`<NavLink>`

Type declaration

declare function NavLink(
  props: NavLinkProps
): React.ReactElement;

interface NavLinkProps
  extends Omit<
    LinkProps,
    "className" | "style" | "children"
  > {
  caseSensitive?: boolean;
  children?:
    | React.ReactNode
    | ((props: { isActive: boolean }) => React.ReactNode);
  className?:
    | string
    | ((props: {
        isActive: boolean;
      }) => string | undefined);
  end?: boolean;
  style?:
    | React.CSSProperties
    | ((props: {
        isActive: boolean;
      }) => React.CSSProperties);
}

A <NavLink> is a special kind of <Link> that knows whether or not it is "active". This is useful when building a navigation menu such as a breadcrumb or a set of tabs where you'd like to show which of them is currently selected. It also provides useful context for assistive technology like screen readers.

By default, an active class is added to a <NavLink> component when it is active. This provides the same simple styling mechanism for most users who are upgrading from v5. One difference as of v6.0.0-beta.3 is that activeClassName and activeStyle have been removed from NavLinkProps. Instead, you can pass a function to either style or className that will allow you to customize the inline styling or the class string based on the component's active state. You can also pass a function as children to customize the content of the <NavLink> component based on their active state, specially useful to change styles on internal elements.

import * as React from "react";
import { NavLink } from "react-router-dom";

function NavList() {
  // This styling will be applied to a <NavLink> when the
  // route that it links to is currently selected.
  let activeStyle = {
    textDecoration: "underline",
  };

  let activeClassName = "underline";

  return (
    <nav>
      <ul>
        <li>
          <NavLink
            to="messages"
            style={({ isActive }) =>
              isActive ? activeStyle : undefined
            }
          >
            Messages
          </NavLink>
        </li>
        <li>
          <NavLink
            to="tasks"
            className={({ isActive }) =>
              isActive ? activeClassName : undefined
            }
          >
            Tasks
          </NavLink>
        </li>
        <li>
          <NavLink to="tasks">
            {({ isActive }) => (
              <span
                className={
                  isActive ? activeClassName : undefined
                }
              >
                Tasks
              </span>
            )}
          </NavLink>
        </li>
      </ul>
    </nav>
  );
}

If you prefer the v5 API, you can create your own <NavLink /> as a wrapper component:

import * as React from "react";
import { NavLink as BaseNavLink } from "react-router-dom";

const NavLink = React.forwardRef(
  ({ activeClassName, activeStyle, ...props }, ref) => {
    return (
      <BaseNavLink
        ref={ref}
        {...props}
        className={({ isActive }) =>
          [
            props.className,
            isActive ? activeClassName : null,
          ]
            .filter(Boolean)
            .join(" ")
        }
        style={({ isActive }) => ({
          ...props.style,
          ...(isActive ? activeStyle : null),
        })}
      />
    );
  }
);

If the end prop is used, it will ensure this component isn't matched as "active" when its descendant paths are matched. For example, to render a link that is only active at the website root and not any other URLs, you can use:

<NavLink to="/" end>
  Home
</NavLink>