Froala V5.0.1: New Toolbar & Table Controls

Froala Editor V5.0.1 is here, and it brings some highly requested features that give you more granular control over your editor’s behavior. If you’ve ever needed to keep certain toolbar functions active while the editor is in read-only mode, or wanted to prevent users from accidentally resizing table cells, this release is for you.

This update focuses on flexibility and precision within defined boundaries. The headline feature—toolbarButtonsEnabledOnEditorOff—solves a common pain point by letting you enable specific predefined toolbar buttons (print, fullscreen, export_to_word, getPDF, and html) plus any custom buttons you’ve created, even when edit.off() is active. All other built-in Froala buttons remain disabled—this is a controlled whitelist approach, not open-ended access. Alongside this, two new table configuration options give you fine-tuned control over horizontal and vertical resizing behavior. Plus, V5.0.1 includes +10 bug fixes that address everything from table cell splitting issues to accessibility improvements and Word paste formatting quirks.

Whether you’re building document management systems, collaborative editing tools, or content review workflows, these enhancements will help you create more intuitive and controlled editing experiences for your users.

Enable Specific Toolbar Buttons in Read-Only Mode

One of the most significant additions in V5.0.1 is the new toolbarButtonsEnabledOnEditorOff configuration option. Previously, when you called editor.edit.off() to put the editor in read-only mode, the entire toolbar became disabled—every single button was non-clickable. This made sense for pure read-only scenarios, but it created friction in workflows where users still needed access to certain functions like printing, exporting, or viewing HTML source.

Now you can selectively enable specific toolbar buttons when the editor is disabled, but with an important constraint: you can only enable buttons from a specific whitelist of built-in Froala buttons, plus any custom buttons you’ve created. The allowed built-in buttons are: print, fullscreen, export_to_word, getPDF, and html. All other built-in Froala buttons will remain disabled and cannot be enabled through this configuration.

new FroalaEditor('.selector', {

 toolbarButtonsEnabledOnEditorOff: ['print', 'fullscreen', 'export_to_word', 'getPDF', 'html']

});

Real-World Use Cases:

This is a whitelist approach designed for security and control. You explicitly list which buttons from the allowed set should remain active, and you can include any custom buttons you’ve developed. Everything else stays locked down—there’s no way to enable other built-in editing functions like bold, italic, insert image, or any formatting tools when the editor is in read-only mode.

Document Review Workflows: Imagine you’re building a contract review system where legal teams need to review documents without editing them. With this feature, you can disable editing while keeping the Print, PDF export, and Full Screen buttons active—all from the approved list. Reviewers can still generate PDFs for their records or print documents for offline review, all without the risk of accidentally modifying the content. Critically, they won’t be able to access any formatting or content manipulation tools, ensuring document integrity.

Content Approval Systems: In publishing workflows, editors often need to review submitted content before approval. You can put the editor in read-only mode while keeping the HTML view button enabled, allowing technical editors to inspect the markup without being able to change it through the visual interface.

Presentation Mode: For applications that display content in a presentation or preview mode, you might want to disable editing but keep the fullscreen button active so users can view content in an immersive, distraction-free format.

The beauty of this feature is its controlled flexibility. You choose which buttons from the allowed list—print, fullscreen, export_to_word, getPDF, html—should remain enabled, and you can add any custom buttons you’ve built. All other built-in Froala buttons stay disabled, giving you precise, secure control over what users can and cannot do in read-only mode.

Fine-Tuned Table Resizing Control

Tables are a critical component of many rich text editing scenarios, but not every use case requires resizable tables. V5.0.1 introduces two new Boolean options that let you disable table resizing independently for horizontal and vertical dimensions.

Disable Horizontal Table Resizing

The tableHorizontalResizer option (enabled by default) can now be set to false to prevent users from resizing table columns:

new FroalaEditor('.selector', {

 tableHorizontalResizer: false

});

When to Use This: If you’re working with structured data tables where column widths need to remain consistent—think financial reports, data grids, or templated forms—disabling horizontal resizing ensures your carefully designed layouts stay intact. This is particularly valuable in scenarios where tables are generated programmatically and need to maintain specific formatting for compliance or branding reasons.

Disable Vertical Table Resizing

Similarly, the tableVerticalResizer option lets you control vertical cell resizing:

new FroalaEditor('.selector', {

 tableVerticalResizer: false

});

When to Use This: Vertical resizing control is useful when you want content to dictate row height naturally, without manual intervention. This is common in content management systems where consistent vertical spacing is important for readability and design consistency. It also prevents the accidental resizing that can happen when users click near cell borders—an issue that V5.0.1 also fixes (more on that below).

You can use these options independently or together, depending on your needs. For completely fixed-size tables, disable both. For tables where you want content to flow naturally but need consistent column widths, disable only horizontal resizing.

Notable Bug Fixes

Beyond the new features, V5.0.1 addresses +10 bugs that improve stability and user experience:

Table Improvements: The release fixes an issue where vertical cell splits propagated incorrectly to adjacent cells after inserting rows, and eliminates accidental vertical cell resizing triggered by simple clicks on cell borders. The tableStyle toolbar option now works as expected, and tableDefaultBGColor correctly applies background colors instead of border styles.

Accessibility: An aXe-identified issue with missing labels on style options menu icons has been resolved, making the editor more accessible to users with assistive technologies.

UI and Display: Image popups now correctly appear on top of the editor instead of behind it, and selection highlights no longer appear over font list popups in iOS mobile view.

Content Handling: Word paste operations are more reliable—sub-bullets maintain their formatting and fonts stay consistent after using the “Clean” function. The editor now properly auto-scrolls and maintains focus when pasting content from Word or other editors.

Code and Configuration: The extra “.” character that appeared when toggling Code View with a <textarea> inside the editor is gone. The toolbarSticky option now works correctly with multiple editors on the same page, and now auto-linking works for all email addresses, including those that do not use ASCII characters.

Technical Fixes: A “URI Malformed” error that occurred when inserting links containing percent symbols (%) has been resolved.

Should You Upgrade?

If you’re running an earlier version of Froala Editor, V5.0.1 offers compelling reasons to upgrade. The new toolbarButtonsEnabledOnEditorOfffeature alone opens up possibilities for more sophisticated read-only workflows, while the table resizing controls give you the precision many applications require.

The bug fixes are equally important—particularly the table-related improvements and Word paste handling enhancements. These aren’t just minor tweaks; they address real frustrations that users encounter in daily editing tasks.

Upgrading to V5.0.1 is straightforward, and the new configuration options are entirely opt-in, so they won’t affect your existing implementations. 

Try The Latest Froala Editor

Explore a variety of examples that demonstrate the functionality of the Froala HTML Editor.

Support and Feedback

We are dedicated to always offering the best possible experience for all our users.  Thank you for being a valuable part of our vibrant and growing community. We would like to hear what you think of the latest release! Join us on our GitHub Community to chat with our product manager, developers, and other members of the Froala team.

Change Log

Please visit the release notes for a complete list of changes.

Technical Questions

If you have a technical question, you can check whether we have already answered it in our help center. If not, contact our Support team.