Scroll to a specific component in React JS

by vsasikalabe Updated: Jan 24, 2023

The simplest way to scroll to an element in React is by calling the scrollIntoView function on the element. However, you first need to get the DOM element ref from useRef or select it from the DOM directly.To scroll to an element on click in React, Set a ref prop on the element you want to scroll to. Set the onClick prop on the other element. Every time the element is clicked, call the scrollIntoView() method on the ref object.The useRef is a hook that allows to directly create a reference to the DOM element in the functional component.The useImperativeHandle Hook allows us to expose a value, state, or function inside a child component to the parent component.

Preview of the output that you will get on running this code from your IDE.

Code:

In this solution we use the React library,useimperativeHandle,forwardRef and useRef hooks.

How to scroll to a specific component in React JS

JavaScriptLines of Code : 57License : CC BY-SA 4.0

import { useImperativeHandle, forwardRef, useRef } from "react";

const LastComp = forwardRef((props, ref) => {
  const compRef = useRef();
  useImperativeHandle(ref, () => ({
    scrollIntoView: () => {
      compRef.current.scrollIntoView({ behavior: "smooth", block: "start" });
    }
  }));
  return (
    <div style={{ height: "600px", backgroundColor: "gray" }} ref={compRef}>
      Body of the last component
    </div>
  );
});

export default LastComp;

const FirstComp = ({ refToLastComp }) => {
  const scrolltoLast = () => {
    if (refToLastComp.current) {
      refToLastComp.current.scrollIntoView();
    }
  };

  return (
    <div
      style={{
        height: "600px",
        backgroundColor: "tomato"
      }}
    >
      <button onClick={scrolltoLast}>Scroll to Last</button>
      First
    </div>
  );
};

export default FirstComp;

import { useRef } from "react";
import FirstComp from "./FirstComp";
import SecondComp from "./SecondComp";
import LastComp from "./LastComp";

export default function Main() {
  const ref = useRef(null);

  return (
    <>
      <FirstComp refToLastComp={ref} />
      <SecondComp />
      <LastComp ref={ref} />
    </>
  );
}

Instructions

Follow the steps carefully to get the output easily.

Install the Node.js and React on your IDE(preferable Visual Studio Code).
Create React Application using npx create-react-app foldername.
cd foldername.
Open the folder in IDE.
Click on the code topic and Copy the main.js code using "copy" button above and paste it in App.js file(remove the earlier code from App.js).Create LastComp.js and FirstComp.js file and Paste the code of LastComp.js and FirstComp.js to the corresponding file.(refer DEMO for additional files).
Open the terminal from IDE.
npm start to run the file.

You can also refer this url DEMO for getting the above output.

I hope you found this useful. I have added the link to dependent libraries, version information in the following sections.

I found this code snippet by searching for Scroll to a specific component in React JS in kandi. You can try any such use case!

Environment Tested

I tested this solution in the following versions. Be mindful of changes when working with other versions.

The solution is created in VS Code 1.73.1 version.
The solution is tested on Nodejs 16.14.2 version.
react 18.2.0 version.

Using this solution, we are able to do scroll to a specific component in React JS with simple steps. This process also facilities an easy way to use, hassle-free method to create a hands-on working version of code which would help us to do scroll to a specific component in React JS.