?

By default, there is no control to allow for this functionality. The Power Apps maker interface allows you to use several controls from the Gallery, some more presentable than others. You find the Gallery option on the Insert tab, in edit mode. The following screenshot shows some of these available templates.

Most of these rely on a presentation that enhances the visual aspect, and lays out the elements in a friendly readable format. None of these look like an Excel grid though.

One possible approach is to take one of these layout, like the selected “Title, subtitle, and body”, and re-arrange the elements in a single line. Your line will look like the following screenshot.

Throw in some labels for the column headers, and your layout will look like below.

Using this approach, you can achieve a similar experience. There are some caveats though. For example, you can not create the horizontal scrolling functionality, your layout will only extend as far as the width of the canvas. Furthermore, you can not use a horizontal layout, as that will result in a reversal of rows and columns.

Did this help? Leave a note below!