Skip to main content
Version: v7 (beta)

ion-textarea

scoped

The 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.

Basic Usage

Label Placement

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.

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.

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 class is added to the ion-textarea. 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.

Autogrow

When the autoGrow property is set to true, the textarea will grow and shrink based on its contents.

Clear on Edit

Setting the clearOnEdit property to true will clear the textarea after it has been blurred and then typed in again.

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

Using the modern syntax involves three steps:

  1. 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.
  2. Move textarea-specific properties from ion-item on to ion-textarea. This includes the counter, counterFormatter, fill, and shape properties.
  3. Remove usages of the helper and error slots on ion-item and use the helperText and errorText properties on ion-textarea instead.
<!-- Label and Label Position -->

<!-- Before -->
<ion-item>
<ion-label position="floating">Label:</ion-label>
<ion-textarea></ion-textarea>
</ion-item>

<!-- After -->
<ion-item>
<ion-textarea label="Label:" label-placement="floating"></ion-textarea>
</ion-item>


<!-- Fill -->

<!-- Before -->
<ion-item fill="outline" shape="round">
<ion-label position="floating">Label:</ion-label>
<ion-textarea></ion-textarea>
</ion-item>

<!-- After -->

<!-- Textareas using `fill` should not be placed in ion-item -->
<ion-textarea fill="outline" shape="round" label="Label:" label-placement="floating"></ion-textarea>

<!-- Textarea-specific features on ion-item -->

<!-- Before -->
<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>

<!-- After -->
<ion-item>
<ion-textarea
label="Label:"
counter="true"
maxlength="100"
helper-text="Enter text"
error-text="Please enter text"
></ion-textarea>
</ion-item>

Using the Legacy Syntax

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.

Theming

Interfaces

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;
}

Properties

autoGrow

DescriptionIf true, the textarea container will grow and shrink based on the contents of the textarea.
Attributeauto-grow
Typeboolean
Defaultfalse

autocapitalize

DescriptionIndicates 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".
Attributeautocapitalize
Typestring
Default'none'

autofocus

DescriptionThis Boolean attribute lets you specify that a form control should have input focus when the page loads.
Attributeautofocus
Typeboolean
Defaultfalse

clearOnEdit

DescriptionIf true, the value will be cleared after focus upon edit. Defaults to true when type is "password", false for all other types.
Attributeclear-on-edit
Typeboolean
Defaultfalse

color

DescriptionThe 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.
Attributecolor
Type"danger" ๏ฝœ "dark" ๏ฝœ "light" ๏ฝœ "medium" ๏ฝœ "primary" ๏ฝœ "secondary" ๏ฝœ "success" ๏ฝœ "tertiary" ๏ฝœ "warning" ๏ฝœ string & Record<never, never> ๏ฝœ undefined
Defaultundefined

cols

DescriptionThe visible width of the text control, in average character widths. If it is specified, it must be a positive integer.
Attributecols
Typenumber ๏ฝœ undefined
Defaultundefined

debounce

DescriptionSet the amount of time, in milliseconds, to wait to trigger the ionChange event after each keystroke. This also impacts form bindings such as ngModel or v-model.
Attributedebounce
Typenumber
Default0

disabled

DescriptionIf true, the user cannot interact with the textarea.
Attributedisabled
Typeboolean
Defaultfalse

enterkeyhint

DescriptionA hint to the browser for which enter key to display. Possible values: "enter", "done", "go", "next", "previous", "search", and "send".
Attributeenterkeyhint
Type"done" ๏ฝœ "enter" ๏ฝœ "go" ๏ฝœ "next" ๏ฝœ "previous" ๏ฝœ "search" ๏ฝœ "send" ๏ฝœ undefined
Defaultundefined

inputmode

DescriptionA hint to the browser for which keyboard to display. Possible values: "none", "text", "tel", "url", "email", "numeric", "decimal", and "search".
Attributeinputmode
Type"decimal" ๏ฝœ "email" ๏ฝœ "none" ๏ฝœ "numeric" ๏ฝœ "search" ๏ฝœ "tel" ๏ฝœ "text" ๏ฝœ "url" ๏ฝœ undefined
Defaultundefined

maxlength

DescriptionIf the value of the type attribute is text, email, search, password, tel, or url, this attribute specifies the maximum number of characters that the user can enter.
Attributemaxlength
Typenumber ๏ฝœ undefined
Defaultundefined

minlength

DescriptionIf the value of the type attribute is text, email, search, password, tel, or url, this attribute specifies the minimum number of characters that the user can enter.
Attributeminlength
Typenumber ๏ฝœ undefined
Defaultundefined

mode

DescriptionThe mode determines which platform styles to use.
Attributemode
Type"ios" ๏ฝœ "md"
Defaultundefined

name

DescriptionThe name of the control, which is submitted with the form data.
Attributename
Typestring
Defaultthis.inputId

placeholder

DescriptionInstructional text that shows before the input has a value.
Attributeplaceholder
Typestring ๏ฝœ undefined
Defaultundefined

readonly

DescriptionIf true, the user cannot modify the value.
Attributereadonly
Typeboolean
Defaultfalse

required

DescriptionIf true, the user must fill in a value before submitting a form.
Attributerequired
Typeboolean
Defaultfalse

rows

DescriptionThe number of visible text lines for the control.
Attributerows
Typenumber ๏ฝœ undefined
Defaultundefined

spellcheck

DescriptionIf true, the element will have its spelling and grammar checked.
Attributespellcheck
Typeboolean
Defaultfalse

value

DescriptionThe value of the textarea.
Attributevalue
Typenull ๏ฝœ string ๏ฝœ undefined
Default''

wrap

DescriptionIndicates how the control wraps text.
Attributewrap
Type"hard" ๏ฝœ "off" ๏ฝœ "soft" ๏ฝœ undefined
Defaultundefined

Events

NameDescription
ionBlurEmitted when the input loses focus.
ionChangeEmitted when the input value has changed.
ionFocusEmitted when the input has focus.
ionInputEmitted when a keyboard input occurred.

Methods

getInputElement

DescriptionReturns the native <textarea> element used under the hood.
SignaturegetInputElement() => Promise<HTMLTextAreaElement>

setFocus

DescriptionSets focus on the native textarea in ion-textarea. Use this method instead of the global textarea.focus().
SignaturesetFocus() => Promise<void>

CSS Shadow Parts

No CSS shadow parts available for this component.

CSS Custom Properties

NameDescription
--backgroundBackground of the textarea
--border-radiusBorder radius of the textarea
--colorColor of the text
--padding-bottomBottom padding of the textarea
--padding-endRight padding if direction is left-to-right, and left padding if direction is right-to-left of the textarea
--padding-startLeft padding if direction is left-to-right, and right padding if direction is right-to-left of the textarea
--padding-topTop padding of the textarea
--placeholder-colorColor of the placeholder text
--placeholder-font-styleStyle of the placeholder text
--placeholder-font-weightWeight of the placeholder text
--placeholder-opacityOpacity of the placeholder text

Slots

No slots available for this component.