Deselect All Cells in a JTable in Java

In this article, we will learn to deselect all cells in a JTable in Java. The JTable component is a powerful tool for displaying tabular data when working with Java Swing applications. Sometimes, you may want to deselect all selected cells in a JTable programmatically.

Why Deselecting Cells in JTable is Important

In certain scenarios, such as resetting form fields, implementing "Clear Selection" buttons, or preparing the table for a fresh data display, you need to clear the selection in a JTable. This improves user experience and ensures the application behaves as expected.

Deselecting All Cells in JTable

Following are the steps to deselect all cells in a JTable in Java ?

• Initialize Table Model: The DefaultTableModel class is used to manage the data and structure of the table.
• Add Columns and Rows: Columns and rows of data are added to represent a tutorial tracker.
• Select a Row: The addRowSelectionInterval method selects a specific row.
• Deselect All Cells: The clearSelection() method clears any selected rows or cells in the table.
• Display the Table: A JFrame and JScrollPane are used to render the table in a GUI window

Initialization of table model and JTable ?

DefaultTableModel tableModel = new DefaultTableModel();
JTable table = new JTable(tableModel);

Selecting a specific row in Jtable ?

table.addRowSelectionInterval(2, 2);

Clear all selections ?

table.clearSelection();

At first, let's say, we have selected a row using addRowSelectionInterval() as shown in the demo screenshot ?

Now, we will deselect all these cells using clearSelection() as shown in the following example. This method clears the selected cells from the table ?

Example

Below is an example of deselecting all cells in a JTable in Java ?

package my;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTable;
import javax.swing.table.DefaultTableModel;
public class SwingDemo {
   public static void main(String[] argv) throws Exception {
      DefaultTableModel tableModel = new DefaultTableModel();
      JTable table = new JTable(tableModel);
      tableModel.addColumn("Language/ Technology");
      tableModel.addColumn("Text Tutorial");
      tableModel.addColumn("Video Tutorial");
      tableModel.addColumn("Interview QA");
      tableModel.addRow(new Object[] { "ASP.NET", "Yes", "Yes", "Yes"});
      tableModel.addRow(new Object[] { "F#", "Yes", "No", "Yes"});
      tableModel.addRow(new Object[] { "SharePoint", "Yes", "Yes", "Yes"});
      tableModel.addRow(new Object[] { "AWS", "No", "No", "Yes"});
      tableModel.addRow(new Object[] { "Blockchain", "Yes", "No", "Yes"});
      tableModel.addRow(new Object[] { "C#", "Yes", "Yes", "Yes"});
      tableModel.addRow(new Object[] { "Java", "Yes", "No", "Yes"});
      tableModel.addRow(new Object[] { "NodeJS", "No", "Yes", "Yes"});
      tableModel.addRow(new Object[] { "MVC", "Yes", "No", "Yes"});
      // selected a row
      table.addRowSelectionInterval(2, 2);
      // deselecting
      table.clearSelection();
      JFrame f = new JFrame();
      f.setSize(600, 400);
      f.add(new JScrollPane(table));
      f.setVisible(true);
   }
}

Following is the output. Now you can see none of the cells is selected ?

Output

Conclusion

Using the clearSelection method is a simple and effective way to deselect all cells in a JTable. The above example provides a clear understanding of how to implement this functionality in your Java Swing applications. Incorporate this feature to enhance user experience and streamline your application's behavior.