Reset input field values tracked by useRef in React

Reset input field values tracked by useRef in React #

To reset input field values tracked by useRef in React:

1. Set the ref's value property to an empty string, e.g. ref.current.value = ''.
2. If dealing with multiple uncontrolled fields in a form, use the form's reset() method.

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import {useRef} from 'react';

const App = () => {
  const ref = useRef(null);

  const handleClick = () => {
    // 👇️ reset input field's value
    ref.current.value = '';
  };

  return (
    <div>
      <input
        ref={ref}
        id="message"
        name="message"
        type="text"
      />

      <button onClick={handleClick}>Clear field</button>
    </div>
  );
};

The code sample resets the value of the input field when the button is clicked.

The useRef() hook can be passed an initial value as an argument. The hook returns a mutable ref object whose .current property is initialized to the passed argument.

When we pass a ref prop to an element, e.g. <input ref={myRef} />, React sets the .current property of the ref object to the corresponding DOM node.

This approach can be used to clear the value of as many uncontrolled input fields as necessary.

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import {useRef} from 'react';

const App = () => {
  const firstRef = useRef(null);
  const lastRef = useRef(null);

  const handleSubmit = event => {
    console.log('handleSubmit ran');
    event.preventDefault();

    // 👇️ clear all input values in the form
    event.target.reset();
  };

  return (
    <div>
      <form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
        <input
          ref={firstRef}
          id="first_name"
          name="first_name"
          type="text"
        />
        <input
          ref={lastRef}
          id="last_name"
          name="last_name"
          type="text"
        />

        <button type="submit">Submit form</button>
      </form>
    </div>
  );
};

export default App;

The reset() method restores a form element's default values.

Regardless of how many uncontrolled input fields your form has, a single call to the reset() method clears all of them.

This approach wouldn't be necessary if you only have a single uncontrolled input field that is not wrapped in a form element. In that case, I'd simply set the value property on the ref to an empty string, e.g. ref.current.value = ''.

However, if you have a form with multiple uncontrolled fields, you can reset all of their values with a single call to the form's reset() method.