Virtual mode is designed for use with very large stores of data. When the DataGridView.VirtualMode property is true, you create a System.Windows.Forms.DataGridView with a set number of rows and columns and then handle the DataGridView.CellValueNeeded event to populate the cells. Virtual mode requires implementation of an underlying data cache to handle the population, editing, and deletion of System.Windows.Forms.DataGridView cells based on actions of the user. For more information about implementing virtual mode, see How to: Implement Virtual Mode in the Windows Forms DataGridView Control.

You must use virtual mode to maintain the values of unbound columns when the System.Windows.Forms.DataGridView control is in bound mode. Sorting by unbound columns in bound mode is not supported.