1. What Is the Modern Toolbar Control in Power Apps?
The Modern Toolbar Control is a new Power Apps component that allows makers to place multiple command buttons inside a single horizontal toolbar. Instead of adding separate buttons for actions like New, Edit, View, or Delete, you can organize them in one clean, responsive toolbar that improves both usability and screen layout.
Because it is part of the Modern Controls library, you must first enable Modern controls and themes from Settings → Updates. The control is also available only in supported Power Apps authoring versions.
One of the biggest advantages of the Modern Toolbar is its dynamic behavior. When connected to a Modern Table or Gallery, toolbar buttons can automatically enable or disable based on whether a record is selected. For example, the New button can remain active at all times, while Edit, View, and Delete become available only after the user selects a record.
This built-in behavior helps create cleaner applications while preventing users from performing actions that require a selected record.
2. Creating Toolbar Commands with the Items Property
Every button displayed inside the Modern Toolbar is created through the control’s Items property. Instead of manually inserting multiple buttons, you define a table where each row represents a single toolbar command.
Each toolbar item includes several important properties that control its behavior:
- itemKey – A unique identifier such as new, edit, or delete that is later used to trigger different actions.
- displayName – The text displayed on the toolbar button.
- itemIconName – Specifies the icon shown alongside the text. These icon names match the Modern Icon control.
- itemAppearance – Controls the button style, including Primary, Secondary, Outline, Subtle, and Transparent.
- itemIconStyle – Lets you choose between Regular or Filled icon styles.
- itemToolTip – Displays helpful information when users hover over a button.
- itemDisabled – Determines whether a command is enabled or disabled.
Since every toolbar item is defined inside the Items table, you can easily add, remove, or reorder commands by simply modifying the table instead of redesigning the interface.
3. Customizing Toolbar Appearance and Responsive Behavior
The Modern Toolbar automatically follows your application’s theme, giving every command a consistent Microsoft Fluent design. If you change your app’s theme, the toolbar updates its colors automatically while still allowing you to customize fonts, text size, icon styles, and button appearances whenever needed.
The toolbar also includes several layout options that improve responsiveness:
- Choose between Horizontal and Vertical alignment.
- Display icons only, text only, or icons with text.
- Adjust Small, Medium, or Large padding to improve spacing.
- Configure font size, weight, and styling to match your application’s design.
Another useful feature is its built-in overflow menu. If the toolbar doesn’t have enough horizontal space to display every command, extra buttons are automatically moved into a three-dot (ellipsis) menu. This ensures your application remains responsive across different screen sizes without requiring additional configuration.
4. Adding Actions with the OnSelect Property
The real power of the Modern Toolbar comes from its OnSelect property. Instead of writing separate formulas for every button, you can use a single Switch() statement that checks the selected itemKey and performs the appropriate action.
A common implementation includes commands such as New, Edit, View, and Delete. Each toolbar item updates the form mode, resets the form if needed, and navigates the user to the correct screen. For example, selecting New opens the form in New mode, while Edit and View open the selected record in their respective modes. The Delete command removes the selected record from the data source and can display a confirmation message using Notify().
This centralized approach keeps your Power Fx formulas organized and makes future maintenance much easier, since all toolbar actions are managed from one location.
5. Connecting the Toolbar with Tables and Galleries
The Modern Toolbar is designed to work seamlessly with both Modern Table controls and Galleries. When connected to a data source such as a SharePoint list, the toolbar automatically responds to the selected record.
A common pattern is to leave the New command enabled at all times while enabling Edit, View, and Delete only when a record has been selected. This can be achieved using the itemDisabled property, ensuring users cannot perform actions that require record selection.
The toolbar can also be used for navigation and launching external resources. Besides performing CRUD operations, individual toolbar commands can open another screen, launch a SharePoint list, or redirect users to external applications. This flexibility allows the same control to handle both data management and navigation without cluttering the user interface.
6. Best Practices for Using the Modern Toolbar Control
The Modern Toolbar offers a clean and professional way to manage application commands, but following a few best practices will help you build a better user experience.
Always enable Modern Controls and Themes before adding the toolbar, and use theme-aware styles so the toolbar automatically matches your application’s color scheme. Give every toolbar item a unique itemKey, meaningful displayName, and the correct itemIconName to keep commands easy to understand.
For record-based actions like Edit, View, and Delete, use the itemDisabled property so buttons remain unavailable until a record is selected. Finally, test your toolbar on different screen sizes to ensure important commands remain accessible, especially when items move into the overflow (ellipsis) menu.
When implemented correctly, the Modern Toolbar Control provides a scalable, responsive, and user-friendly command interface that simplifies navigation and record management in modern Power Apps applications.
