How to set focus on an input field after rendering

Question

What's the react way of setting focus on a particular text field after the component is rendered?

Documentation seems to suggest using refs, e.g:

Set ref="nameInput" on my input field in the render function, and then call:

this.refs.nameInput.getInputDOMNode().focus(); 

But where should I call this? 

Answer 1

Hello @kartik,

You should do it in componentDidMount and refs callback instead. Something like this

componentDidMount(){
   this.nameInput.focus(); 
}

class App extends React.Component{
  componentDidMount(){
    this.nameInput.focus();
  }
  render() {
    return(
      <div>
        <input 
          defaultValue="Won't focus" 
        />
        <input 
          ref={(input) => { this.nameInput = input; }} 
          defaultValue="will focus"
        />
      </div>
    );
  }
}
    
ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.getElementById('app'));

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/15.3.1/react.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/15.3.1/react-dom.js"></script>
<div id="app"></div>

Hope it helps!!

To know more about Angular, It's recommended to join Angular Course today.

Thank You!!