Pagination UX Best Practices for Data Tables

What are the best practices for pagination? Show where people are and how much data there is, give clear previous and next controls, let people jump to a page and choose a page size, and keep their place when they come back. In data tables, pagination usually beats infinite scroll, because people search, compare and return to specific records.

1. Show the count and the current position

"Showing 51 to 100 of 1,240" tells people both where they are and how big the data set is. Highlight the current page number.

2. Make previous and next unmistakable

Use clear previous and next buttons, and disable them (don't hide them) on the first and last page, so the control doesn't jump around.

3. Truncate page numbers sensibly

For many pages, show the first, the last, and one or two either side of the current page: 1 ... 4 5 6 ... 25.

4. Let people choose the page size

Offer a few options such as 25, 50 and 100 rows. Heavy users usually pick the largest.

5. Keep their place

When someone opens a row and comes back, return them to the same page and scroll position. Losing your place on page 7 is one of the most frustrating table experiences.

6. Put controls where the eye ends

Place pagination below the table. For long pages, repeat the count above the table too.

Pagination vs infinite scroll vs load more

For most data-heavy products, pagination is the safe default.

Design the table and its paging together

Page size changes how tall the table is and how the header behaves while scrolling. Design both at once, ideally with realistic row counts. In the GridForge table builder, frozen headers and realistic data make it easy to see how a long page really feels.

This guide is part of Data table design: a practical guide.