Handling Forms in React Like a Pro 🚀

June 29, 2025

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Vijay Kumar

Forms are at the heart of most web applications. Whether you’re building a login page, a sign-up flow, or a multi-step wizard, you’ll deal with user input — and that means forms.

While React makes UI composition elegant, form handling can quickly become messy if not structured properly. In this guide, we’ll break down how to handle forms in React like a pro, with clean code, reusable patterns, and modern best practices.

The Basics: Controlled vs Uncontrolled

React offers two ways to work with form inputs:

Controlled Components: React state is the single source of truth.
Uncontrolled Components: DOM handles the form state via refs.

Pro Tip: Always default to controlled components unless you have a performance bottleneck. They make debugging and validation easier.

Example: Controlled Input

const [name, setName] = useState("");

return (
  <input
    type="text"
    value={name}
    onChange={(e) => setName(e.target.value)}
  />
);

Handling Multiple Inputs Elegantly

When you have multiple fields, managing individual state variables gets messy.

Use a Single State Object

const [formData, setFormData] = useState({
  name: "",
  email: "",
  password: "",
});

const handleChange = (e) => {
  const { name, value } = e.target;
  setFormData((prev) => ({ ...prev, [name]: value }));
};

<input name="name" value={formData.name} onChange={handleChange} />
<input name="email" value={formData.email} onChange={handleChange} />
<input name="password" value={formData.password} onChange={handleChange} />

Pro Tip: Name your inputs to match keys in formData.

Form Validation: Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

Option 1: Manual Validation

const validate = () => {
  if (!formData.email.includes("@")) {
    setError("Email is invalid");
    return false;
  }
  return true;
};

Option 2: Use Form Libraries

For large forms or complex validation, use Formik, React Hook Form, or Zod/Yup for schema-based validation.

React Hook Form + Zod Example

npm install react-hook-form zod @hookform/resolvers

import { useForm } from "react-hook-form";
import { z } from "zod";
import { zodResolver } from "@hookform/resolvers/zod";

const schema = z.object({
  email: z.string().email(),
  password: z.string().min(6),
});

const {
  register,
  handleSubmit,
  formState: { errors },
} = useForm({
  resolver: zodResolver(schema),
});

return (
  <form onSubmit={handleSubmit(console.log)}>
    <input {...register("email")} />
    {errors.email && <span>{errors.email.message}</span>}

    <input {...register("password")} />
    {errors.password && <span>{errors.password.message}</span>}

    <button type="submit">Submit</button>
  </form>
);

Pro Tip: Validation libraries reduce boilerplate, improve readability, and help with edge cases.

Use Custom Hooks to Encapsulate Logic

Extract form logic into custom hooks to reuse across components.

function useLoginForm() {
  const [formData, setFormData] = useState({ email: "", password: "" });

  const handleChange = (e) => {
    const { name, value } = e.target;
    setFormData((prev) => ({ ...prev, [name]: value }));
  };

  return { formData, handleChange };
}

UX Enhancements

Disable the submit button until the form is valid.
Show real-time validation errors.
Use loading indicators on submit.
Auto-focus the first invalid field.

<button disabled={!formIsValid || isSubmitting}>
  {isSubmitting ? "Submitting..." : "Submit"}
</button>

Summary

To handle forms in React like a pro:

Prefer controlled components.
Use a single state object for multiple fields.
Leverage form libraries for complex forms.
Encapsulate logic in custom hooks.
Enhance user experience with thoughtful UX patterns.

Mastering forms isn’t about writing more code — it’s about writing less, smarter code.