The Basics

Guides

Guides (iOS)

Guides (Android)

TextInput #

A foundational component for inputting text into the app via a keyboard. Props provide configurability for several features, such as auto-correction, auto-capitalization, placeholder text, and different keyboard types, such as a numeric keypad.

The simplest use case is to plop down a TextInput and subscribe to the onChangeText events to read the user input. There are also other events, such as onSubmitEditing and onFocus that can be subscribed to. A simple example:

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import { AppRegistry, TextInput } from 'react-native';

class UselessTextInput extends Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = { text: 'Useless Placeholder' };
  }

  render() {
    return (
      <TextInput
        style={{height: 40, borderColor: 'gray', borderWidth: 1}}
        onChangeText={(text) => this.setState({text})}
        value={this.state.text}
      />
    );
  }
}

// App registration and rendering
AppRegistry.registerComponent('AwesomeProject', () => UselessTextInput);

Note that some props are only available with multiline={true/false}. Additionally, border styles that apply to only one side of the element (e.g., borderBottomColor, borderLeftWidth, etc.) will not be applied if multiline=false. To achieve the same effect, you can wrap your TextInput in a View:

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import { AppRegistry, View, TextInput } from 'react-native';

class UselessTextInput extends Component {
  render() {
    return (
      <TextInput
        {...this.props} // Inherit any props passed to it; e.g., multiline, numberOfLines below
        editable = {true}
        maxLength = {40}
      />
    );
  }
}

class UselessTextInputMultiline extends Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = {
      text: 'Useless Multiline Placeholder',
    };
  }

  // If you type something in the text box that is a color, the background will change to that
  // color.
  render() {
    return (
     <View style={{
       backgroundColor: this.state.text,
       borderBottomColor: '#000000',
       borderBottomWidth: 1 }}
     >
       <UselessTextInput
         multiline = {true}
         numberOfLines = {4}
         onChangeText={(text) => this.setState({text})}
         value={this.state.text}
       />
     </View>
    );
  }
}

// App registration and rendering
AppRegistry.registerComponent(
 'AwesomeProject',
 () => UselessTextInputMultiline
);

TextInput has by default a border at the bottom of its view. This border has its padding set by the background image provided by the system, and it cannot be changed. Solutions to avoid this is to either not set height explicitly, case in which the system will take care of displaying the border in the correct position, or to not display the border by setting underlineColorAndroid to transparent.

Props #

View props... #

autoCapitalize PropTypes.oneOf([ 'none', 'sentences', 'words', 'characters', ]) #

Can tell TextInput to automatically capitalize certain characters.

characters: all characters.
words: first letter of each word.
sentences: first letter of each sentence (default).
none: don't auto capitalize anything.

autoCorrect PropTypes.bool #

If false, disables auto-correct. The default value is true.

autoFocus PropTypes.bool #

If true, focuses the input on componentDidMount. The default value is false.

blurOnSubmit PropTypes.bool #

If true, the text field will blur when submitted. The default value is true for single-line fields and false for multiline fields. Note that for multiline fields, setting blurOnSubmit to true means that pressing return will blur the field and trigger the onSubmitEditing event instead of inserting a newline into the field.

defaultValue PropTypes.string #

Provides an initial value that will change when the user starts typing. Useful for simple use-cases where you do not want to deal with listening to events and updating the value prop to keep the controlled state in sync.

editable PropTypes.bool #

If false, text is not editable. The default value is true.

keyboardType PropTypes.oneOf([ // Cross-platform 'default', 'email-address', 'numeric', 'phone-pad', // iOS-only 'ascii-capable', 'numbers-and-punctuation', 'url', 'number-pad', 'name-phone-pad', 'decimal-pad', 'twitter', 'web-search', ]) #

Determines which keyboard to open, e.g.numeric.

The following values work across platforms:

default
numeric
email-address
phone-pad

maxLength PropTypes.number #

Limits the maximum number of characters that can be entered. Use this instead of implementing the logic in JS to avoid flicker.

multiline PropTypes.bool #

If true, the text input can be multiple lines. The default value is false.

onBlur PropTypes.func #

Callback that is called when the text input is blurred.

onChange PropTypes.func #

Callback that is called when the text input's text changes.

onChangeText PropTypes.func #

Callback that is called when the text input's text changes. Changed text is passed as an argument to the callback handler.

onContentSizeChange PropTypes.func #

Callback that is called when the text input's content size changes. This will be called with { nativeEvent: { contentSize: { width, height } } }.

Only called for multiline text inputs.

onEndEditing PropTypes.func #

Callback that is called when text input ends.

onFocus PropTypes.func #

Callback that is called when the text input is focused.

onLayout PropTypes.func #

Invoked on mount and layout changes with {x, y, width, height}.

onSelectionChange PropTypes.func #

Callback that is called when the text input selection is changed.

onSubmitEditing PropTypes.func #

Callback that is called when the text input's submit button is pressed. Invalid if multiline={true} is specified.

placeholder PropTypes.string #

The string that will be rendered before text input has been entered.

placeholderTextColor color #

The text color of the placeholder string.

returnKeyType PropTypes.oneOf([ // Cross-platform 'done', 'go', 'next', 'search', 'send', // Android-only 'none', 'previous', // iOS-only 'default', 'emergency-call', 'google', 'join', 'route', 'yahoo', ]) #

Determines how the return key should look. On Android you can also use returnKeyLabel.

Cross platform

The following values work across platforms:

done
go
next
search
send

Android Only

The following values work on Android only:

none
previous

iOS Only

The following values work on iOS only:

default
emergency-call
google
join
route
yahoo

secureTextEntry PropTypes.bool #

If true, the text input obscures the text entered so that sensitive text like passwords stay secure. The default value is false.

selectTextOnFocus PropTypes.bool #

If true, all text will automatically be selected on focus.

selectionColor color #

The highlight (and cursor on iOS) color of the text input.

style Text#style #

Styles

value PropTypes.string #

The value to show for the text input. TextInput is a controlled component, which means the native value will be forced to match this value prop if provided. For most uses, this works great, but in some cases this may cause flickering - one common cause is preventing edits by keeping value the same. In addition to simply setting the same value, either set editable={false}, or set/update maxLength to prevent unwanted edits without flicker.

androidinlineImageLeft PropTypes.string #

If defined, the provided image resource will be rendered on the left.

androidinlineImagePadding PropTypes.number #

Padding between the inline image, if any, and the text input itself.

androidnumberOfLines PropTypes.number #

Sets the number of lines for a TextInput. Use it with multiline set to true to be able to fill the lines.

androidreturnKeyLabel PropTypes.string #

Sets the return key to the label. Use it instead of returnKeyType.

androidunderlineColorAndroid color #

The color of the TextInput underline.

iosclearButtonMode PropTypes.oneOf([ 'never', 'while-editing', 'unless-editing', 'always', ]) #

When the clear button should appear on the right side of the text view.

iosclearTextOnFocus PropTypes.bool #

If true, clears the text field automatically when editing begins.

iosdataDetectorTypes PropTypes.oneOfType([ PropTypes.oneOf(DataDetectorTypes), PropTypes.arrayOf(PropTypes.oneOf(DataDetectorTypes)), ]) #

Determines the types of data converted to clickable URLs in the text input. Only valid if multiline={true} and editable={false}. By default no data types are detected.

You can provide one type or an array of many types.

Possible values for dataDetectorTypes are:

'phoneNumber'
'link'
'address'
'calendarEvent'
'none'
'all'

iosenablesReturnKeyAutomatically PropTypes.bool #

If true, the keyboard disables the return key when there is no text and automatically enables it when there is text. The default value is false.

ioskeyboardAppearance PropTypes.oneOf([ 'default', 'light', 'dark', ]) #

Determines the color of the keyboard.

iosonKeyPress PropTypes.func #

Callback that is called when a key is pressed. Pressed key value is passed as an argument to the callback handler. Fires before onChange callbacks.

iosselectionState PropTypes.instanceOf(DocumentSelectionState) #

An instance of DocumentSelectionState, this is some state that is responsible for maintaining selection information for a document.

Some functionality that can be performed with this instance is:

blur()
focus()
update()

You can reference DocumentSelectionState in vendor/document/selection/DocumentSelectionState.js

Methods #

isFocused(0): #

Returns true if the input is currently focused; false otherwise.

clear(0) #

Removes all text from the TextInput.

You can edit the content above on GitHub and send us a pull request!

Examples #

IOS #

Edit on GitHub

'use strict';

var React = require('react');
var ReactNative = require('react-native');
var {
  Text,
  TextInput,
  View,
  StyleSheet,
} = ReactNative;

class WithLabel extends React.Component {
  render() {
    return (
      <View style={styles.labelContainer}>
        <View style={styles.label}>
          <Text>{this.props.label}</Text>
        </View>
        {this.props.children}
      </View>
    );
  }
}

class TextEventsExample extends React.Component {
  state = {
    curText: '<No Event>',
    prevText: '<No Event>',
    prev2Text: '<No Event>',
    prev3Text: '<No Event>',
  };

  updateText = (text) => {
    this.setState((state) => {
      return {
        curText: text,
        prevText: state.curText,
        prev2Text: state.prevText,
        prev3Text: state.prev2Text,
      };
    });
  };

  render() {
    return (
      <View>
        <TextInput
          autoCapitalize="none"
          placeholder="Enter text to see events"
          autoCorrect={false}
          onFocus={() => this.updateText('onFocus')}
          onBlur={() => this.updateText('onBlur')}
          onChange={(event) => this.updateText(
            'onChange text: ' + event.nativeEvent.text
          )}
          onEndEditing={(event) => this.updateText(
            'onEndEditing text: ' + event.nativeEvent.text
          )}
          onSubmitEditing={(event) => this.updateText(
            'onSubmitEditing text: ' + event.nativeEvent.text
          )}
          onSelectionChange={(event) => this.updateText(
            'onSelectionChange range: ' +
              event.nativeEvent.selection.start + ',' +
              event.nativeEvent.selection.end
          )}
          onKeyPress={(event) => {
            this.updateText('onKeyPress key: ' + event.nativeEvent.key);
          }}
          style={styles.default}
        />
        <Text style={styles.eventLabel}>
          {this.state.curText}{'\n'}
          (prev: {this.state.prevText}){'\n'}
          (prev2: {this.state.prev2Text}){'\n'}
          (prev3: {this.state.prev3Text})
        </Text>
      </View>
    );
  }
}

class AutoExpandingTextInput extends React.Component {
  state: any;

  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = {
      text: 'React Native enables you to build world-class application experiences on native platforms using a consistent developer experience based on JavaScript and React. The focus of React Native is on developer efficiency across all the platforms you care about — learn once, write anywhere. Facebook uses React Native in multiple production apps and will continue investing in React Native.',
      height: 0,
    };
  }
  render() {
    return (
      <TextInput
        {...this.props}
        multiline={true}
        onChangeText={(text) => {
          this.setState({text});
        }}
        onContentSizeChange={(event) => {
          this.setState({height: event.nativeEvent.contentSize.height});
        }}
        style={[styles.default, {height: Math.max(35, this.state.height)}]}
        value={this.state.text}
      />
    );
  }
}

class RewriteExample extends React.Component {
  state: any;

  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = {text: ''};
  }
  render() {
    var limit = 20;
    var remainder = limit - this.state.text.length;
    var remainderColor = remainder > 5 ? 'blue' : 'red';
    return (
      <View style={styles.rewriteContainer}>
        <TextInput
          multiline={false}
          maxLength={limit}
          onChangeText={(text) => {
            text = text.replace(/ /g, '_');
            this.setState({text});
          }}
          style={styles.default}
          value={this.state.text}
        />
        <Text style={[styles.remainder, {color: remainderColor}]}>
          {remainder}
        </Text>
      </View>
    );
  }
}

class RewriteExampleInvalidCharacters extends React.Component {
  state: any;

  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = {text: ''};
  }
  render() {
    return (
      <View style={styles.rewriteContainer}>
        <TextInput
          multiline={false}
          onChangeText={(text) => {
            this.setState({text: text.replace(/\s/g, '')});
          }}
          style={styles.default}
          value={this.state.text}
        />
      </View>
    );
  }
}

class TokenizedTextExample extends React.Component {
  state: any;

  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = {text: 'Hello #World'};
  }
  render() {

    //define delimiter
    let delimiter = /\s+/;

    //split string
    let _text = this.state.text;
    let token, index, parts = [];
    while (_text) {
      delimiter.lastIndex = 0;
      token = delimiter.exec(_text);
      if (token === null) {
        break;
      }
      index = token.index;
      if (token[0].length === 0) {
        index = 1;
      }
      parts.push(_text.substr(0, index));
      parts.push(token[0]);
      index = index + token[0].length;
      _text = _text.slice(index);
    }
    parts.push(_text);

    //highlight hashtags
    parts = parts.map((text) => {
      if (/^#/.test(text)) {
        return <Text key={text} style={styles.hashtag}>{text}</Text>;
      } else {
        return text;
      }
    });

    return (
      <View>
        <TextInput
          multiline={true}
          style={styles.multiline}
          onChangeText={(text) => {
            this.setState({text});
          }}>
          <Text>{parts}</Text>
        </TextInput>
      </View>
    );
  }
}

class BlurOnSubmitExample extends React.Component {
  focusNextField = (nextField) => {
    this.refs[nextField].focus();
  };

  render() {
    return (
      <View>
        <TextInput
          ref="1"
          style={styles.default}
          placeholder="blurOnSubmit = false"
          returnKeyType="next"
          blurOnSubmit={false}
          onSubmitEditing={() => this.focusNextField('2')}
        />
        <TextInput
          ref="2"
          style={styles.default}
          keyboardType="email-address"
          placeholder="blurOnSubmit = false"
          returnKeyType="next"
          blurOnSubmit={false}
          onSubmitEditing={() => this.focusNextField('3')}
        />
        <TextInput
          ref="3"
          style={styles.default}
          keyboardType="url"
          placeholder="blurOnSubmit = false"
          returnKeyType="next"
          blurOnSubmit={false}
          onSubmitEditing={() => this.focusNextField('4')}
        />
        <TextInput
          ref="4"
          style={styles.default}
          keyboardType="numeric"
          placeholder="blurOnSubmit = false"
          blurOnSubmit={false}
          onSubmitEditing={() => this.focusNextField('5')}
        />
        <TextInput
          ref="5"
          style={styles.default}
          keyboardType="numbers-and-punctuation"
          placeholder="blurOnSubmit = true"
          returnKeyType="done"
        />
      </View>
    );
  }
}

var styles = StyleSheet.create({
  page: {
    paddingBottom: 300,
  },
  default: {
    height: 26,
    borderWidth: 0.5,
    borderColor: '#0f0f0f',
    flex: 1,
    fontSize: 13,
    padding: 4,
  },
  multiline: {
    borderWidth: 0.5,
    borderColor: '#0f0f0f',
    flex: 1,
    fontSize: 13,
    height: 50,
    padding: 4,
    marginBottom: 4,
  },
  multilineWithFontStyles: {
    color: 'blue',
    fontWeight: 'bold',
    fontSize: 18,
    fontFamily: 'Cochin',
    height: 60,
  },
  multilineChild: {
    width: 50,
    height: 40,
    position: 'absolute',
    right: 5,
    backgroundColor: 'red',
  },
  eventLabel: {
    margin: 3,
    fontSize: 12,
  },
  labelContainer: {
    flexDirection: 'row',
    marginVertical: 2,
    flex: 1,
  },
  label: {
    width: 115,
    alignItems: 'flex-end',
    marginRight: 10,
    paddingTop: 2,
  },
  rewriteContainer: {
    flexDirection: 'row',
    alignItems: 'center',
  },
  remainder: {
    textAlign: 'right',
    width: 24,
  },
  hashtag: {
    color: 'blue',
    fontWeight: 'bold',
  },
});

exports.displayName = (undefined: ?string);
exports.title = '<TextInput>';
exports.description = 'Single and multi-line text inputs.';
exports.examples = [
  {
    title: 'Auto-focus',
    render: function() {
      return (
        <TextInput
          autoFocus={true}
          style={styles.default}
          accessibilityLabel="I am the accessibility label for text input"
        />
      );
    }
  },
  {
    title: "Live Re-Write (<sp>  ->  '_') + maxLength",
    render: function() {
      return <RewriteExample />;
    }
  },
  {
    title: 'Live Re-Write (no spaces allowed)',
    render: function() {
      return <RewriteExampleInvalidCharacters />;
    }
  },
  {
    title: 'Auto-capitalize',
    render: function() {
      return (
        <View>
          <WithLabel label="none">
            <TextInput
              autoCapitalize="none"
              style={styles.default}
            />
          </WithLabel>
          <WithLabel label="sentences">
            <TextInput
              autoCapitalize="sentences"
              style={styles.default}
            />
          </WithLabel>
          <WithLabel label="words">
            <TextInput
              autoCapitalize="words"
              style={styles.default}
            />
          </WithLabel>
          <WithLabel label="characters">
            <TextInput
              autoCapitalize="characters"
              style={styles.default}
            />
          </WithLabel>
        </View>
      );
    }
  },
  {
    title: 'Auto-correct',
    render: function() {
      return (
        <View>
          <WithLabel label="true">
            <TextInput autoCorrect={true} style={styles.default} />
          </WithLabel>
          <WithLabel label="false">
            <TextInput autoCorrect={false} style={styles.default} />
          </WithLabel>
        </View>
      );
    }
  },
  {
    title: 'Keyboard types',
    render: function() {
      var keyboardTypes = [
        'default',
        'ascii-capable',
        'numbers-and-punctuation',
        'url',
        'number-pad',
        'phone-pad',
        'name-phone-pad',
        'email-address',
        'decimal-pad',
        'twitter',
        'web-search',
        'numeric',
      ];
      var examples = keyboardTypes.map((type) => {
        return (
          <WithLabel key={type} label={type}>
            <TextInput
              keyboardType={type}
              style={styles.default}
            />
          </WithLabel>
        );
      });
      return <View>{examples}</View>;
    }
  },
  {
    title: 'Keyboard appearance',
    render: function() {
      var keyboardAppearance = [
        'default',
        'light',
        'dark',
      ];
      var examples = keyboardAppearance.map((type) => {
        return (
          <WithLabel key={type} label={type}>
            <TextInput
              keyboardAppearance={type}
              style={styles.default}
            />
          </WithLabel>
        );
      });
      return <View>{examples}</View>;
    }
  },
  {
    title: 'Return key types',
    render: function() {
      var returnKeyTypes = [
        'default',
        'go',
        'google',
        'join',
        'next',
        'route',
        'search',
        'send',
        'yahoo',
        'done',
        'emergency-call',
      ];
      var examples = returnKeyTypes.map((type) => {
        return (
          <WithLabel key={type} label={type}>
            <TextInput
              returnKeyType={type}
              style={styles.default}
            />
          </WithLabel>
        );
      });
      return <View>{examples}</View>;
    }
  },
  {
    title: 'Enable return key automatically',
    render: function() {
      return (
        <View>
          <WithLabel label="true">
            <TextInput enablesReturnKeyAutomatically={true} style={styles.default} />
          </WithLabel>
        </View>
      );
    }
  },
  {
    title: 'Secure text entry',
    render: function() {
      return (
        <View>
          <WithLabel label="true">
            <TextInput secureTextEntry={true} style={styles.default} defaultValue="abc" />
          </WithLabel>
        </View>
      );
    }
  },
  {
    title: 'Event handling',
    render: function(): ReactElement<any> { return <TextEventsExample />; },
  },
  {
    title: 'Colored input text',
    render: function() {
      return (
        <View>
          <TextInput
            style={[styles.default, {color: 'blue'}]}
            defaultValue="Blue"
          />
          <TextInput
            style={[styles.default, {color: 'green'}]}
            defaultValue="Green"
          />
        </View>
      );
    }
  },
  {
    title: 'Colored highlight/cursor for text input',
    render: function() {
      return (
        <View>
          <TextInput
            style={styles.default}
            selectionColor={"green"}
            defaultValue="Highlight me"
          />
          <TextInput
            style={styles.default}
            selectionColor={"rgba(86, 76, 205, 1)"}
            defaultValue="Highlight me"
          />
        </View>
      );
    }
  },
  {
    title: 'Clear button mode',
    render: function () {
      return (
        <View>
          <WithLabel label="never">
            <TextInput
              style={styles.default}
              clearButtonMode="never"
            />
          </WithLabel>
          <WithLabel label="while editing">
            <TextInput
              style={styles.default}
              clearButtonMode="while-editing"
            />
          </WithLabel>
          <WithLabel label="unless editing">
            <TextInput
              style={styles.default}
              clearButtonMode="unless-editing"
            />
          </WithLabel>
          <WithLabel label="always">
            <TextInput
              style={styles.default}
              clearButtonMode="always"
            />
          </WithLabel>
        </View>
      );
    }
  },
  {
    title: 'Clear and select',
    render: function() {
      return (
        <View>
          <WithLabel label="clearTextOnFocus">
            <TextInput
              placeholder="text is cleared on focus"
              defaultValue="text is cleared on focus"
              style={styles.default}
              clearTextOnFocus={true}
            />
          </WithLabel>
          <WithLabel label="selectTextOnFocus">
            <TextInput
              placeholder="text is selected on focus"
              defaultValue="text is selected on focus"
              style={styles.default}
              selectTextOnFocus={true}
            />
          </WithLabel>
        </View>
      );
    }
  },
  {
    title: 'Blur on submit',
    render: function(): ReactElement<any> { return <BlurOnSubmitExample />; },
  },
  {
    title: 'Multiline blur on submit',
    render: function() {
      return (
        <View>
          <TextInput
            style={styles.multiline}
            placeholder="blurOnSubmit = true"
            returnKeyType="next"
            blurOnSubmit={true}
            multiline={true}
            onSubmitEditing={event => alert(event.nativeEvent.text)}
          />
        </View>
      );
    }
  },
  {
    title: 'Multiline',
    render: function() {
      return (
        <View>
          <TextInput
            placeholder="multiline text input"
            multiline={true}
            style={styles.multiline}
          />
          <TextInput
            placeholder="multiline text input with font styles and placeholder"
            multiline={true}
            clearTextOnFocus={true}
            autoCorrect={true}
            autoCapitalize="words"
            placeholderTextColor="red"
            keyboardType="url"
            style={[styles.multiline, styles.multilineWithFontStyles]}
          />
          <TextInput
            placeholder="multiline text input with max length"
            maxLength={5}
            multiline={true}
            style={styles.multiline}
          />
          <TextInput
            placeholder="uneditable multiline text input"
            editable={false}
            multiline={true}
            style={styles.multiline}
          />
          <TextInput
            defaultValue="uneditable multiline text input with phone number detection: 88888888."
            editable={false}
            multiline={true}
            style={styles.multiline}
            dataDetectorTypes="phoneNumber"
          />
          <TextInput
            placeholder="multiline with children"
            multiline={true}
            enablesReturnKeyAutomatically={true}
            returnKeyType="go"
            style={styles.multiline}>
            <View style={styles.multilineChild}/>
          </TextInput>
        </View>
      );
    }
  },
  {
    title: 'Auto-expanding',
    render: function() {
      return (
        <View>
          <AutoExpandingTextInput
            placeholder="height increases with content"
            enablesReturnKeyAutomatically={true}
            returnKeyType="default"
          />
        </View>
      );
    }
  },
  {
    title: 'Attributed text',
    render: function() {
      return <TokenizedTextExample />;
    }
  },
];

Run this example

ANDROID #