TagBox - Keyboard Support

• Dec 03, 2025
• 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:

Shortcut Keys	Description
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	Moves focus to the previous focusable element on a page.
Alt + Delete	Clears the input element.
Characters	Adds characters to the input if AllowCustomTags is set to true.
Right Arrow, Left Arrow	Navigate to next/previous tag or character.
Delete	Removes characters or the focused tag. Once the tag is removed, focus moves to the next available tag.
Backspace	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	Move the caret to the start/end of input text.
Alt + Down Arrow	Opens 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:

Shortcut Keys	Description
Up Arrow	Moves focus one item up.
Down Arrow	Moves focus one item down.
Ctrl + Shift + Home	Moves focus to the first item on the list.
Ctrl + Shift + End	Moves focus to the last item on the list.
Page Up	Moves focus to an item on the previous page.
Page Down	Moves focus to an item on the following page.
Tab	Selects the focused item, updates the Tags parameter value, closes the drop-down list, moves focus to the input element.
Enter	Selects the focused item, updates the Tags parameter value, and closes the drop-down list.
Escape, Alt + Up Arrow	Closes the drop-down list.

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