Autocomplete

The widget is useful for setting the value of a single-line textbox in one of two types of scenarios:

1. The value for the textbox must be chosen from a predefined set of allowed values, for example a location field must contain a valid location name: combo box.
2. The textbox may contain any arbitrary value, but it is advantageous to suggest possible values to the user, for example a search field may suggest similar or previous searches to save the user time: free solo.

It's meant to be an improved version of the "react-select" and "downshift" packages.

{{"component": "@mui/internal-core-docs/ComponentLinkHeader"}}

Combo box

The value must be chosen from a predefined set of allowed values.

{{"demo": "ComboBox.js"}}

Options structure

By default, the component accepts the following options structures:

interface AutocompleteOption {
  label: string;
}
// or
type AutocompleteOption = string;

for instance:

const options = [
  { label: 'The Godfather', id: 1 },
  { label: 'Pulp Fiction', id: 2 },
];
// or
const options = ['The Godfather', 'Pulp Fiction'];

However, you can use different structures by providing a getOptionLabel prop.

If your options are objects, you must provide the isOptionEqualToValue prop to ensure correct selection and highlighting. By default, it uses strict equality to compare options with the current value.

:::warning If your options have duplicate labels, you must extract a unique key with the getOptionKey prop.

const options = [
  { label: 'The Godfather', id: 1 },
  { label: 'The Godfather', id: 2 },
];

return <Autocomplete options={options} getOptionKey={(option) => option.id} />;

:::

Playground

Each of the following examples demonstrates one feature of the Autocomplete component.

{{"demo": "Playground.js"}}

Country select

Choose one of the 248 countries.

{{"demo": "CountrySelect.js"}}

Controlled states

The component has two states that can be controlled:

1. the "value" state with the value/onChange props combination. This state represents the value selected by the user, for instance when pressing <kbd class="key">Enter</kbd>.
2. the "input value" state with the inputValue/onInputChange props combination. This state represents the value displayed in the textbox.

These two states are isolated, and should be controlled independently.

:::info

• A component is controlled when it's managed by its parent using props.
• A component is uncontrolled when it's managed by its own local state.

Learn more about controlled and uncontrolled components in the React documentation. :::

{{"demo": "ControllableStates.js"}}

:::warning

If you control the value, make sure it's referentially stable between renders. In other words, the reference to the value shouldn't change if the value itself doesn't change.

// ⚠️ BAD
return <Autocomplete multiple value={allValues.filter((v) => v.selected)} />;

// 👍 GOOD
const selectedValues = React.useMemo(
  () => allValues.filter((v) => v.selected),
  [allValues],
);
return <Autocomplete multiple value={selectedValues} />;

In the first example, allValues.filter is called and returns a new array every render. The fix includes memoizing the value, so it changes only when needed. :::

Free solo

Set freeSolo to true so the textbox can contain any arbitrary value.

Search input

The prop is designed to cover the primary use case of a search input with suggestions, for example Google search or react-autowhatever.

{{"demo": "FreeSolo.js"}}

:::warning Be careful when using the free solo mode with non-string options, as it may cause type mismatch.

The value created by typing into the textbox is always a string, regardless of the type of the options. :::

Creatable

If you intend to use this mode for a combo box like experience (an enhanced version of a select element) we recommend setting:

• selectOnFocus to help the user clear the selected value.
• clearOnBlur to help the user enter a new value.
• handleHomeEndKeys to move focus inside the popup with the <kbd class="key">Home</kbd> and <kbd class="key">End</kbd> keys.
• A last option, for instance: Add "YOUR SEARCH".

{{"demo": "FreeSoloCreateOption.js"}}

You could also display a dialog when the user wants to add a new value.

{{"demo": "FreeSoloCreateOptionDialog.js"}}

Grouped

You can group the options with the groupBy prop. If you do so, make sure that the options are also sorted with the same dimension that they are grouped by, otherwise, you will notice duplicate headers.

{{"demo": "Grouped.js"}}

To control how the groups are rendered, provide a custom renderGroup prop. This is a function that accepts an object with two fields:

• group—a string representing a group name
• children—a collection of list items that belong to the group

The following demo shows how to use this prop to define custom markup and override the styles of the default groups:

{{"demo": "RenderGroup.js"}}

Disabled options

{{"demo": "DisabledOptions.js"}}

useAutocomplete

For advanced customization use cases, a headless useAutocomplete() hook is exposed. It accepts almost the same options as the Autocomplete component minus all the props related to the rendering of JSX. The Autocomplete component is built on this hook.

import { useAutocomplete } from '@mui/base/useAutocomplete';

The useAutocomplete hook is also reexported from @mui/material for convenience and backward compatibility.

import useAutocomplete from '@mui/material/useAutocomplete';

• 📦 4.6 kB gzipped.

{{"demo": "UseAutocomplete.js", "defaultCodeOpen": false}}

Customized hook

{{"demo": "CustomizedHook.js", "defaultCodeOpen": false}}

Head to the customization section for an example with the Autocomplete component instead of the hook.

Asynchronous requests

The component supports two different asynchronous use-cases:

• Load on open: it waits for the component to be interacted with to load the options.
• Search as you type: a new request is made for each keystroke.

Load on open

It displays a progress state as long as the network request is pending.

{{"demo": "Asynchronous.js"}}

Search as you type

If your logic is fetching new options on each keystroke and using the current value of the textbox to filter on the server, you may want to consider throttling requests.

Additionally, you will need to disable the built-in filtering of the Autocomplete component by overriding the filterOptions prop:

<Autocomplete filterOptions={(x) => x} />

Google Maps place

A customized UI for Google Maps Places Autocomplete. For this demo, we need to load the Google Maps JavaScript and Google Places API.

{{"demo": "GoogleMaps.js"}}

The demo relies on autosuggest-highlight, a small (1 kB) utility for highlighting text in autosuggest and autocomplete components.

:::error Before you can start using the Google Maps JavaScript API and Places API, you need to get your own API key.

This demo has limited quotas to make API requests. When your quota exceeds, you will see the response for "Paris". :::

Single value rendering

By default (when multiple={false}), the selected option is displayed as plain text inside the input. The renderValue prop allows you to customize how the selected value is rendered. This can be useful for adding custom styles, displaying additional information, or formatting the value differently.

• The getItemProps getter provides props like data-item-index, disabled, tabIndex and others. These props should be spread onto the rendered component for proper accessibility.
• If using a custom component other than a Material UI Chip, destructure the onDelete prop as it's specific to the Material UI Chip.

{{"demo": "CustomSingleValueRendering.js"}}

Multiple values

When multiple={true}, the user can select multiple values. These selected values, referred to as "items" can be customized using the renderValue prop.

• The getItemProps getter supplies essential props like data-item-index, disabled, tabIndex and others. Make sure to spread them on each rendered item.
• If using a custom component other than a Material UI Chip, destructure the onDelete prop as it's specific to the Material UI Chip.

{{"demo": "Tags.js"}}

Fixed options

In the event that you need to lock certain tags so that they can't be removed, you can set the chips disabled.

{{"demo": "FixedTags.js"}}

Selection indicators

This example demonstrates how icons are used to indicate the selection state of each item in the listbox.

{{"demo": "CheckboxesTags.js"}}

Limit tags

You can use the limitTags prop to limit the number of displayed options when not focused.

{{"demo": "LimitTags.js"}}

Sizes

Fancy smaller inputs? Use the size prop.

{{"demo": "Sizes.js"}}

Customization

Custom input

The renderInput prop allows you to customize the rendered input. The first argument of this render prop contains props that you need to forward. Pay specific attention to the ref and inputProps keys.

:::warning If you're using a custom input component inside the Autocomplete, make sure that you forward the ref to the underlying DOM element. :::

{{"demo": "CustomInputAutocomplete.js"}}

Globally customized options

To globally customize the Autocomplete options for all components in your app, you can use the theme default props and set the renderOption property in the defaultProps key. The renderOption property takes the ownerState as the fourth parameter, which includes props and internal component state. To display the label, you can use the getOptionLabel prop from the ownerState. This approach enables different options for each Autocomplete component while keeping the options styling consistent.

{{"demo": "GloballyCustomizedOptions.js"}}

GitHub's picker

This demo reproduces GitHub's label picker:

{{"demo": "GitHubLabel.js"}}

Head to the Customized hook section for a customization example with the useAutocomplete hook instead of the component.

Hint

The following demo shows how to add a hint feature to the Autocomplete:

{{"demo": "AutocompleteHint.js"}}

Highlights

The following demo relies on autosuggest-highlight, a small (1 kB) utility for highlighting text in autosuggest and autocomplete components.

{{"demo": "Highlights.js"}}

Custom filter

The component exposes a factory to create a filter method that can be provided to the filterOptions prop. You can use it to change the default option filter behavior.

import { createFilterOptions } from '@mui/material/Autocomplete';

createFilterOptions(config) => filterOptions

Arguments

1. config (object [optional]):

• config.ignoreAccents (bool [optional]): Defaults to true. Remove diacritics.
• config.ignoreCase (bool [optional]): Defaults to true. Lowercase everything.
• config.limit (number [optional]): Default to null. Limit the number of suggested options to be shown. For example, if config.limit is 100, only the first 100 matching options are shown. It can be useful if a lot of options match and virtualization wasn't set up.
• config.matchFrom ('any' | 'start' [optional]): Defaults to 'any'.
• config.stringify (func [optional]): Controls how an option is converted into a string so that it can be matched against the input text fragment.
• config.trim (bool [optional]): Defaults to false. Remove trailing spaces.

Returns

filterOptions: the returned filter method can be provided directly to the filterOptions prop of the Autocomplete component, or the parameter of the same name for the hook.

In the following demo, the options need to start with the query prefix:

const filterOptions = createFilterOptions({
  matchFrom: 'start',
  stringify: (option) => option.title,
});

<Autocomplete filterOptions={filterOptions} />;

{{"demo": "Filter.js", "defaultCodeOpen": false}}

Advanced

For richer filtering mechanisms, like fuzzy matching, it's recommended to look at match-sorter. For instance:

import { matchSorter } from 'match-sorter';

const filterOptions = (options, { inputValue }) => matchSorter(options, inputValue);

<Autocomplete filterOptions={filterOptions} />;

Virtualization

Search within 10,000 randomly generated options. The list is virtualized thanks to react-window.

{{"demo": "Virtualize.js"}}

Events

If you would like to prevent the default key handler behavior, you can set the event's defaultMuiPrevented property to true:

<Autocomplete
  onKeyDown={(event) => {
    if (event.key === 'Enter') {
      // Prevent's default 'Enter' behavior.
      event.defaultMuiPrevented = true;
      // your handler code
    }
  }}
/>

Limitations

autocomplete/autofill

Browsers have heuristics to help the user fill in form inputs. However, this can harm the UX of the component.

By default, the component disables the input autocomplete feature (remembering what the user has typed for a given field in a previous session) with the autoComplete="off" attribute. Google Chrome does not currently support this attribute setting (Issue 41239842). A possible workaround is to remove the id to have the component generate a random one.

In addition to remembering past entered values, the browser might also propose autofill suggestions (saved login, address, or payment details). In the event you want the avoid autofill, you can try the following:

• Name the input without leaking any information the browser can use. For example id="field1" instead of id="country". If you leave the id empty, the component uses a random id.

• Set autoComplete="new-password" (some browsers will suggest a strong password for inputs with this attribute setting):

  jsxCopy

  <TextField
    {...params}
    slotProps={{
      ...params.slotProps,
      htmlInput: {
        ...params.slotProps.htmlInput,
        autoComplete: 'new-password',
      },
    }}
  />
  

Read the guide on MDN for more details.

iOS VoiceOver

VoiceOver on iOS Safari doesn't support the aria-owns attribute very well. You can work around the issue with the disablePortal prop.

ListboxComponent

If you provide a custom ListboxComponent prop, you need to make sure that the intended scroll container has the role attribute set to listbox. This ensures the correct behavior of the scroll, for example when using the keyboard to navigate.

Accessibility

(WAI-ARIA: https://www.w3.org/WAI/ARIA/apg/patterns/combobox/)

We encourage the usage of a label for the textbox. The component implements the WAI-ARIA authoring practices.