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You can find the full code for this tutorial, with styling, at https://codesandbox.io/s/onclickoutside-hook-d20mq.

Create the hook

In a new useOnClickOutside.js file, import useEffect at the top.

// src/useOnClickOutside.js

import { useEffect } from "react";

Define your hook as a callback function. Don't forget to export default

// src/useOnClickOutside.js

const useOnClickOutside = () => {}

export default useOnClickOutside

The hook will accept two arguments: a ref , and a handler . The ref is a reference to the element we want to toggle the visibility, and the handler is the action we want to perform when the hook is called.

// src/useOnClickOutside.js

const useOnClickOutside = (ref, handler) => {}

Inside of the hook, we'll create a useEffect . In the dependency array, let's add the ref and the handler , because they might be updated.

// src/useOnClickOutside.js

const useOnClickOutside = (ref, handler) => {
  useEffect(() => {
    
  }, [ref, handler]);
};

Inside of the useEffect , we'll add a listener . This is the function we'll call with the addEventListeners we'll add at the next step. The listener function will look at the event, and if the user clicked on the ref, or any children inside of the ref, we're not doing anything, we'll just exit the function. Otherwise, if the user clicked outside of the ref , we'll call the handler function we passed to the useOnClickOutside hook.

// src/useOnClickOutside.js

const useOnClickOutside = (ref, handler) => {
  useEffect(() => {
    const listener = (event) => {
      if (!ref.current || ref.current.contains(event.target)) {
        return;
      }
      handler(event);
    };

  }, [ref, handler]);
};

Right below the listener, let's listen to two events. The first one is the mousedown event, and the second one is the touchstart even. Any time these events are fired, we'll call the listener function.

// src/useOnClickOutside.js

const useOnClickOutside = (ref, handler) => {
  useEffect(() => {
    const listener = (event) => {
      if (!ref.current || ref.current.contains(event.target)) {
        return;
      }
      handler(event);
    };

    document.addEventListener("mousedown", listener);
    document.addEventListener("touchstart", listener);

  }, [ref, handler]);
};

The last thing to do in this hook is to remove both of the event listeners in the cleanup function.

// src/useOnClickOutside.js

const useOnClickOutside = (ref, handler) => {
  useEffect(() => {
    const listener = (event) => {
      if (!ref.current || ref.current.contains(event.target)) {
        return;
      }
      handler(event);
    };

    document.addEventListener("mousedown", listener);
    document.addEventListener("touchstart", listener);

    return () => {
      document.removeEventListener("mousedown", listener);
      document.removeEventListener("touchstart", listener);
    };
  }, [ref, handler]);
};

Here's the final code for the useOnClickOutside hook.

// src/useOnClickOutside.js, final code

import { useEffect } from "react";

const useOnClickOutside = (ref, handler) => {
  useEffect(() => {
    const listener = (event) => {
      if (!ref.current || ref.current.contains(event.target)) {
        return;
      }
      handler(event);
    };

    document.addEventListener("mousedown", listener);
    document.addEventListener("touchstart", listener);

    return () => {
      document.removeEventListener("mousedown", listener);
      document.removeEventListener("touchstart", listener);
    };
  }, [ref, handler]);
};

export default useOnClickOutside;

Add a modal and button

Let's use the hook now! Let's import useState and useRef from the React library in App.js.

// src/App.js

import { useState, useRef } from "react"; 

Create a ref and a state called showModal.

// src/App.js

const ref = useRef();
const [showModal, setShowModal] = useState(false);

In the return body of App.js , we'll add a ternary operator. If showModal is true, we'll show a modal. If showModal is false, we'll show a button.

// src/App.js

{showModal ? (
	{/* Showing a modal if showModal is true */}
  <div>
    <p>
      Hello from my modal! You can click anywhere inside of this modal and
      it won't close. Click outside, and it'll close!
    </p>
  </div>
) : (
	{/* Showing a button if showModal is false */}
  <button>Show modal</button>
)}

In the div wrapping the modal, let's add a ref . If your modal is in another file, remember to use forwardRef instead of passing a ref as a prop to your component.

// src/App.js

<div ref={ref}>
	<p>
		Hello from my modal! You can click anywhere inside of this modal and
		it won't close. Click outside, and it'll close!
	</p>
</div>

Now, let's add the functionality on the Show modal button. On click of it, we'll set the showModal state to true.

// src/App.js

<button onClick={() => setShowModal(true)}>Show modal</button>

Use the hook

Now, let's use the hook! Import it at the top in your App.js file.

// src/App.js

import useOnClickOutside from "./useOnClickOutside";

Right below your ref and showModal state, let's define the hook and pass the ref as well as the a handler function. The function will just be a callback function, in which we set the showModal state to false.

// src/App.js

useOnClickOutside(ref, () => setShowModal(false));

And voilà! Anytime you click inside of the modal, it won't close and when you click outside of it, because of the useOnClickOutside hook we added, it'll automatically close the modal. Sweet!

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useState Hook

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useEffect Hook

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useRef Hook

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