File Uploads and Handling Data in React Forms (2024)

Dealing with file uploads in web forms is a common scenario for many web applications. In React, handling file uploads, along with other form data, requires an understanding of how to manage file inputs and how to submit the form data, often including asynchronous API calls. This article will explore how to handle file uploads in React.

Introduction

File uploads in React can be handled using controlled or uncontrolled components. Controlled components give you the benefit of React’s state management, while uncontrolled components use the native DOM API. We’ll focus on the controlled approach, as it aligns well with React’s philosophy and offers more flexibility.

Controlled File Inputs

To handle file uploads with controlled components, you can use the useState hook to manage the file's state.

Step 1: Setting Up the State

Initialize a state to hold the selected file:

const [selectedFile, setSelectedFile] = useState(null);

Step 2: Creating the File Input Field

In your form, add an input element of type file and handle the onChange event to update the state with the selected file.

<input 
 type="file" 
 onChange={(e)…