DataGridView in depth

Column types and formatting, sorting and filtering, master-detail layouts, virtual mode for large data, and cell-level validation and errors.

Columns, formatting and sorting

grid.AutoGenerateColumns = false;   // define columns explicitly, in order
grid.ReadOnly = true;
grid.SelectionMode = DataGridViewSelectionMode.FullRowSelect;
grid.MultiSelect = false;
grid.AutoSizeColumnsMode = DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.Fill;

grid.Columns.Add(new DataGridViewTextBoxColumn
{
    DataPropertyName = "OrderId",
    HeaderText = "Order",
    FillWeight = 20,
    DefaultCellStyle = { Alignment = DataGridViewContentAlignment.MiddleRight }
});
grid.Columns.Add(new DataGridViewTextBoxColumn
{
    DataPropertyName = "Total",
    HeaderText = "Total",
    DefaultCellStyle = { Format = "C2", Alignment = DataGridViewContentAlignment.MiddleRight }
});
grid.Columns.Add(new DataGridViewCheckBoxColumn
{
    DataPropertyName = "Shipped",
    HeaderText = "Shipped"
});
grid.DataSource = new BindingSource(bindingList, null);

• Bind to a BindingList<T> so adds and removes flow through; a plain List<T> shows data but ignores later changes.
• DataPropertyName must match the property name exactly - a mismatch renders an empty column with no error.
• Sorting is automatic for bound columns; click a column header and the grid sorts the underlying list, so anything holding a row index breaks.
• Use e.SortCompare in SortCompare when a column holds numbers stored as text.

Master-detail without extra work

var customers = new BindingSource { DataSource = customerList };
var orders    = new BindingSource { DataSource = customers, DataMember = "Orders" };

customerGrid.DataSource = customers;
orderGrid.DataSource    = orders;   // re-queries whenever the master selection moves

// and a live count in the header
customers.CurrentChanged += (s, e) =>
    orderGrid.Columns["Total"].HeaderText =
        "Total (" + orderGrid.Rows.Count + ")";

Chaining BindingSource objects gives you master-detail for free: the child list is re-evaluated from the current master item. It only works when the master object exposes a collection property, which is one more reason to model the data before wiring the grid.

Virtual mode and large data

Above roughly 100,000 rows, populating rows individually becomes the bottleneck. Virtual mode hands control of row content to you: the grid asks for a row only when it needs to paint it.

grid.VirtualMode = true;
grid.RowCount = rows.Count;                       // the grid no longer owns the data

grid.CellValueNeeded += (s, e) =>
{
    var row = rows[e.RowIndex];
    e.Value = e.ColumnIndex switch
    {
        0 => row.Id,
        1 => row.Customer,
        2 => row.Total,
        _ => null
    };
};

grid.CellValuePushed += (s, e) =>
{
    var row = rows[e.RowIndex];
    if (e.ColumnIndex == 1) row.Customer = (string)e.Value;
    edits.Add(row.Id);
};

FAQ

Related

Validation and user input handling Data binding and when not to use WinForms

Last refreshed 2026-09-18.