Gaining Group Control in Canvas Apps – Boosts control over layout and nesting

Microsoft has come with an new features. With new update, grouping is no longer a Studio only grouping concept but a real grouping control in the player

Microsoft has come with an all-new experimental feature to enhance Group control in canvas apps. With new update, grouping is no longer a Studio only grouping concept but a real grouping control in the player.

The update is undoubtedly the result of numerous requests in the PowerApps Ideas forum to improve the current Group behavior. Further, there was also a need to enable more control over keyboard interaction to match the visual structure of the page.

Microsoft is starting this as an experimental feature since it is a change to an existing concept. Thus, it requires opt-in for each app to use it. Depending on the feedback, it will be moved to be a preview feature that will default to on for new apps.

PS.To use enhanced Group control "Improved app rendering" preview feature needs to be enabled.

Steps to enable enhanced groups

To get started with the new behavior

Open App settings > Advanced settings

Group Control

Under the Experimental features section, you must toggle the "Try the enhanced Group control" switch.
Once this is done, new groups added are enhanced group rather than classic group.

Enhanced Group Control

How to group multiple controls?

On selecting multiple controls existing Ctrl+G keyboard will add the enhanced Group control and move the selected controls as children.
Ungroup the child controls with a subsequent Ctrl+G
You can also find the group and ungroup commands under the Home > Group menu.
Use the Ungroup and Group commands, to convert an existing classic Group into an enhanced Group control. Image below has multiple controls selected

PowerApps-4

Controls are grouped with Ctrl+G or the menu commands

How to add group controls and move children?

Use Insert to add an empty group
Use cut and paste to move controls in or out from group

Group controls

With the new enhanced Group control, player has an actual control. Owing to group control, it ensures that grouping has impact on the keyboarding in the app. Thus, keyboard behavior can be aligned with the visual structure of the screen. Microsoft will be using this to update their sample apps to achieve the right keyboard order.

Nesting groups

In case you want more complex layout and keyboard interactions, try the enhanced Group control nested within another Group.

Nesting

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About the author

Sneha Gopal

Content Manager, Dock 365

Sneha Gopal is a content manager with four years of content management experience, having worked with brands across the US and UK before joining Dock 365. At Dock 365, she wrote primarily about Microsoft SharePoint and Office 365, covering topics like site customization, security configurations, user profile management, and Power BI integrations while also contributing foundational posts on why SharePoint and Office 365 make a strong backbone for contract lifecycle management. Her work sits at the intersection of Microsoft platform education and practical guidance for teams adopting digital workplace tools.

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