Textarea

Use Textarea for multi-line text input form fields

Alpha
Not reviewed for accessibility

On this page

import {Textarea} from '@primer/react'

Examples

Textarea components must always be accompanied by a corresponding label to improve support for assistive technologies. Examples below are provided for conciseness and may not reflect accessibility best practices.

Use the FormControl component to render a Textarea with a corresponding label.

Controlled mode

const TextareaExample = () => {
  // Running in controlled mode (recommended)
  const [value, setValue] = React.useState('')

  const handleChange = event => {
    setValue(event.target.value)
  }

  return <Textarea placeholder="Enter a description" onChange={handleChange} value={value} />
}

render(<TextareaExample />)

const TextareaExample = () => {
  // Running in controlled mode (recommended)
  const [value, setValue] = React.useState('')

  const handleChange = event => {
    setValue(event.target.value)
  }

  return <Textarea placeholder="Enter a description" onChange={handleChange} value={value} />
}

render(<TextareaExample />)

Uncontrolled mode

const TextareaExample = () => {
  const ref = React.useRef()

  const handleSubmit = event => {
    event.preventDefault()
    if (!ref.current.value) {
      alert(`Enter a value into the Textarea and press submit`)
      return
    }

    alert(`Current Textarea value: ${ref.current.value}`)
  }

  return (
    <form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
      <Textarea
        cols={40}
        rows={8}
        ref={ref}
        defaultValue="Set the initial state in uncontrolled mode using the defaultValue prop"
      />
      <br />
      <Button type="submit">Submit</Button>
    </form>
  )
}

render(<TextareaExample />)

const TextareaExample = () => {
  const ref = React.useRef()

  const handleSubmit = event => {
    event.preventDefault()
    if (!ref.current.value) {
      alert(`Enter a value into the Textarea and press submit`)
      return
    }

    alert(`Current Textarea value: ${ref.current.value}`)
  }

  return (
    <form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
      <Textarea
        cols={40}
        rows={8}
        ref={ref}
        defaultValue="Set the initial state in uncontrolled mode using the defaultValue prop"
      />
      <br />
      <Button type="submit">Submit</Button>
    </form>
  )
}

render(<TextareaExample />)

Displaying form validation state

<>
  <Box as="label" htmlFor="success-state" sx={{display: 'block'}}>
    Success state:
  </Box>
  <Textarea id="success-state" validationStatus="success" />
  <Box as="label" htmlFor="error-state" sx={{display: 'block', mt: 5}}>
    Error state:
  </Box>
  <Textarea id="error-state" validationStatus="error" />
</>

<>
  <Box as="label" htmlFor="success-state" sx={{display: 'block'}}>
    Success state:
  </Box>
  <Textarea id="success-state" validationStatus="success" />
  <Box as="label" htmlFor="error-state" sx={{display: 'block', mt: 5}}>
    Error state:
  </Box>
  <Textarea id="error-state" validationStatus="error" />
</>

Inactive

<>
  <Textarea disabled>This text is inactive</Textarea>
</>

<>
  <Textarea disabled>This text is inactive</Textarea>
</>

Resize

By default, Textarea can be resized by the user vertically and horizontally. Resizing can be prevented by setting resize to none

<Textarea cols={40} resize="none" />

<Textarea cols={40} resize="none" />

Custom styling

<>
  <Textarea sx={{marginBottom: 2}} />
  <p>Custom styles like `margin` and `padding` can be applied using the `sx` prop</p>
</>

<>
  <Textarea sx={{marginBottom: 2}} />
  <p>Custom styles like `margin` and `padding` can be applied using the `sx` prop</p>
</>

Props

Textarea

Name	Type	Default	Description
required	boolean		Indicates to the user and assistive technologies that the field value is required
cols	number		Specifies the visible width of a text area.
rows	number		Specifies the visible height of a text area.
block	boolean	false	Expands with width of the component to fill the parent elements
resize	'both' \| 'horizontal' \| 'vertical' \| 'none'	'both'	Changes background color to a higher contrast color
validationStatus	'success' \| 'error' \| undefined		Style the textarea to match the current form validation status
ref	React.RefObject<HTMLTextAreaElement>		A ref to the element rendered by this component. Because this component is polymorphic, the type will vary based on the value of the `as` prop.
ref	React.RefObject<HTMLTextareaElement>		A ref to the element rendered by this component. Because this component is polymorphic, the type will vary based on the value of the `as` prop.
as	React.ElementType	"input"	The underlying element to render — either a HTML element name or a React component.
sx	SystemStyleObject		Style overrides to apply to the component. See also overriding styles.

Status

Alpha

Component props and basic example usage of the component are documented on primer.style/react.
Component does not have any unnecessary third-party dependencies.
Component can adapt to different themes.
Component can adapt to different screen sizes.
Component has robust unit test coverage (100% where achievable).
Component has visual regression coverage of its default and interactive states.
Component does not introduce any axe violations.
Component has been manually reviewed by the accessibility team and any resulting issues have been addressed.

Beta

Component is used in a production application.
Common usage examples are documented on primer.style/react.
Common usage examples are documented in storybook stories.
Component has been reviewed by a systems designer and any resulting issues have been addressed.
Component does not introduce any performance regressions.

Stable

Component API has been stable with no breaking changes for at least one month.
Feedback on API usability has been sought from developers using the component and any resulting issues have been addressed.
Component has corresponding design guidelines documented in the interface guidelines.
Component has corresponding Figma component in the Primer Web library.
Tooling (such as linters, codemods, etc.) exists to prevent further use of alternatives.

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5 contributors

Last edited by colebemis on January 23, 2023