Time cell type

Display, format, sort, and filter time values correctly by using the time cell type. Edit times via the cell editor.

The time cell type formats time values using a configurable format string. Use it for scheduling, logging, or any time-based data.

Overview

The time cell type lets you treat cell values as times: format how they are displayed and validate input. Use the intl-time or time cell type with the native Intl.DateTimeFormat API and 24-hour time strings.

Time cell type demo

In the following demo, the Start, Break start, and End columns use the time cell type with different formats: short style, custom format with hours, minutes, and seconds, and format with day period. Use the locale selector to see how each format varies by locale.

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import { useRef, useState, useEffect } from 'react';
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import { HotTable } from '@handsontable/react-wrapper';
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import { registerAllModules } from 'handsontable/registry';
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// register Handsontable's modules
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registerAllModules();
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const localeOptions = [
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  { value: 'ar-AR', label: 'Arabic (Global)' },
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  { value: 'cs-CZ', label: 'Czech (Czechia)' },
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  { value: 'de-CH', label: 'German (Switzerland)' },
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  { value: 'de-DE', label: 'German (Germany)' },
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  { value: 'en-US', label: 'English (United States)' },
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  { value: 'es-MX', label: 'Spanish (Mexico)' },
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  { value: 'fa-IR', label: 'Persian (Iran)' },
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  { value: 'fr-FR', label: 'French (France)' },
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  { value: 'hr-HR', label: 'Croatian (Croatia)' },
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  { value: 'it-IT', label: 'Italian (Italy)' },
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  { value: 'ja-JP', label: 'Japanese (Japan)' },
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  { value: 'ko-KR', label: 'Korean (Korea)' },
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  { value: 'lv-LV', label: 'Latvian (Latvia)' },
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  { value: 'nb-NO', label: 'Norwegian Bokmal (Norway)' },
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  { value: 'nl-NL', label: 'Dutch (Netherlands)' },
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  { value: 'pl-PL', label: 'Polish (Poland)' },
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  { value: 'pt-BR', label: 'Portuguese (Brazil)' },
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  { value: 'ru-RU', label: 'Russian (Russia)' },
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  { value: 'sr-SP', label: 'Serbian Latin (Serbia)' },
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  { value: 'zh-CN', label: 'Chinese (Simplified, China)' },
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  { value: 'zh-TW', label: 'Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan)' },
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];
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const ExampleComponent = () => {
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  const hotRef = useRef(null);
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  const dropdownRef = useRef(null);
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  const [isOpen, setIsOpen] = useState(false);
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  const [locale, setLocale] = useState('en-US');
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  useEffect(() => {
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    const handleOutsideClick = (e) => {
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      if (dropdownRef.current && !dropdownRef.current.contains(e.target)) {
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        setIsOpen(false);
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      }
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    };
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    const handleEscape = (e) => {
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      if (e.key === 'Escape') {
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        setIsOpen(false);
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      }
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    };
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    document.addEventListener('click', handleOutsideClick);
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    document.addEventListener('keydown', handleEscape);
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    return () => {
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      document.removeEventListener('click', handleOutsideClick);
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      document.removeEventListener('keydown', handleEscape);
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    };
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  }, []);
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  const handleSelect = (value) => {
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    setLocale(value);
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    setIsOpen(false);
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    hotRef.current?.hotInstance?.updateSettings({ locale: value });
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  };
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  const selectedLabel = localeOptions.find((o) => o.value === locale)?.label;
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  const data = [
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    { shift: 'Morning', start: '09:00', breakStart: '12:00', end: '17:00' },
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    { shift: 'Afternoon', start: '13:30', breakStart: '16:00', end: '21:00' },
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    { shift: 'Night', start: '22:00', breakStart: '01:00', end: '06:00' },
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    { shift: 'Split', start: '08:00', breakStart: '12:30', end: '20:00' },
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    { shift: 'Short day', start: '10:00', breakStart: '13:00', end: '15:00' },
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  ];
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  return (
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    <>
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      <div className="example-controls-container">
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        <div className="controls">
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          <div className="theme-dropdown" ref={dropdownRef}>
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            <button
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              className="theme-dropdown-trigger"
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              type="button"
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              aria-haspopup="listbox"
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              aria-expanded={isOpen}
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              onClick={() => setIsOpen(!isOpen)}
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            >
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              <span>{selectedLabel}</span>
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              <svg className="theme-dropdown-chevron" aria-hidden="true" width="12" height="12" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" strokeWidth="2" strokeLinecap="round" strokeLinejoin="round"><path d="M6 9l6 6l6 -6"/></svg>
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            </button>
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            {isOpen && (
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              <ul className="theme-dropdown-menu" role="listbox">
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                {localeOptions.map((opt) => (
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                  <li
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                    key={opt.value}
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                    role="option"
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                    aria-selected={locale === opt.value}
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                    onClick={() => handleSelect(opt.value)}
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                  >
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                    {opt.label}
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                  </li>
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                ))}
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              </ul>
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            )}
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          </div>
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        </div>
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      </div>
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      <HotTable
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        ref={hotRef}
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        data={data}
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        colHeaders={['Shift', 'Start', 'Break start', 'End']}
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        locale={locale}
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        columns={[
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          {
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            type: 'text',
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            data: 'shift',
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          },
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          {
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            type: 'intl-time',
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            data: 'start',
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            timeFormat: {
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              timeStyle: 'short',
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            },
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          },
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          {
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            type: 'intl-time',
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            data: 'breakStart',
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            timeFormat: {
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              hour: '2-digit',
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              minute: '2-digit',
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              second: '2-digit',
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            },
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          },
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          {
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            type: 'intl-time',
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            data: 'end',
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            timeFormat: {
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              hour: 'numeric',
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              hourCycle: 'h12',
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              dayPeriod: 'short',
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            },
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          },
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        ]}
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        columnSorting={true}
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        filters={true}
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        dropdownMenu={true}
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        height="auto"
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        autoWrapRow={true}
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        autoWrapCol={true}
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        licenseKey="non-commercial-and-evaluation"
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      />
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    </>
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  );
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};
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export default ExampleComponent;

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import { useRef, useState, useEffect } from 'react';
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import Handsontable from 'handsontable/base';
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import { HotTable, HotTableRef } from '@handsontable/react-wrapper';
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import { registerAllModules } from 'handsontable/registry';
5

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// register Handsontable's modules
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registerAllModules();
8

23 collapsed lines
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const localeOptions: { value: string; label: string }[] = [
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  { value: 'ar-AR', label: 'Arabic (Global)' },
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  { value: 'cs-CZ', label: 'Czech (Czechia)' },
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  { value: 'de-CH', label: 'German (Switzerland)' },
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  { value: 'de-DE', label: 'German (Germany)' },
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  { value: 'en-US', label: 'English (United States)' },
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  { value: 'es-MX', label: 'Spanish (Mexico)' },
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  { value: 'fa-IR', label: 'Persian (Iran)' },
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  { value: 'fr-FR', label: 'French (France)' },
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  { value: 'hr-HR', label: 'Croatian (Croatia)' },
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  { value: 'it-IT', label: 'Italian (Italy)' },
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  { value: 'ja-JP', label: 'Japanese (Japan)' },
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  { value: 'ko-KR', label: 'Korean (Korea)' },
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  { value: 'lv-LV', label: 'Latvian (Latvia)' },
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  { value: 'nb-NO', label: 'Norwegian Bokmal (Norway)' },
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  { value: 'nl-NL', label: 'Dutch (Netherlands)' },
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  { value: 'pl-PL', label: 'Polish (Poland)' },
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  { value: 'pt-BR', label: 'Portuguese (Brazil)' },
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  { value: 'ru-RU', label: 'Russian (Russia)' },
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  { value: 'sr-SP', label: 'Serbian Latin (Serbia)' },
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  { value: 'zh-CN', label: 'Chinese (Simplified, China)' },
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  { value: 'zh-TW', label: 'Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan)' },
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];
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const ExampleComponent = () => {
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  const hotRef = useRef<HotTableRef>(null);
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  const dropdownRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
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  const [isOpen, setIsOpen] = useState(false);
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  const [locale, setLocale] = useState('en-US');
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  useEffect(() => {
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    const handleOutsideClick = (e: MouseEvent) => {
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      if (dropdownRef.current && !dropdownRef.current.contains(e.target as Node)) {
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        setIsOpen(false);
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      }
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    };
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    const handleEscape = (e: KeyboardEvent) => {
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      if (e.key === 'Escape') {
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        setIsOpen(false);
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      }
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    };
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    document.addEventListener('click', handleOutsideClick);
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    document.addEventListener('keydown', handleEscape);
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    return () => {
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      document.removeEventListener('click', handleOutsideClick);
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      document.removeEventListener('keydown', handleEscape);
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    };
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  }, []);
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  const handleSelect = (value: string) => {
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    setLocale(value);
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    setIsOpen(false);
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    hotRef.current?.hotInstance?.updateSettings({ locale: value } as Handsontable.GridSettings);
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  };
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  const selectedLabel = localeOptions.find((o) => o.value === locale)?.label;
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7 collapsed lines
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  const data = [
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    { shift: 'Morning', start: '09:00', breakStart: '12:00', end: '17:00' },
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    { shift: 'Afternoon', start: '13:30', breakStart: '16:00', end: '21:00' },
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    { shift: 'Night', start: '22:00', breakStart: '01:00', end: '06:00' },
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    { shift: 'Split', start: '08:00', breakStart: '12:30', end: '20:00' },
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    { shift: 'Short day', start: '10:00', breakStart: '13:00', end: '15:00' },
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  ];
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  return (
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    <>
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      <div className="example-controls-container">
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        <div className="controls">
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          <div className="theme-dropdown" ref={dropdownRef}>
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            <button
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              className="theme-dropdown-trigger"
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              type="button"
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              aria-haspopup="listbox"
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              aria-expanded={isOpen}
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              onClick={() => setIsOpen(!isOpen)}
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            >
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              <span>{selectedLabel}</span>
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              <svg className="theme-dropdown-chevron" aria-hidden="true" width="12" height="12" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" strokeWidth="2" strokeLinecap="round" strokeLinejoin="round"><path d="M6 9l6 6l6 -6"/></svg>
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            </button>
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            {isOpen && (
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              <ul className="theme-dropdown-menu" role="listbox">
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                {localeOptions.map((opt) => (
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                  <li
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                    key={opt.value}
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                    role="option"
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                    aria-selected={locale === opt.value}
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                    onClick={() => handleSelect(opt.value)}
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                  >
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                    {opt.label}
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                  </li>
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                ))}
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              </ul>
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            )}
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          </div>
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        </div>
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      </div>
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      <HotTable
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        ref={hotRef}
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        data={data}
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        colHeaders={['Shift', 'Start', 'Break start', 'End']}
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        locale={locale}
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        columns={[
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          {
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            type: 'text',
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            data: 'shift',
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          },
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          {
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            type: 'intl-time',
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            data: 'start',
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            timeFormat: {
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              timeStyle: 'short',
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            },
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          },
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          {
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            type: 'intl-time',
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            data: 'breakStart',
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            timeFormat: {
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              hour: '2-digit',
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              minute: '2-digit',
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              second: '2-digit',
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            },
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          },
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          {
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            type: 'intl-time',
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            data: 'end',
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            timeFormat: {
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              hour: 'numeric',
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              hourCycle: 'h12',
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              dayPeriod: 'short',
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            },
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          },
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        ]}
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        columnSorting={true}
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        filters={true}
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        dropdownMenu={true}
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        height="auto"
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        autoWrapRow={true}
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        autoWrapCol={true}
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        licenseKey="non-commercial-and-evaluation"
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      />
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    </>
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  );
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};
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export default ExampleComponent;

Use the time cell type

Use the object-style configuration by setting the type option to 'intl-time' or 'time' and timeFormat to an object. The locale is controlled via the locale option.

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// set the time cell type for the entire grid
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type="intl-time"
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locale="en-US"
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timeFormat={{
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  hour: 'numeric',
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  minute: '2-digit',
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  second: '2-digit',
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  hour12: true
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}}
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// set the time cell type for a single column
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columns={[{
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  type: 'intl-time',
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  locale: 'en-US',
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  timeFormat: { timeStyle: 'medium' }
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}]}
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// set the time cell type for a single cell
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cell={[{
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  row: 0,
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  col: 2,
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  type: 'intl-time',
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  locale: 'en-US',
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  timeFormat: { hour: '2-digit', minute: '2-digit', hour12: true }
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}]}

For intl-time and time cells, source data must be in 24-hour time format (HH:mm, HH:mm:ss, or HH:mm:ss.SSS) for times to work correctly. The timeFormat object only affects how times are displayed; sorting and filtering rely on the underlying value.

Format times

To control how times are displayed in cell renderers, use the timeFormat option.

Since Handsontable 18.0, the object form of timeFormat with the intl-time and time cell types is required. It uses the native Intl.DateTimeFormat API. The locale is controlled separately via the locale option.

Using Intl.DateTimeFormat

The timeFormat option accepts properties of Intl.DateTimeFormat options relevant to time. Use it with type: 'intl-time' or type: 'time'.

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<HotTable
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  columns={[{
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    type: 'intl-time',
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    locale: 'en-US',
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    timeFormat: {
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      hour: 'numeric',
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      minute: '2-digit',
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      second: '2-digit',
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      hour12: true
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    }
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  }, {
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    type: 'intl-time',
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    locale: 'de-DE',
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    timeFormat: { timeStyle: 'medium' }
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  }]}
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/>

Time-specific options

Style shortcuts:

Property	Possible values	Description
`timeStyle`	`'full'`, `'long'`, `'medium'`, `'short'`	Time formatting style (hour, minute, second, timeZoneName)

Time component options:

Property	Possible values	Description
`hour`	`'numeric'`, `'2-digit'`	Hour representation
`minute`	`'numeric'`, `'2-digit'`	Minute representation
`second`	`'numeric'`, `'2-digit'`	Second representation
`fractionalSecondDigits`	`1`, `2`, `3`	Fraction-of-second digits
`dayPeriod`	`'narrow'`, `'short'`, `'long'`	Day period (e.g. “am”)
`timeZoneName`	`'long'`, `'short'`, `'shortOffset'`, `'longOffset'`, `'shortGeneric'`, `'longGeneric'`	Time zone display

Locale and other options:

Property	Possible values	Description
`localeMatcher`	`'best fit'` (default), `'lookup'`	Locale matching algorithm
`timeZone`	IANA time zone (e.g. `'UTC'`, `'America/New_York'`)	Time zone for formatting
`hour12`	`true`, `false`	12-hour vs 24-hour time
`hourCycle`	`'h11'`, `'h12'`, `'h23'`, `'h24'`	Hour cycle
`formatMatcher`	`'basic'`, `'best fit'` (default)	Format matching algorithm

For a complete reference, see the timeFormat API documentation or MDN: Intl.DateTimeFormat.

Editor behavior

The timeFormat option controls how times are displayed in the cell. The editor may show the value in a normalized form; for intl-time and time, the underlying value remains in 24-hour format (HH:mm, HH:mm:ss, or HH:mm:ss.SSS).

Result

After configuring the time cell type, cells display time values formatted according to your timeFormat configuration. Clicking an intl-time or time cell opens a native time picker. Source data is stored in 24-hour format (HH:mm, HH:mm:ss, or HH:mm:ss.SSS) regardless of the display format.

Related guides

Cell type

Configuration options

Core methods