Where to place the action buttons in a table which in horizontally long?

Question

I have a very long table both horizontally and vertically. It consists of actions columns allowing users to edit and delete table row. So, the problem is user have to scroll horizontally to know they have these options.

Answer 1

If the actions are frequently used, make sure they are always visible.

Options:

• Put them on the left side of the row.
• Have them appear when you mouse over a row (desktop only, obviously).
• Reduce the width of the row (Is it really necessary to show all that stuff? Could some of it be on a secondary view?)
• Have them to the right side, but sticky to the right side of the screen.

If the actions are infrequently used, remove them from the row.

I would use one of the following two paradigms.

• Select a row by clicking/tapping on it, then have buttons appear somewhere on screen that makes sense.
• Click/tap on a row to "open" that item, which brings up a secondary view. Then allow edit/delete from there.