How to trigger a hidden date input's picker on parent div click in React?

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I'm building a React component that should display the native date picker when a user clicks anywhere inside a parent div, but without showing the actual date input field. I want the input to remain hidden while still triggering the date picker functionality.

Below is my current HTML structure:

HTML
<div className="flex flex-row gap-3"> 
    <div className="p-3 ... rounded bg-white cursor-pointer"> 
        <p className="font-normal text-sm ...">{date}</p> 
        <input type="date" className="hidden" /> 
    </div> 
    <div>{...}</div> 
</div>

I am looking for a clean way to trigger the native date picker (possibly using React refs and the showPicker method or a click fallback) when the parent div is clicked, while keeping the date input hidden. Any guidance or examples would be appreciated.

Comments 0

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Answers 3

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3 Answers

Answer by StackOverflow TychoAI Agent • 1 month ago

Below is one way to achieve this by keeping your date input hidden and triggering its native picker when the parent element is clicked.

Key Points

Using a Reference:
Use React’s ref (via useRef) to reference the hidden input element so you can programmatically trigger it.
Programmatically Triggering the Picker:
Some modern browsers now support a native method called showPicker() on date input elements. If it isn’t available in the user's browser, you can use a fallback by triggering a click on the input.
Handling the Date Change:
Attach an onChange handler to capture the selected date.

Example Code

JSX
import React, { useRef, useState } from 'react';

const DatePicker = () => {
  const [date, setDate] = useState('Select Date');
  const inputRef = useRef(null);

  const handleContainerClick = () => {
    // If the showPicker method exists (supported by some browsers), use it.
    if (inputRef.current.showPicker) {
      inputRef.current.showPicker();
    } else {
      // Fallback: trigger click on the hidden input so that the native picker appears.
      inputRef.current.click();
    }
  };

  const handleDateChange = (e) => {
    setDate(e.target.value);
  };

  return (
    <div className="flex flex-row gap-3">
      <div
        className="p-3 rounded bg-white cursor-pointer"
        onClick={handleContainerClick}
      >
        <p className="font-normal text-sm">{date}</p>
        <input
          ref={inputRef}
          type="date"
          className="hidden"
          onChange={handleDateChange}
        />
      </div>
      <div>{/* Other content or components */}</div>
    </div>
  );
};

export default DatePicker;

Explanation

Reference Setup:
The inputRef is used to access the hidden <input> element.
Handling the Click:
When the parent div is clicked, the handleContainerClick function checks if the showPicker() method is available. If it is, that method is called; otherwise, it falls back to triggering a click event on the input.
Updating the State:
When the user picks a date, the handleDateChange function updates the displayed date.

This approach allows you to keep the input hidden while still providing the native date picker UI when the component is clicked.

Tycho is an AI agent, that grounds responses in various sources like documentation, code bases, live discussions, and relevant posts. Want to chat privately with Tycho?

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Answer by LunarOrbiter488 • 1 month ago

You can use ref to hide input when click on parent

for example :
\

JAVASCRIPT
import { useRef, useState } from "react";\
\
const DatePicker = () => {\
  const dateInputRef = useRef(null);\
  const [date, setDate] = useState("");\
\
  const handleClick = () => {\
    if (dateInputRef.current) {\
      dateInputRef.current.showPicker(); \
    }\
  };\
\
  const handleDateChange = (e) => {\
    setDate(e.target.value);\
  };\
\
  return (<\
    <div className="..."><\
      <div<\
        className="..."<\
        onClick={handleClick}<\
      ><\
        <p className="...">{date || "Select a date"}</p><\
        <input<\
          type="date"<\
          ref={dateInputRef}<\
          className="hidden"<\
          onChange={handleDateChange}<\
        /><\
      </div><\
      <div>...</div><\
    </div><\
  );<\
};\
\
export default DatePicker;\
\

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Answer by NebularNavigator895 • 1 month ago

You can open the picker menu of individual input fields with the showPicker() method using an external event.

HTMLInputElement: showPicker() method - MDN Docs

Note: Pickers for date, datetime-local, month, time, week are launched in the same way. They cannot be shown here because live examples run in a cross-origin frame, and would cause a SecurityError

This does not work in an iframe or in the StackOverflow CodeSnippet! Create your own reproduction based on the code. I have attached the result in the image.

If you hide the date input field (display: none;), it won't be able to calculate its current position. Instead, make the parent div relative. Position the input in the bottom left corner, and set its height and width to 0.

HTML
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/18.3.1/umd/react.production.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react-dom/18.3.1/umd/react-dom.production.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/babel-standalone/7.25.6/babel.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://unpkg.com/@tailwindcss/browser@4"></script>

<div id="root"></div>

<script type="text/babel" data-presets="env,react">
const { useState, useRef } = React;

function DatePickerComponent() {
  const [date, setDate] = useState("");
  const inputRef = useRef(null);

  const handleDateOverlay = () => {
    inputRef.current?.showPicker();
  };

  const handleDateChange = (e) => {
    setDate(e.target.value);
  };

  return (
    <div className="space-x-4 p-4">
      <div
        class="relative cursor-pointer"
        onClick={handleDateOverlay}
      >
        <span className="text-3xl">📅</span>
        <span className="text-lg">{date}</span>
        <input
          ref={inputRef}
          type="date"
          value={date}
          onChange={handleDateChange}
          className="w-0 h-0 absolute bottom-0 left-0 -z-10"
        />
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

ReactDOM.render(<DatePickerComponent />, document.getElementById('root'));
</script>

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How to trigger a hidden date input's picker on parent div click in React?

3 Answers

Key Points

Example Code

Explanation

Discussion

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