UI Terms visual dictionary

Interactions

Inline edit

An interaction where text or fields become editable in place when the user clicks them, rather than opening a separate edit form.

Project Mobile App
Title
Untitled document
Status In review

The user sees plain text; clicking turns it into an input bound to the same content. Pressing Enter or clicking away commits the change. The pattern reduces friction for quick edits — no modal, no dedicated edit mode — and is core to apps like Notion, Linear, and modern spreadsheets.

Also called

click-to-editin-place edit

When to use

  • Frequent small edits where opening a form would be overkill
  • Document and database apps where editing is the primary action
  • Settings or profile fields users tweak often

When not to use

  • Edits that need validation context (use a form)
  • Fields where accidental edits would be costly (require an explicit edit affordance)

Source

Web app vernacular; the spreadsheet cell-edit model is the conceptual ancestor.