user-event v13

user-event is a companion library for Testing Library that provides more advanced simulation of browser interactions than the built-in fireEvent method.

End of life

This page describes user-event@13.5.0.
This version is no longer maintained. Please use user-event@14 instead, as it includes important bug fixes and new features.

Installation

npm
Yarn

npm install --save-dev @testing-library/user-event @testing-library/dom

yarn add --dev @testing-library/user-event @testing-library/dom

Now simply import it in your tests:

import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event'

// or

const {default: userEvent} = require('@testing-library/user-event')

API

Note: All userEvent methods are synchronous with one exception: when delay option used with userEvent.type as described below. We also discourage using userEvent inside before/after blocks at all, for important reasons described in "Avoid Nesting When You're Testing".

`click(element, eventInit, options)`

Clicks element, depending on what element is clicked, calling click() can have different side effects.

import React from 'react'
import {render, screen} from '@testing-library/react'
import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event'

test('click', () => {
  render(
    <div>
      <label htmlFor="checkbox">Check</label>
      <input id="checkbox" type="checkbox" />
    </div>,
  )

  userEvent.click(screen.getByText('Check'))
  expect(screen.getByLabelText('Check')).toBeChecked()
})

You can also ctrlClick / shiftClick etc with

userEvent.click(elem, {ctrlKey: true, shiftKey: true})

See the MouseEvent constructor documentation for more options.

Note that click will trigger hover events before clicking. To disable this, set the skipHover option to true.

Pointer events options

Trying to click an element with pointer-events being set to "none" (i.e. unclickable) will throw an error. If you want to disable this behavior you can set skipPointerEventsCheck to true:

userEvent.click(elem, undefined, {skipPointerEventsCheck: true})

The skipPointerEventsCheck option can be passed to any pointer related API including:

dblClick
hover
unhover
selectOptions
deselectOptions

`dblClick(element, eventInit, options)`

Clicks element twice, depending on what element is it can have different side effects.

import React from 'react'
import {render, screen} from '@testing-library/react'
import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event'

test('double click', () => {
  const onChange = jest.fn()
  render(<input type="checkbox" onChange={onChange} />)
  const checkbox = screen.getByRole('checkbox')
  userEvent.dblClick(checkbox)
  expect(onChange).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
  expect(checkbox).not.toBeChecked()
})

Note: options includes Pointer events options

`type(element, text, [options])`

Writes text inside an <input> or a <textarea>.

import React from 'react'
import {render, screen} from '@testing-library/react'
import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event'

test('type', () => {
  render(<textarea />)

  userEvent.type(screen.getByRole('textbox'), 'Hello,{enter}World!')
  expect(screen.getByRole('textbox')).toHaveValue('Hello,\nWorld!')
})

options.delay is the number of milliseconds that pass between two characters are typed. By default it's 0. You can use this option if your component has a different behavior for fast or slow users. If you do this, you need to make sure to await!

type will click the element before typing. To disable this, set the skipClick option to true.

Special characters

The following special character strings are supported:

Text string	Key	Modifier	Notes
`{enter}`	Enter	N/A	Will insert a newline character (`<textarea />` only).
`{space}`	`' '`	N/A
`{esc}`	Escape	N/A
`{backspace}`	Backspace	N/A	Will delete the previous character (or the characters within the `selectedRange`, see example below).
`{del}`	Delete	N/A	Will delete the next character (or the characters within the `selectedRange`, see example below)
`{selectall}`	N/A	N/A	Selects all the text of the element. Note that this will only work for elements that support selection ranges (so, not `email`, `password`, `number`, among others)
`{arrowleft}`	ArrowLeft	N/A
`{arrowright}`	ArrowRight	N/A
`{arrowup}`	ArrowUp	N/A
`{arrowdown}`	ArrowDown	N/A
`{home}`	Home	N/A
`{end}`	End	N/A
`{shift}`	Shift	`shiftKey`	Does not capitalize following characters.
`{ctrl}`	Control	`ctrlKey`
`{alt}`	Alt	`altKey`
`{meta}`	OS	`metaKey`
`{capslock}`	CapsLock	`modifierCapsLock`	Fires both keydown and keyup when used (simulates a user clicking their "Caps Lock" button to enable caps lock).

A note about modifiers: Modifier keys ({shift}, {ctrl}, {alt}, {meta}) will activate their corresponding event modifiers for the duration of type command or until they are closed (via {/shift}, {/ctrl}, etc.). If they are not closed explicitly, then events will be fired to close them automatically (to disable this, set the skipAutoClose option to true).

We take the same stance as Cypress in that we do not simulate the behavior that happens with modifier key combinations as different operating systems function differently in this regard.

An example of an usage with a selection range:

import React from 'react'
import {render, screen} from '@testing-library/react'
import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event'

test('delete characters within the selectedRange', () => {
  render(
    <div>
      <label htmlFor="my-input">Example:</label>
      <input id="my-input" type="text" value="This is a bad example" />
    </div>,
  )
  const input = screen.getByLabelText(/example/i)
  input.setSelectionRange(10, 13)
  userEvent.type(input, '{backspace}good')

  expect(input).toHaveValue('This is a good example')

By default, type appends to the existing text. To prepend text, reset the element's selection range and provide the initialSelectionStart and initialSelectionEnd options:

import React from 'react'
import {render, screen} from '@testing-library/react'
import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event'

test('prepend text', () => {
  render(<input defaultValue="World!" />)
  const element = screen.getByRole('textbox')

  // Prepend text
  element.setSelectionRange(0, 0)
  userEvent.type(element, 'Hello, ', {
    initialSelectionStart: 0,
    initialSelectionEnd: 0,
  })

  expect(element).toHaveValue('Hello, World!')
})

`<input type="time" />` support

The following is an example of usage of this library with <input type="time" />

import React from 'react'
import {render, screen} from '@testing-library/react'
import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event'

test('types into the input', () => {
  render(
    <>
      <label for="time">Enter a time</label>
      <input type="time" id="time" />
    </>,
  )
  const input = screen.getByLabelText(/enter a time/i)
  userEvent.type(input, '13:58')
  expect(input.value).toBe('13:58')
})

`keyboard(text, options)`

Simulates the keyboard events described by text. This is similar to userEvent.type() but without any clicking or changing the selection range.

You should use userEvent.keyboard if you want to just simulate pressing buttons on the keyboard. You should use userEvent.type if you just want to conveniently insert some text into an input field or textarea.

Keystrokes can be described:

Per printable character
```
userEvent.keyboard('foo') // translates to: f, o, o
```
The brackets { and [ are used as special character and can be referenced by doubling them.
```
userEvent.keyboard('{{a[[') // translates to: {, a, [
```
Per KeyboardEvent.key (only supports alphanumeric values of key)
```
userEvent.keyboard('{Shift}{f}{o}{o}') // translates to: Shift, f, o, o
```
This does not keep any key pressed. So Shift will be lifted before pressing f.

Per KeyboardEvent.code

userEvent.keyboard('[ShiftLeft][KeyF][KeyO][KeyO]') // translates to: Shift, f, o, o

Per legacy userEvent.type modifier/specialChar The modifiers like {shift} (note the lowercase) will automatically be kept pressed, just like before. You can cancel this behavior by adding a / to the end of the descriptor.
```
userEvent.keyboard('{shift}{ctrl/}a{/shift}') // translates to: Shift(down), Control(down+up), a, Shift(up)
```

Keys can be kept pressed by adding a > to the end of the descriptor - and lifted by adding a / to the beginning of the descriptor:

userEvent.keyboard('{Shift>}A{/Shift}') // translates to: Shift(down), A, Shift(up)

userEvent.keyboard returns a keyboard state that can be used to continue keyboard operations.

const keyboardState = userEvent.keyboard('[ControlLeft>]') // keydown [ControlLeft]
// ... inspect some changes ...
userEvent.keyboard('a', {keyboardState}) // press [KeyA] with active ctrlKey modifier

The mapping of key to code is performed by a default key map portraying a "default" US-keyboard. You can provide your own local keyboard mapping per option.

userEvent.keyboard('?', {keyboardMap: myOwnLocaleKeyboardMap})

Future versions might try to interpolate the modifiers needed to reach a printable key on the keyboard. E.g. Automatically pressing {Shift} when CapsLock is not active and A is referenced. If you don't wish this behavior, you can pass autoModify: false when using userEvent.keyboard in your code.

`upload(element, file, [{ clickInit, changeInit }], [options])`

Uploads file to an <input>. For uploading multiple files use <input> with the multiple attribute and the second upload argument as an array. It's also possible to initialize a click or change event using a third argument.

If options.applyAccept is set to true and there is an accept attribute on the element, files that don't match will be discarded.

import React from 'react'
import {render, screen} from '@testing-library/react'
import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event'

test('upload file', () => {
  const file = new File(['hello'], 'hello.png', {type: 'image/png'})

  render(
    <div>
      <label htmlFor="file-uploader">Upload file:</label>
      <input id="file-uploader" type="file" />
    </div>,
  )
  const input = screen.getByLabelText(/upload file/i)
  userEvent.upload(input, file)

  expect(input.files[0]).toStrictEqual(file)
  expect(input.files.item(0)).toStrictEqual(file)
  expect(input.files).toHaveLength(1)
})

test('upload multiple files', () => {
  const files = [
    new File(['hello'], 'hello.png', {type: 'image/png'}),
    new File(['there'], 'there.png', {type: 'image/png'}),
  ]

  render(
    <div>
      <label htmlFor="file-uploader">Upload file:</label>
      <input id="file-uploader" type="file" multiple />
    </div>,
  )
  const input = screen.getByLabelText(/upload file/i)
  userEvent.upload(input, files)

  expect(input.files).toHaveLength(2)
  expect(input.files[0]).toStrictEqual(files[0])
  expect(input.files[1]).toStrictEqual(files[1])
})

`clear(element)`

Selects the text inside an <input> or <textarea> and deletes it.

import React from 'react'
import {render, screen} from '@testing-library/react'
import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event'

test('clear', () => {
  render(<textarea defaultValue="Hello, World!" />)

  userEvent.clear(screen.getByRole('textbox'))
  expect(screen.getByRole('textbox')).toHaveValue('')
})

`selectOptions(element, values, options)`

Selects the specified option(s) of a <select> or a <select multiple> element.

import React from 'react'
import {render, screen} from '@testing-library/react'
import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event'

test('selectOptions', () => {
  render(
    <select multiple>
      <option value="1">A</option>
      <option value="2">B</option>
      <option value="3">C</option>
    </select>,
  )

  userEvent.selectOptions(screen.getByRole('listbox'), ['1', '3'])

  expect(screen.getByRole('option', {name: 'A'}).selected).toBe(true)
  expect(screen.getByRole('option', {name: 'B'}).selected).toBe(false)
  expect(screen.getByRole('option', {name: 'C'}).selected).toBe(true)
})

The values parameter can be either an array of values or a singular scalar value.

It also accepts option nodes:

userEvent.selectOptions(screen.getByTestId('select-multiple'), [
  screen.getByText('A'),
  screen.getByText('B'),
])

Note: options includes Pointer events options

`deselectOptions(element, values, options)`

Remove the selection for the specified option(s) of a <select multiple> element.

import * as React from 'react'
import {render, screen} from '@testing-library/react'
import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event'

test('deselectOptions', () => {
  render(
    <select multiple>
      <option value="1">A</option>
      <option value="2">B</option>
      <option value="3">C</option>
    </select>,
  )

  userEvent.selectOptions(screen.getByRole('listbox'), '2')
  expect(screen.getByText('B').selected).toBe(true)
  userEvent.deselectOptions(screen.getByRole('listbox'), '2')
  expect(screen.getByText('B').selected).toBe(false)
  // can do multiple at once as well:
  // userEvent.deselectOptions(screen.getByRole('listbox'), ['1', '2'])
})

The values parameter can be either an array of values or a singular scalar value.

Note: options includes Pointer events options

`tab({shift, focusTrap})`

Fires a tab event changing the document.activeElement in the same way the browser does.

Options:

shift (default false) can be true or false to invert tab direction.
focusTrap (default document) a container element to restrict the tabbing within.

A note about tab: jsdom does not support tabbing, so this feature is a way to enable tests to verify tabbing from the end user's perspective. However, this limitation in jsdom will mean that components like focus-trap-react will not work with userEvent.tab() or jsdom. For that reason, the focusTrap option is available to let you ensure your user is restricted within a focus-trap.

import React from 'react'
import {render, screen} from '@testing-library/react'
import '@testing-library/jest-dom'
import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event'

it('should cycle elements in document tab order', () => {
  render(
    <div>
      <input data-testid="element" type="checkbox" />
      <input data-testid="element" type="radio" />
      <input data-testid="element" type="number" />
    </div>,
  )

  const [checkbox, radio, number] = screen.getAllByTestId('element')

  expect(document.body).toHaveFocus()

  userEvent.tab()

  expect(checkbox).toHaveFocus()

  userEvent.tab()

  expect(radio).toHaveFocus()

  userEvent.tab()

  expect(number).toHaveFocus()

  userEvent.tab()

  // cycle goes back to the body element
  expect(document.body).toHaveFocus()

  userEvent.tab()

  expect(checkbox).toHaveFocus()
})

`hover(element, options)`

Hovers over element.

import React from 'react'
import {render, screen} from '@testing-library/react'
import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event'
import Tooltip from '../tooltip'

test('hover', () => {
  const messageText = 'Hello'
  render(
    <Tooltip messageText={messageText}>
      <TrashIcon aria-label="Delete" />
    </Tooltip>,
  )

  userEvent.hover(screen.getByLabelText(/delete/i))
  expect(screen.getByText(messageText)).toBeInTheDocument()
  userEvent.unhover(screen.getByLabelText(/delete/i))
  expect(screen.queryByText(messageText)).not.toBeInTheDocument()
})

Note: options includes Pointer events options

`unhover(element, options)`

Unhovers out of element.

See above for an example

Note: options includes Pointer events options

`paste(element, text, eventInit, options)`

Allows you to simulate the user pasting some text into an input.

test('should paste text in input', () => {
  render(<MyInput />)

  const text = 'Hello, world!'
  const element = getByRole('textbox', {name: /paste your greeting/i})
  userEvent.paste(element, text)
  expect(element).toHaveValue(text)
})

You can use the eventInit if what you're pasting should have clipboardData (like files).

`specialChars`

A handful set of special characters used in type method.

Key	Character
arrowLeft	`{arrowleft}`
arrowRight	`{arrowright}`
arrowDown	`{arrowdown}`
arrowUp	`{arrowup}`
home	`{home}`
end	`{end}`
enter	`{enter}`
escape	`{esc}`
delete	`{del}`
backspace	`{backspace}`
selectAll	`{selectall}`
space	`{space}`
whitespace	`' '`

Usage example:

import React, {useState} from 'react'
import {render, screen} from '@testing-library/react'
import userEvent, {specialChars} from '@testing-library/user-event'

const InputElement = () => {
  const [currentValue, setCurrentValue] = useState('This is a bad example')
  return (
    <div>
      <label htmlFor="my-input">Example:</label>
      <input
        id="my-input"
        type="text"
        value={currentValue}
        onChange={e => setCurrentValue(e.target.value)}
      />
    </div>
  )
}

test('delete characters within the selectedRange', () => {
  render(<InputElement />)
  const input = screen.getByLabelText(/example/i)
  input.setSelectionRange(10, 13)
  userEvent.type(input, `${specialChars.backspace}good`)

  expect(input).toHaveValue('This is a good example')
})

Installation​

API​

click(element, eventInit, options)​

Pointer events options​

dblClick(element, eventInit, options)​

type(element, text, [options])​

Special characters​

<input type="time" /> support​

keyboard(text, options)​

upload(element, file, [{ clickInit, changeInit }], [options])​

clear(element)​

selectOptions(element, values, options)​

deselectOptions(element, values, options)​

tab({shift, focusTrap})​

hover(element, options)​

unhover(element, options)​

paste(element, text, eventInit, options)​

specialChars​

Installation

API

`click(element, eventInit, options)`

Pointer events options

`dblClick(element, eventInit, options)`

`type(element, text, [options])`

Special characters

`<input type="time" />` support

`keyboard(text, options)`

`upload(element, file, [{ clickInit, changeInit }], [options])`

`clear(element)`

`selectOptions(element, values, options)`

`deselectOptions(element, values, options)`

`tab({shift, focusTrap})`

`hover(element, options)`

`unhover(element, options)`

`paste(element, text, eventInit, options)`

`specialChars`