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Canvas vs Model-Driven Rich Text Editor: Missing Table & Image Features

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Posted on by CU04060744-0

I noticed that the Rich Text Editor control in Canvas Apps appears to have fewer functionalities compared to the one in Model-Driven Apps.

Specifically:

It does not support inserting tables

It does not allow adding images

This limits how we can format and present content in Canvas Apps, especially for more structured or documentation-type inputs.

Questions:

Is this limitation by design for Canvas Apps?
Are there any workarounds to enable table or image insertion within the Rich Text Editor in Canvas Apps?
Are there any plans or roadmap updates to bring feature parity with Model-Driven Apps?

Would appreciate any insights or recommended approaches.

Thanks in advance!

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Vish WR 3,748 on at

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@CU04060744-0

Yes, this is by design — the two editors are built differently.

The model-driven one is the full CKEditor control tied to Dataverse, so it gets tables and inline images (images are stored behind the scenes in the msdyn_richtextfiles table).

The canvas one is a lighter WYSIWYG editor — its output is HTML but it strips script/style/object and unsupported elements, and has no image-storage table behind it, so no table button and no image insert.

Workarounds: since the output is HTML, you can inject an <img> tag with a hosted image URL (SharePoint, blob, etc.) or raw HTML table markup straight into the HtmlText/Default — it'll render, but users can't add them via the toolbar. For real table/image authoring, a model-driven app or a custom PCF control is the practical route.

On the roadmap ,nothing publicly committed for full parity. Best to log it on the Power Apps Ideas site.

Vishnu WR

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11manish 3,333 on at

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If your users need true document editing with tables, images, and rich formatting, the best options are:

Use a Model-Driven App Rich Text field (if Dataverse is available).

Implement a custom PCF control using CKEditor or TinyMCE.

Store documents externally (Word, SharePoint, etc.) and reference them from the Canvas App.

For basic notes and comments, the standard Canvas App Rich Text Editor remains suitable, but it currently does not provide the advanced authoring capabilities available in Model-Driven Apps.

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Valantis 6,735 on at

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Hi @CU04060744-0,

To answer your three questions directly:

1. Yes, by design. The Canvas RTE is a lightweight editor. The Model-Driven version uses full CKEditor backed by Dataverse storage for images.

2. Workarounds: you can inject HTML with image tags or table markup into the Default property and it renders correctly. But users can't add them through the toolbar it's read-display only for those elements. For user-facing table and image authoring, a custom PCF control using CKEditor or TinyMCE is the practical path.

3. No public roadmap commitment for feature parity. Submit it at https://aka.ms/powerappsfeedback to add your vote.

If your use case is documentation-type input and you have a Dataverse environment, switching to a Model-Driven form for that specific screen is the lowest-effort solution.

Best regards,

Valantis

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Vish WR 3,748 on at

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Wanted to check if you were able to resolve your issue?

Please ✅ Does this answer your question if my post helped you solve your issue. This will help others find it more readily. It also closes the item. If the content was useful in other ways, please consider answering Yes to Was this reply helpful? or give it a Like ♥
Visit my blog My Tech Space LinkedIn

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CU04060744-0 8 on at

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Yes, the suggestions given provided all the 3 responders (Vishnu, Valantis and 11manish) are useful. I will switch to Model-Driven App Rich Text field and add my vote in https://aka.ms/powerappsfeedback.

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