---
title: "What's the deal with useRef and forwardRef in React?"
url: "https://www.bekk.christmas/post/2023/24/useref-and-forwardref"
authors: ["Marcus Haaland"]
published: "2023-12-24"
updated: "2024-11-07T13:05:29Z"
language: "en-US"
type: "article"
tags: ["React", "Utvikling"]
keywords: ["hook"]
---

# What's the deal with useRef and forwardRef in React?

You might have encountered useRef and forwardRef before, but not quite grasped what they are about. In this short article, I remove the mystery and provide some simple, useful examples of what they can be used for.

## In short

useRef lets React code hold onto DOM nodes or mutable values without triggering re-renders, making it useful for things like focusing inputs or tracking values across renders. forwardRef is the way to pass a ref through a component, since ref is not available as a normal prop.

- **For:** React developers
- **Good to know beforehand:** Basic familiarity with React components and hooks

_AI-generated_

Let's start with something you're probably familiar with. Take a look at the search field above. In Vanilla JavaScript, how would you set focus on an element as soon as you enter a website?

A common approach would be to use `document.querySelector`:

```
<!-- input.html -->
<input id="input">

<script>
window.onload = function() {
  // 👇 Putting reference to the elemtent in a variable
  const inputElement = document.querySelector('#input');

  // 👇 Using the reference to set focus
  if (inputElement) {
    inputElement.focus();
  }
};
</script>
```

But if you use `document` directly in React, you bypass the virtual DOM, which can lead to synchronization problems and make the code less predictable.

So, is there something equivalent to `document.querySelector` in React?

## How useRef Works

[useRef](https://react.dev/reference/react/useRef) in React is a hook that can provide the same functionality as querySelector, but in a way that is compatible with React's way of handling the DOM.

Here's how the same behavior is implemented with `useRef`:

```
import React, { useRef, useEffect } from "react";

const InputFocusComponent = () => {
  // 👇 ref starts as null, but gets a value as an input element
  const inputRef = useRef<HTMLInputElement>(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    if (inputRef.current) {
      inputRef.current.focus();
    }
  }, []);
  
  // 👇 ref is coupled to the element
  return <input ref={inputRef} />;
}
```

As you can see from the type, useRef here refers to an input element. But we start the value with null, because it doesn't get a value until the element has been rendered in the document.

The reference to the element provides access to all its values and functions:

![An element has a long list of values and functions available](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ah2n1vfr/bekk-blogg-prod/b8496b4c08ce97300143f727db774d22561771f8-1594x1224.png)
_An element has a long list of values and functions available_

... and that includes setting focus:

```
inputRef.current.focus();
```

## Why Do You Need forwardRef?

useRef works fine on HTML elements, but when you try to reference components, problems arise:

```
const InputFocusComponent = () => {
  const inputRef = useRef<HTMLInputElement>(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    // 👇 ref.current will always be null
    if (inputRef.current) {
      inputRef.current.focus();
    }
  }, []);

  // 👇 ref on a component doesn't work off the bat
  return <CustomInput ref={inputRef} />;
}
```

The problem is that `ref` is a reserved word and will therefore not be available as part of props.

This is warned about in the log:

![Setting ref on components without forwardRef fails](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ah2n1vfr/bekk-blogg-prod/980faed6cb6dd52a69d69279fb7f27a01d648e95-1628x132.png)
_Setting ref on components without forwardRef fails_

The log not only gives us a red obstacle but also a solution. When we use ref on an element that is a component, we must enclose the component with the higher-order component [forwardRef](https://react.dev/reference/react/forwardRef).

Note also that `forwardRef<>` accepts two types of arguments: the type of the element and the typing for the properties (props).

```
import React, { useRef, useEffect, forwardRef } from "react";

// 👇 Wrapping CustomInput in forwardRef
const CustomInput = forwardRef<
  HTMLInputElement, // 👈 Typing the element
  React.InputHTMLAttributes<HTMLInputElement> // 👈 Typing the props
>((props, ref) => {
  return <input ref={ref} {...props} />;
});
```

`forwardRef` is very useful for being able to control your components, whether it's for your own sake or a library you offer.

## What Else Can You Use useRef For?

There is a special trait with `useRef`, which means that it's not only useful for referring to HTML elements. The trait is that `useRef` starts its life as an object, `{current: null}`. This means that the value we care about, current, can be changed without re-rendering the entire component.

This makes it possible to use `useRef` to store values across re-renders. These values do not have to be HTML elements, which means you can use `useRef` for a variety of applications. For example, you can refer to time intervals to implement debouncing or count changes across renders.

Here is a simple example of the latter. With each input, a re-render will occur. And the re-render will increment the value for the ref:

```
function CountEveryRender() {
  const [inputValue, setInputValue] = useState<string>("");
  const count = useRef<number>(0);

  // 👇 Increments every render
  count.current = count.current + 1;

  return (
    <>
      <input
        onChange={(e) => setInputValue(e.target.value)}
        value={inputValue}
      />
      <p>Render Count: {count.current}</p>
    </>
  );
}
```

This is what it looks like:

![Writing in input increments counter](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ah2n1vfr/bekk-blogg-prod/149cbf75814720335bb107031492c4137f57eab0-1152x648.gif)
_useRef can be used to keep track of a value across renders_

## Concluding Words

I hope this post helped you understand a bit more about what useRef and forwardRef are trying to solve, and how they work in everyday challenges.

If you want to read more about correct typing of ref, I recommend Matt Pocock's simple approach with ElementRef: [https://www.totaltypescript.com/strongly-type-useref-with-elementref](https://www.totaltypescript.com/strongly-type-useref-with-elementref)

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