Persistent List Column Widths

Resize a list view's columns once and Odoo remembers them — across navigation, view switches, and browser reloads. Per view, for every user. Zero configuration.

The problem: Odoo forgets your column widths

You carefully drag a list view's columns to fit your data — widen the description, shrink the status — and Odoo throws that work away the moment the list renderer unmounts. That happens every time you navigate to another menu, switch to kanban or form and come back, reload the tab, or reopen an embedded list inside a form.

The widths are computed inside Odoo's column-width hook and held only in an in-memory closure that dies on unmount — so they are never saved anywhere. Power users who live in large list views re-size the same columns dozens of times a day.

STOCK ODOO:   resize a column  →  navigate away / switch view / reload  →  width forgotten

This module makes those widths stick. The next time the same view is shown — in the same session or after a full reload — the columns come back exactly where you left them:

THIS MODULE:  resize a column  →  width saved per view  →  restored automatically next time  ✓

It works on every list view, including one2many / many2many embedded lists, with no configuration — install it and it is on for everyone.

See it in action

Drag a list column's header border to resize it — the width is saved for that view and restored automatically the next time it is shown. A per-view Reset column widths entry lives right in the list's optional-columns dropdown, so clearing back to Odoo's ideal widths is one click away. No settings page, no configuration.

Key features

How it works

All of Odoo 19's column-width behavior lives in a single hook, useMagicColumnWidths, consumed only by ListRenderer. Computed widths live in a closure that dies on unmount, and any width set from outside is overwritten on the next render — so an overlay approach flickers. The robust fix is to teach the hook itself to remember:

• Vendored hook fork. A byte-for-byte copy of Odoo's column_width_hook.js that seeds the first width computation from storage (hash-gated, so restored widths flow through Odoo's own min/max + 100%-fit math) and saves the final widths when a resize ends. Every edit is tagged // NOVALYFT.
• One prototype patch. A single patch on ListRenderer neuters the native hook's side effects and swaps in the fork — so standard list views and x2many embedded lists are all covered at once, with existing resize wiring intact.
• Storage keyed off createViewKey(). The same per-view, x2many-aware identifier Odoo already uses for its optional-columns memory, so persistence is per view for free and the column-set hash invalidates stale widths automatically.
• A thin localStorage abstraction. The only place that touches localStorage, fully exception-wrapped, leaving room for a future server-sync backend behind the same three functions.

Compatibility

Who is this for?

• Power users who live in large list views and tune column widths to their data every day.
• Accountants and operations teams reviewing long journals, moves, orders, or stock lists where every pixel of width matters.
• Data-entry workflows on x2many embedded lists inside forms, where Odoo otherwise resets widths on every reopen.
• Anyone tired of re-dragging the same columns after every navigation or reload.
• Implementers and admins who want a quality-of-life UX win that is zero-config and on for the whole company instantly.

Known limitations

• Per browser profile. Widths are stored in localStorage, so they are scoped to the browser profile on a machine and do not sync across devices or browsers. A server-sync backend is possible in a future version — the storage layer is already abstracted for it.
• No admin defaults. There is no admin-defined, org-wide default column width; each user shapes their own views.
• No per-user toggle. The behavior is always on, by design — there is no per-user enable/disable switch.
• Opted-out renderers. A renderer subclass that explicitly disables magic widths is out of scope; no standard Odoo renderer does this.

Built by Novalyft Solutions

We build Odoo implementations and modules for the Levant, GCC, and beyond.

Visit novalyftsolutions.com  ·  License LGPL-3  ·  Free and open source.