TagBox - Keyboard Support

• Jan 20, 2026
• 3 minutes to read

The DevExpress Blazor TagBox supports keyboard navigation. Users can focus the component’s edit box, navigate through tags and remove them, navigate within the drop-down item list, and select items. While DOM focus refers to the input element as the active element for keyboard interaction, visual focus can move to tags or list items. Keyboard navigation is also supported in virtual scroll mode.

Run Demo: TagBox

Note

Keyboard support allows users to interact with application content in cases they cannot use a mouse or they rely on assistive technologies (like screen readers or switch devices). Refer to the Accessibility help topic for information on other accessibility areas that we address.

Shortcut Keys for Edit Box

The following shortcut keys are available when the component’s edit box is focused:

PC/Windows Shortcuts	Mac Shortcuts	Description
Tab	Tab	Moves focus to the next focusable element on a page. Note that input elements (Clear button and selected tags) are excluded from the page tab sequence. If AllowCustomTags is set to true, entered characters are applied as a custom tag.
Shift + Tab	Shift + Tab	Moves focus to the previous focusable element on a page.
Alt + Delete	Fn + Option + Delete	Clears the input element.
Characters	Characters	Adds characters to the input if AllowCustomTags is set to true.
Arrow Right Arrow Left	Arrow Right Arrow Left	Navigate to next/previous tag or character.
Delete	Delete	Removes characters or the focused tag. Once the tag is removed, focus moves to the next available tag.
Backspace	Fn + Delete	Removes characters or the focused tag. Once the tag is removed, focus moves to the previous tag, if available. If the edit box does not contain any text and no tag is focused, the key removes the last available tag and keeps the text in the input element.
Home End	Option + Arrow Up Option + Arrow Down	Move the caret to the start/end of input text.
Alt + Arrow Down	Option + Arrow Down	Opens the drop-down list, but keeps focus on the input element.
Alt + Arrow Up	Option + Arrow Up	Closes the drop-down list, but keeps focus on the input element.

Shortcut Keys for Drop-Down Item List

The following shortcut keys are available when the drop-down list is opened:

PC/Windows Shortcuts	Mac Shortcuts	Description
Arrow Up	Arrow Up	Moves focus one item up.
Arrow Down	Arrow Down	Moves focus one item down.
Ctrl + Shift + Home	Ctrl + Shift + Fn + Arrow Up	Moves focus to the first item in the list.
Ctrl + Shift + End	Ctrl + Shift + Fn + Arrow Down	Moves focus to the last item in the list.
Page Up	Fn + Arrow Up	Moves focus to an item on the previous page.
Page Down	Fn + Arrow Down	Moves focus to an item on the next page.
Tab	Tab	Selects the focused item, updates the Tags parameter value, closes the drop-down list, moves focus to the input element.
Enter	Enter	Selects the focused item, updates the Tags parameter value, and closes the drop-down list.
Escape	Escape	Closes the drop-down list.

The TagBox does not currently allow you to navigate through elements in templated items.