scopedThe textarea component is used for multi-line text input. A native textarea element is rendered inside of the component. The user experience and interactivity of the textarea component is improved by having control over the native textarea.
Unlike the native textarea element, the Ionic textarea does not support loading its value from the inner content. The textarea value should be set in the value
attribute.
The textarea component accepts the native textarea attributes in addition to the Ionic properties.
Labels should be used to describe the textarea. They can be used visually, and they will also be read out by screen readers when the user is focused on the textarea. This makes it easy for the user to understand the intent of the textarea. Textarea has several ways to assign a label:
label
property: used for plaintext labelslabel
slot: used for custom HTML labels (experimental)aria-label
: used to provide a label for screen readers but adds no visible label
Labels will take up the width of their content by default. Developers can use the labelPlacement
property to control how the label is placed relative to the control.
While plaintext labels should be passed in via the label
property, if custom HTML is needed, it can be passed through the label
slot instead.
Note that this feature is considered experimental because it relies on a simulated version of Web Component slots. As a result, the simulated behavior may not exactly match the native slot behavior.
If no visible label is needed, developers should still supply an aria-label
so the textarea is accessible to screen readers.
Filled Textareas
Material Design offers filled styles for a textarea. The fill
property on the item can be set to either "solid"
or "outline"
.
Since the fill
styles visually defines the textarea container, textareas that use fill
should not be used in ion-item
.
Filled textareas can be used on iOS by setting Textarea's mode
to md
.
Helper & Error Text
Helper and error text can be used inside of a textarea with the helperText
and errorText
property. The error text will not be displayed unless the ion-invalid
and ion-touched
classes are added to the ion-textarea
. This ensures errors are not shown before the user has a chance to enter data.
In Angular, this is done automatically through form validation. In JavaScript, React and Vue, the class needs to be manually added based on your own validation.
Textarea Counter
The textarea counter is text that displays under a textarea to notify the user of how many characters have been entered out of the total that the textarea will accept. When adding counter, the default behavior is to format the value that gets displayed as inputLength
/ maxLength
. This behavior can be customized by passing in a formatter function to the counterFormatter
property.
When the autoGrow
property is set to true
, the textarea will grow and shrink based on its contents.
Setting the clearOnEdit
property to true
will clear the textarea after it has been blurred and then typed in again.
The start
and end
slots can be used to place icons, buttons, or prefix/suffix text on either side of the textarea.
Note that this feature is considered experimental because it relies on a simulated version of Web Component slots. As a result, the simulated behavior may not exactly match the native slot behavior.
In most cases, Icon components placed in these slots should have aria-hidden="true"
. See the Icon accessibility docs for more information.
If slot content is meant to be interacted with, it should be wrapped in an interactive element such as a Button. This ensures that the content can be tabbed to.
Migrating from Legacy Textarea Syntax
A simpler textarea syntax was introduced in Ionic 7.0. This new syntax reduces the boilerplate required to setup an textarea, resolves accessibility issues, and improves the developer experience.
Developers can perform this migration one textarea at a time. While developers can continue using the legacy syntax, we recommend migrating as soon as possible.
Using the modern syntax involves three steps:
- Remove
ion-label
and use the label
property on ion-textarea
instead. The placement of the label can be configured using the labelPlacement
property on ion-textarea
. - Move textarea-specific properties from
ion-item
on to ion-textarea
. This includes the counter
, counterFormatter
, fill
, and shape
properties. - Remove usages of the
helper
and error
slots on ion-item
and use the helperText
and errorText
properties on ion-textarea
instead.
- JavaScript
- Angular
- React
- Vue
<ion-item>
<ion-label position="floating">Label:</ion-label>
<ion-textarea></ion-textarea>
</ion-item>
<ion-item>
<ion-textarea label="Label:" label-placement="floating"></ion-textarea>
</ion-item>
<ion-item fill="outline" shape="round">
<ion-label position="floating">Label:</ion-label>
<ion-textarea></ion-textarea>
</ion-item>
<ion-textarea fill="outline" shape="round" label="Label:" label-placement="floating"></ion-textarea>
<ion-item counter="true">
<ion-label position="floating">Label:</ion-label>
<ion-textarea maxlength="100"></ion-textarea>
<div slot="helper">Enter text</div>
<div slot="error">Please enter text</div>
</ion-item>
<ion-textarea
label="Label:"
counter="true"
maxlength="100"
helper-text="Enter text"
error-text="Please enter text"
></ion-textarea>
<ion-item>
<ion-label position="floating">Label:</ion-label>
<ion-textarea></ion-textarea>
</ion-item>
<ion-item>
<ion-textarea label="Label:" labelPlacement="floating"></ion-textarea>
</ion-item>
<ion-item fill="outline" shape="round">
<ion-label position="floating">Label:</ion-label>
<ion-textarea></ion-textarea>
</ion-item>
<ion-textarea fill="outline" shape="round" label="Label:" labelPlacement="floating"></ion-textarea>
<ion-item [counter]="true">
<ion-label position="floating">Label:</ion-label>
<ion-textarea maxlength="100"></ion-textarea>
<div slot="helper">Enter text</div>
<div slot="error">Please enter text</div>
</ion-item>
<ion-textarea
label="Label:"
[counter]="true"
maxlength="100"
helperText="Enter text"
errorText="Please enter text"
></ion-textarea>
{}
{}
<IonItem>
<IonLabel position="floating">Label:</IonLabel>
<IonTextarea></IonTextarea>
</IonItem>
{}
<IonItem>
<IonTextarea label="Label:" labelPlacement="floating"></IonTextarea>
</IonItem>
{}
{}
<IonItem fill="outline" shape="round">
<IonLabel position="floating">Label:</IonLabel>
<IonTextarea></IonTextarea>
</IonItem>
{}
{}
<IonTextarea fill="outline" shape="round" label="Label:" labelPlacement="floating"></IonTextarea>
{}
{}
<IonItem counter={true}>
<IonLabel position="floating">Label:</IonLabel>
<IonTextarea maxlength="100"></IonTextarea>
<div slot="helper">Enter text</div>
<div slot="error">Please enter text</div>
</IonItem>
{}
{
}
<IonTextarea
label="Label:"
counter={true}
maxlength="100"
helperText="Enter text"
errorText="Please enter text"
></IonTextarea>
<ion-item>
<ion-label position="floating">Label:</ion-label>
<ion-textarea></ion-textarea>
</ion-item>
<ion-item>
<ion-textarea label="Label:" label-placement="floating"></ion-textarea>
</ion-item>
<ion-item fill="outline" shape="round">
<ion-label position="floating">Label:</ion-label>
<ion-textarea></ion-textarea>
</ion-item>
<ion-textarea fill="outline" shape="round" label="Label:" label-placement="floating"></ion-textarea>
<ion-item :counter="true">
<ion-label position="floating">Label:</ion-label>
<ion-textarea maxlength="100"></ion-textarea>
<div slot="helper">Enter text</div>
<div slot="error">Please enter text</div>
</ion-item>
<ion-textarea
label="Label:"
:counter="true"
maxlength="100"
helper-text="Enter text"
error-text="Please enter text"
></ion-textarea>
Ionic uses heuristics to detect if an app is using the modern textarea syntax. In some instances, it may be preferable to continue using the legacy syntax. Developers can set the legacy
property on ion-textarea
to true
to force that instance of the textarea to use the legacy syntax.
TextareaChangeEventDetail
interface TextareaChangeEventDetail {
value?: string | null;
}
TextareaCustomEvent
While not required, this interface can be used in place of the CustomEvent
interface for stronger typing with Ionic events emitted from this component.
interface TextareaCustomEvent extends CustomEvent {
detail: TextareaChangeEventDetail;
target: HTMLIonTextareaElement;
}
Description | If true , the textarea container will grow and shrink based on the contents of the textarea. |
Attribute | auto-grow |
Type | boolean |
Default | false |
Description | Indicates whether and how the text value should be automatically capitalized as it is entered/edited by the user. Available options: "off" , "none" , "on" , "sentences" , "words" , "characters" . |
Attribute | autocapitalize |
Type | string |
Default | 'none' |
Description | This Boolean attribute lets you specify that a form control should have input focus when the page loads. |
Attribute | autofocus |
Type | boolean |
Default | false |
Description | If true , the value will be cleared after focus upon edit. |
Attribute | clear-on-edit |
Type | boolean |
Default | false |
Description | The color to use from your application's color palette. Default options are: "primary" , "secondary" , "tertiary" , "success" , "warning" , "danger" , "light" , "medium" , and "dark" . For more information on colors, see theming. |
Attribute | color |
Type | "danger" | "dark" | "light" | "medium" | "primary" | "secondary" | "success" | "tertiary" | "warning" | string | undefined |
Default | undefined |
Description | The visible width of the text control, in average character widths. If it is specified, it must be a positive integer. |
Attribute | cols |
Type | number | undefined |
Default | undefined |
Description | If true , a character counter will display the ratio of characters used and the total character limit. Developers must also set the maxlength property for the counter to be calculated correctly. |
Attribute | counter |
Type | boolean |
Default | false |
Description | A callback used to format the counter text. By default the counter text is set to "itemLength / maxLength". |
Attribute | undefined |
Type | ((inputLength: number, maxLength: number) => string) | undefined |
Default | undefined |
Description | Set the amount of time, in milliseconds, to wait to trigger the ionInput event after each keystroke. |
Attribute | debounce |
Type | number | undefined |
Default | undefined |
Description | If true , the user cannot interact with the textarea. |
Attribute | disabled |
Type | boolean |
Default | false |
Description | A hint to the browser for which enter key to display. Possible values: "enter" , "done" , "go" , "next" , "previous" , "search" , and "send" . |
Attribute | enterkeyhint |
Type | "done" | "enter" | "go" | "next" | "previous" | "search" | "send" | undefined |
Default | undefined |
errorText
Description | Text that is placed under the textarea and displayed when an error is detected. |
Attribute | error-text |
Type | string | undefined |
Default | undefined |
Description | The fill for the item. If "solid" the item will have a background. If "outline" the item will be transparent with a border. Only available in md mode. |
Attribute | fill |
Type | "outline" | "solid" | undefined |
Default | undefined |
helperText
Description | Text that is placed under the textarea and displayed when no error is detected. |
Attribute | helper-text |
Type | string | undefined |
Default | undefined |
Description | A hint to the browser for which keyboard to display. Possible values: "none" , "text" , "tel" , "url" , "email" , "numeric" , "decimal" , and "search" . |
Attribute | inputmode |
Type | "decimal" | "email" | "none" | "numeric" | "search" | "tel" | "text" | "url" | undefined |
Default | undefined |
Description | The visible label associated with the textarea.
Use this if you need to render a plaintext label.
The label property will take priority over the label slot if both are used. |
Attribute | label |
Type | string | undefined |
Default | undefined |
Description | Where to place the label relative to the textarea. "start" : The label will appear to the left of the textarea in LTR and to the right in RTL. "end" : The label will appear to the right of the textarea in LTR and to the left in RTL. "floating" : The label will appear smaller and above the textarea when the textarea is focused or it has a value. Otherwise it will appear on top of the textarea. "stacked" : The label will appear smaller and above the textarea regardless even when the textarea is blurred or has no value. "fixed" : The label has the same behavior as "start" except it also has a fixed width. Long text will be truncated with ellipses ("..."). |
Attribute | label-placement |
Type | "end" | "fixed" | "floating" | "stacked" | "start" |
Default | 'start' |
Description | Set the legacy property to true to forcibly use the legacy form control markup. Ionic will only opt components in to the modern form markup when they are using either the aria-label attribute or the default slot that contains the label text. As a result, the legacy property should only be used as an escape hatch when you want to avoid this automatic opt-in behavior. Note that this property will be removed in an upcoming major release of Ionic, and all form components will be opted-in to using the modern form markup. |
Attribute | legacy |
Type | boolean | undefined |
Default | undefined |
Description | This attribute specifies the maximum number of characters that the user can enter. |
Attribute | maxlength |
Type | number | undefined |
Default | undefined |
Description | This attribute specifies the minimum number of characters that the user can enter. |
Attribute | minlength |
Type | number | undefined |
Default | undefined |
Description | The mode determines which platform styles to use. |
Attribute | mode |
Type | "ios" | "md" |
Default | undefined |
Description | The name of the control, which is submitted with the form data. |
Attribute | name |
Type | string |
Default | this.inputId |
Description | Instructional text that shows before the input has a value. |
Attribute | placeholder |
Type | string | undefined |
Default | undefined |
Description | If true , the user cannot modify the value. |
Attribute | readonly |
Type | boolean |
Default | false |
Description | If true , the user must fill in a value before submitting a form. |
Attribute | required |
Type | boolean |
Default | false |
Description | The number of visible text lines for the control. |
Attribute | rows |
Type | number | undefined |
Default | undefined |
Description | The shape of the textarea. If "round" it will have an increased border radius. |
Attribute | shape |
Type | "round" | undefined |
Default | undefined |
Description | If true , the element will have its spelling and grammar checked. |
Attribute | spellcheck |
Type | boolean |
Default | false |
Description | The value of the textarea. |
Attribute | value |
Type | null | string | undefined |
Default | '' |
Description | Indicates how the control wraps text. |
Attribute | wrap |
Type | "hard" | "off" | "soft" | undefined |
Default | undefined |
Name | Description |
---|
ionBlur | Emitted when the input loses focus. |
ionChange | The ionChange event is fired when the user modifies the textarea's value. Unlike the ionInput event, the ionChange event is fired when the element loses focus after its value has been modified. |
ionFocus | Emitted when the input has focus. |
ionInput | The ionInput event is fired each time the user modifies the textarea's value. Unlike the ionChange event, the ionInput event is fired for each alteration to the textarea's value. This typically happens for each keystroke as the user types.
When clearOnEdit is enabled, the ionInput event will be fired when the user clears the textarea by performing a keydown event. |
Description | Returns the native <textarea> element used under the hood. |
Signature | getInputElement() => Promise<HTMLTextAreaElement> |
Description | Sets focus on the native textarea in ion-textarea . Use this method instead of the global textarea.focus() . |
Signature | setFocus() => Promise<void> |
No CSS shadow parts available for this component.
Name | Description |
---|
--background | Background of the textarea |
--border-color | Color of the border below the textarea when using helper text, error text, or counter |
--border-radius | Border radius of the textarea |
--border-style | Style of the border below the textarea when using helper text, error text, or counter |
--border-width | Width of the border below the textarea when using helper text, error text, or counter |
--color | Color of the text |
--highlight-color-focused | The color of the highlight on the textarea when focused |
--highlight-color-invalid | The color of the highlight on the textarea when invalid |
--highlight-color-valid | The color of the highlight on the textarea when valid |
--padding-bottom | Bottom padding of the textarea |
--padding-end | Right padding if direction is left-to-right, and left padding if direction is right-to-left of the textarea |
--padding-start | Left padding if direction is left-to-right, and right padding if direction is right-to-left of the textarea |
--padding-top | Top padding of the textarea |
--placeholder-color | Color of the placeholder text |
--placeholder-font-style | Style of the placeholder text |
--placeholder-font-weight | Weight of the placeholder text |
--placeholder-opacity | Opacity of the placeholder text |
Name | Description |
---|
label | The label text to associate with the textarea. Use the labelPlacement property to control where the label is placed relative to the textarea. Use this if you need to render a label with custom HTML. (EXPERIMENTAL) |