gridcraft/docs/ui-parity.md

# UI parity

> **Last reviewed:** 2026-10-10 · **Last updated:** 2026-10-11 · **Change:** minor (selected objects can be deleted from the keyboard) · **Target:** Microsoft Excel (Microsoft 365), Excel for Mac 16.113.4

Interaction, controls and feel, against Excel. Part of [target-app-parity.md](target-app-parity.md).
**UI/UX fidelity: ~55% ready, 50–80 h** (estimated). Ribbon command coverage is measured
separately in [parity-checklist.md](parity-checklist.md) (271 / 290).

Sources: `crates/ui-egui/src` (ribbon, grid, editor, formula bar, dialogs, panes),
`crates/engine/src/cmd` (shortcuts in command specs), the owner's black-box notes
(`plan/excel/observed-ui.md`, local only) and user issues.

## Window and chrome

| Element | Excel | GridCraft | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title bar, Quick Access Toolbar, AutoSave toggle | yes | yes | done; macOS window controls misaligned (#170), Dock icon size (#169) |
| Ribbon: tabs, groups, split buttons, galleries, contextual tabs | yes | yes (Table Design, Chart Design, Format, PivotTable tabs) | done; missing contextual tabs for pictures, shapes, sparklines, header/footer, slicers |
| Ribbon collapse, simplified ribbon, customize ribbon/QAT | yes | partial | customization missing |
| Key tips (Alt / F10 then letters) | yes, every ribbon control | **initial** (#43, 10-10): Alt or F10 shows key tips on Home for alignment, Paste Special and AutoFit plus legacy Alt sequences; other tabs and controls not yet (#33, #49) | 3–5 h |
| Formula bar with Name Box, expand, function hints | yes | yes | done |
| Sheet tabs: rename, reorder, colour, hide, scroll | yes | yes | rename focus bug on macOS (#145) |
| Status bar: Sum/Count/Average and more, view buttons, zoom | yes | yes | customizable statistics partial |
| Task panes (Format Chart, Comments, Watch, Selection, PivotTable fields) | yes | yes | element-level Format pane for shapes and pictures missing |
| Backstage (File) view: Info, New with templates, Open recent, Export, Options | yes | partial | Options dialog and template gallery missing |
| Dark mode, system appearance | yes | yes | done (10-09); follows the system on first run, title-bar switch and File › Display theme (#194, #239) |
| Backstage (File) view: Info, New with templates, Open recent, Export, Options | yes | yes (#174, 10-11): the File tab opens a full-window view (Esc or the back arrow return) with Home, New (blank + the three samples), Open (recent + Browse), Info (location, properties, Protect Workbook), Save, Save As, Print (page preview, active sheet or workbook, fit to page, Page Setup), Export (PDF, CSV, web page), Close and Options (`file.options`: theme, language, formula bar, AutoSave, calculation) | no Account, Share or template gallery beyond the samples; Options applies at once (no OK/Cancel dialog) and holds only the settings GridCraft has |
| Dark mode, system appearance | yes | yes | done (10-09) |
| Page Layout view (paper view with rulers and header editing) | yes | **no** (Page Break Preview only) | 8–12 h |
| Multiple windows per workbook | yes | no (#162) | see [hardware-parity.md](hardware-parity.md) |

## Grid interaction

| Behaviour | Status |
|---|---|
| Click/drag/Shift/Ctrl selection, multi-area selection | rectangular drag works in one direction only in some cases (#28) |
| Fill handle: drag to fill series, double-click to fill down, right-drag menu | fill done (Ctrl+drag swaps copy and series); right-drag menu missing |
| Drag-move and drag-copy cells (border drag, Ctrl/Option, Shift to insert) | done (M3) |
| In-cell editing, Enter/Tab movement, Alt/Option+Enter line breaks | done |
| Point mode (click/drag/arrow references), reference colouring, F4 | done |
| AutoComplete in columns, function autocomplete and argument tips | done; cell helpers clip to the worksheet and hide when the editor scrolls out (#200) |
| Header resize and double-click AutoFit | done (#42, #88 for header dividers) |
| Freeze panes, split panes | freeze done; split to verify |
| Copy as HTML table for other apps | done (#36, 10-10) |
| Context menu on cells | 16 items (Cut, Copy, Paste, Paste Special, Insert, Delete, Clear Contents, Filter by value, Sort, New Comment, New Note, Format Cells, Pick From Drop-down List, Define Name, Link). Insert Copied Cells (Insert Cut Cells for whole rows/columns) while the clipboard holds a copy (#21). Missing: Insert Cut Cells for a cell block, paste-option icons, Quick Analysis, Get Data from Table, Show Changes, Smart Lookup |
| Move and resize charts, pictures and shapes | charts can't be resized (#190) |
| Context menus on row/column headers, sheet tabs, charts, shapes | headers and tabs done; objects partial |
| Quick Analysis (Ctrl+Q) | missing |
| Smooth scrolling, scrollbars | done; vertical scrollbar added 10-09 (#73); horizontal scrollbar reported missing (#176) |
| Text overflow into empty neighbours, wrap, rotation, shrink to fit | done |

## Keyboard

| Area | Excel | GridCraft |
|---|---|---|
| Shortcuts bound to commands | 200+ documented shortcuts per platform | 59 command shortcuts plus grid and editor keys (55 distinct keys handled in `ui-egui`) |
| Ctrl+arrow, Ctrl+Shift+arrow, Ctrl+Home/End, Page Up/Down, Alt+Page | yes | done |
| Ctrl+1, Ctrl+; and Ctrl+Shift+; , Ctrl+D/R, Ctrl+E, Ctrl+T, Ctrl+K, Ctrl+Shift+L | yes | most done; audit pending |
| F2, F4, F5, F9 family, Shift+F3, F11 | yes | most; F11 chart sheet missing (no chart sheets) |
| Mac-specific (Cmd variants, Fn keys) | yes | Cmd mapping done |
| Delete selected charts, pictures and shapes | yes | done (#213) |
| Shortcuts bound to commands | 200+ documented shortcuts per platform | audited below (#110): shortcuts whose feature exists are bound, with the exceptions listed; the rest wait for their features |
| Ctrl+arrow, Ctrl+Shift+arrow, Ctrl+Home/End, Ctrl+Shift+Home/End, Page Up/Down, Alt+Page | yes | done |
| Ctrl+1, Ctrl+; and Ctrl+Shift+; , Ctrl+D/R, Ctrl+E, Ctrl+T/L, Ctrl+K, Ctrl+Shift+L, Ctrl+Shift+~!@#$%^&_ | yes | done |
| F2, F4, F5, F7, F9 family, Shift+F2/F3/F10/F11, F12 | yes | done; F11 chart sheet, F8 extend mode, F3 Paste Name, F4 Repeat missing |
| Mac-specific (Cmd variants, Control variants, Fn keys) | yes | done where a feature exists (`keymap.rs` picks the Mac variant) |
| Requests | — | #110 (more shortcuts and hot keys), #33 (sequential Alt; initial support landed in #43) |

### Shortcut audit (#110)

Checked against Microsoft's published "Keyboard shortcuts in Excel" (Windows and Mac tables,
2026-10-11). Alt key-tip sequences are tracked separately (#33). Bindings live in
`crates/ui-egui/src/grid.rs` (navigation, editing keys), `ribbon::shortcut` (Ctrl/Cmd letters),
`keymap.rs` (everything added in #110, with a `lookup` table that tests cover) and
`formula_bar.rs` (keys while editing). "Ctrl" means Cmd on a Mac unless the Mac column says
otherwise. Number-format and border keys match the physical key (Ctrl+Shift+4, wherever `$` is).

| Shortcut (Windows) | Mac | Action | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ctrl+C / X / V, Ctrl+Z / Y, Ctrl+A, Ctrl+B / I / U | same with Cmd | clipboard, undo/redo, select all, bold/italic/underline | present |
| Ctrl+S, Ctrl+Shift+S, Ctrl+O, Ctrl+N, Ctrl+W | Cmd | save, save as, open, new, close | present |
| Ctrl+F, Ctrl+H, Ctrl+G, Ctrl+K, Ctrl+T | Cmd (Ctrl+H) | find, replace, go to, hyperlink, table | present |
| Ctrl+D, Ctrl+R, Ctrl+E, Ctrl+1, Ctrl+9 / 0, Ctrl+Shift+9 / 0 | Cmd (Ctrl+E on Mac: see below) | fill down/right, Flash Fill, Format Cells, hide/unhide | present |
| Ctrl+- , Ctrl+Shift+= | Cmd | Delete / Insert cells dialog | present |
| Ctrl+; , Ctrl+` | Control+; | current date, show formulas | present (Mac Control+; added) |
| Arrows, Shift / Ctrl / Ctrl+Shift+arrows, Home, Ctrl+Home / End, Page Up / Down, Ctrl+Page Up / Down | Cmd+arrows | navigation and extension | present |
| Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, Shift+Enter, Ctrl+Space, Shift+Space, Delete, Esc | same | entry and selection | present |
| F2, F9, F10 (key tips), F4 / Alt+Enter / Ctrl+Enter / Ctrl+Shift+Enter while editing | same | edit, calculate, references, new line, fill, array | present |
| Ctrl+Shift+~ ! @ # $ % ^ | Control+Shift | General, Number, Time, Date, Currency, Percent, Scientific | **added** |
| Ctrl+Shift+& / Ctrl+Shift+_ | Cmd+Option+0 / Cmd+Option+- (and Cmd+Option+arrows for one side) | outline border / remove borders | **added** |
| Ctrl+2 / 3 / 4 / 5 | — | bold / italic / underline / strikethrough | **added** |
| Ctrl+Shift+: | Cmd+; | current time | **added** |
| Ctrl+' / Ctrl+Shift+" | Control | formula / value from the cell above | **added** |
| Ctrl+L | Cmd+L is Align Left, Cmd+E Center, Control+E Flash Fill | create table | **added** |
| Ctrl+Shift+L | Cmd+Shift+F (present) / Control+Shift+L | filter | **added** |
| Ctrl+Shift+F, Ctrl+Shift+G | — | Format Cells Font tab, Workbook Statistics | **added** |
| — | Cmd+Shift+H, Cmd+Shift+R, Cmd+Shift+K / J, Control+L, Control+U | replace, sort, group / ungroup, Define Name, edit cell | **added** |
| Alt+Shift+Right / Left | Option+Right / Left is next/previous sheet | group / ungroup | **added** |
| Ctrl+Shift+* (Ctrl+Shift+8), Ctrl+Shift+Space | Cmd+Shift+Space | current region, select all | **added** |
| Ctrl+Shift+Home / End, Shift+Home | same | extend to A1 / last used cell / row start | **added** |
| Ctrl+P | Cmd+P | print | **added** |
| Ctrl+Shift+> / < | Cmd+Shift+> / < | font size | **added** |
| Ctrl+Alt+V | Cmd+Control+V, Cmd+Option+V | Paste Special | **added** |
| Ctrl+Alt+= / Ctrl+Alt+- | — | zoom in / out (10% steps) | **added** |
| Alt+=, Alt+Down, Alt+Page Down / Up | Option+Down, Option+Page Down / Up | AutoSum, drop-down list, one screen right / left | **added** |
| Alt+F1, Alt+Shift+F1, Shift+F11 | Shift+F11 | embedded chart, new sheet | **added** |
| Shift+F2, Ctrl+Shift+F2 | Shift+F2, Cmd+Shift+F2 | note, threaded comment | **added** |
| Shift+F3, Ctrl+F3, Ctrl+Shift+F3 | Shift+F3, Cmd+F3 (Define Name), Cmd+Shift+F3 | Insert Function, Name Manager, Create from Selection | **added** |
| F5, Shift+F5 (Mac), F7, Shift+F9, Ctrl+Alt+F9, F12, Ctrl+F4 | same | Go To, Find, Spelling, calculate sheet / all, Save As, close | **added** |
| Shift+F10, Alt+Shift+F10, Ctrl+F1 | Shift+F10, Cmd+Option+R | context menu, Error Checking, ribbon | **added** |
| F1, F3, F4 (repeat), F6 / Shift+F6, F8 / Shift+F8, F11, End mode | same | help, Paste Name, Repeat, pane cycling, extend/add mode, chart sheet | missing (no such feature yet) |
| Ctrl+6, Ctrl+8, Ctrl+Q, Ctrl+Shift+A, Ctrl+A after a function name, Ctrl+Shift+U, Ctrl+Alt+P | same | objects, outline symbols, Quick Analysis, argument names, Function Arguments, formula bar height, tooltips | missing |
| Ctrl+Shift+Page Up / Down, Ctrl+Alt+5, Ctrl+Shift+F1, Ctrl+F5–F10, Alt+F8 / F11 / F12 | same | group sheets, shape cycling, full screen, window keys, macros, VBA, Power Query | missing |
| — | Cmd+= (calculate), Cmd+T (references while editing; F4 works), Shift+F7, Cmd+Shift+L | Mac-only extras | missing (Cmd+= is egui's zoom key; no thesaurus or Modify Cell Style) |

On Windows, AltGr arrives as Ctrl+Alt: a Ctrl+Alt key that also types a character is treated as
text, so AltGr symbols (e.g. `~` on a German layout) never trigger a shortcut.

## Dialogs

Format Cells, Insert Function/Formula Builder, Find and Replace, Go To and Go To Special, Sort,
Name Manager, Data Validation, Paste Special, Conditional Formatting manager, Page Setup, Goal
Seek, Scenario Manager, Data Analysis and others exist. Missing or partial: Options, Solver,
Forecast Sheet, Power Query editor, Insert Object, Equation editor, Protect/Allow Edit Ranges,
Workbook Links, Accessibility checker.

## Accessibility

AccessKit is enabled, but the grid, ribbon and dialogs are not exposed as an accessible tree with
cell addresses and values, so screen readers can't navigate a sheet; there is no high-contrast
theme or accessibility checker. Excel is strong here. 12–18 h.

## Feel

Pixel comparison against Excel screenshots hasn't been run since M1; fonts depend on the system
(no Calibri; Carlito would match metrics, #29, #4, #168 for weights); icons are GridCraft's own
by rule and will never match Office's, by design.

## Work (50–80 h)

Key tips 3–5 · remaining shortcuts with their features 2–4 · context menus and Quick Analysis 5–8 · Page Layout view
8–12 · Options dialog and ribbon/QAT customization 6–10 · accessibility 12–18 · selection and
scrollbar bugs 2–4 · pixel/feel pass against observed Excel 7–12.

## Revision history

| Date | Change | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-11 | minor | Delete and Backspace now remove the selected chart, picture or shape (#213) |
| 2026-10-10 | minor | Keep formula helpers inside the worksheet when scrolling (#200) |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Theme: title-bar light/dark switch, File › Display theme, system appearance on first run (#194, #239) |
| 2026-10-11 | minor | Keyboard shortcut audit against Microsoft's Windows and Mac lists; missing shortcuts for existing features added (#110) |
| 2026-10-11 | minor | File tab Backstage view and File › Options (#174) |
| 2026-10-10 | minor | Chart resize bug (#190) |
| 2026-10-10 | major | Created: chrome, grid, keyboard, dialogs, accessibility; key tips, Page Layout view and accessibility tree flagged |