I can't find the feature to focus a single column in node input/output any more - was it removed?

Questions
1

Describe the problem/error/question

Hi,

I’m seeing something that might be a bug, or might be a changed feature I’m not understanding properly.

Up until last week, if I looked at a node’s input or output in “Table” view, and hovered over a table header, I could see a button like a pair of up and down arrows. If I clicked it, it would “focus” that column, by cutting off large blocks of data in other columns so it was easier to scroll up and down through the focussed column.

I was using this quite a lot, as my workflow has one column with a big block of JSON data, alongside a bunch of columns with simpler values. I often want to hide the JSON block so I can see more values in the simpler columns.

Since the n8n upgrade to n8n@2.9.3 last week, I can no longer see this button:

n8n_output_column_headings
n8n_output_column_headings736×364 13.4 KB

The button I’m looking for used to look something like this:

n8n_output_column_headings_filter_button

I can’t see anything related to this in Release notes | n8n Docs . I’ve tried Googling it to see if this was a deliberate change, but I can’t get any information on this table view in the UI (just the Data Tables database-ish feature, which is different).

It’s hard to narrow down my search further because I can’t remember what the feature was called — even knowing the name of it might help me work this out.

What is the error message (if any)?

No error message that I can see; the button is just gone.

Please share your workflow & Share the output returned by the last node

I can see this in multiple unrelated workflows (as in, I could see the button in multiple different workflows, and and now I can’t in any of them). I don’t think it’s workflow- or data-specific.

Information on your n8n setup

  • n8n version: n8n@2.9.3
  • Running n8n via: n8n Cloud
  • Database (default: SQLite): don’t know — I’m on n8n Cloud so probably SQLite.
  • n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main): again, probably the default.
  • Operating system: of my machine (not the cloud env): Ubuntu Linux, using Firefox 148.0 to access n8n.
2

Yeah this looks like a regression from the 2.9.0 editor refactor rather than an intentional removal, there’s nothing in the release notes about it being taken out. I’d file a bug on GitHub at GitHub · Where software is built and mention it disappeared after upgrading to 2.9.x, the feature was called something like “maximize column” or “focus column” in the table view header. The n8n team probably just doesn’t know it broke since it’s a pretty niche UI thing that wouldn’t be caught by automated tests easily.

3

Hey, yeah that column focus button was definitely a real thing, you’re not imagining it. I don’t see anything in the 2.9.x release notes about it being intentionally removed so this is probably a regression that slipped in with the UI changes they made in that release. I’d file a bug on the n8n GitHub repo (GitHub · Where software is built) since there doesn’t seem to be one tracking this yet, the more detail you include the better since the feature was kind of obscure and they might not realize it broke. In the meantime switching to JSON view and using ctrl+F is clunky but works if you need to find specific values without that giant JSON column getting in the way.

5

Thank you achamm and Orionpax!

I’ve gone ahead and created the GitHub issue: "Column Focus" button in node input/output tables appears to be missing as of n8n@2.9.3 · Issue #26393 · n8n-io/n8n · GitHub

I’ve also marked the topic as solved based on your answers. The actual bug isn’t really solved, but if it’s indeed an n8n regression I don’t think there’s much more to cover here on the forum.