Material React Table

Material React Table has a powerful built-in global filtering (search) feature that uses a fuzzy matching algorithm and ranks/sorts the results based on how closely rows match the search query. In this guide, we'll cover how to use, customize, or disable the global filter and search features to fit your needs.

boolean

true

boolean

true

boolean

true

boolean

true

(column: Column<TData, unknown>) => boolean

MRT_FilterOption

Array<MRT_FilterOption | string> | null

boolean

TextFieldProps | ({ table }) => TextFieldProps

OnChangeFn<GlobalFilterState>

OnChangeFn<GlobalFilterState>

OnChangeFn<boolean>

'left' | 'right'

'right'

({ internalFilterOptions, onSelectFilterMode, table }) => ReactNode[]

boolean

boolean

any

MRT_FilterFn

boolean

false

You can either disable the global filter feature entirely or disable it for specific columns.

If you simply want to not include a column as one of the columns that the global filter scans through during filtering, you can set the enableGlobalFilter option to false for that column.

const columns = [
  {
    accessorKey: 'id',
    header: 'Id',
    enableGlobalFilter: false, // do not scan this column during global filtering
  },
  {
    accessorKey: 'name',
    header: 'Name',
  },
];

You can disable the global filtering feature and hide the search icon by setting the enableGlobalFilter table option to false.

const table = useMaterialReactTable({
  columns,
  data,
  enableGlobalFilter: false, //disable search feature
});

return <MaterialReactTable table={table} />;

Client-side filtering (and global filtering) is enabled by default. This means that the search box will scan through all columns and try to find matches for the search term.

You can use any of the built-in filterFns or any of the custom filter functions that you have defined in the filterFns prop, just like you would with the column filters.

const table = useMaterialReactTable({
  columns,
  data,
  globalFilterFn: 'contains', //turn off fuzzy matching and use simple contains filter function
});

Or a custom filter function:

const table = useMaterialReactTable({
  columns,
  data,
  filterFns: {
    myCustomFilterFn: (row, id, filterValue) =>
      row.getValue(id).startsWith(filterValue),
  },
  globalFilterFn: 'myCustomFilterFn', //set the global filter function to myCustomFilterFn
});

The default global filter function is set to fuzzy, which is a filtering algorithm based on the popular match-sorter library from Kent C. Dodds, though you can change the global filter function by setting the globalFilterFn table option.

If you keep the default fuzzy filterFn option as the global filter function, you get an extra ranked results feature enabled by default. This means that when a user searches with the search box, the results will be sorted by the closest match first instead of the order the data was defined in.

The ranked results feature will disable itself automatically if a sort direction is applied to a column, if any sub-rows are expanded, or if any of the manual props are set to true.

If you do not want ranked results to be enabled at all, but you still want fuzzy matching, you can set the enableGlobalFilterRankedResults table option to false.

const table = useMaterialReactTable({
  columns,
  data,
  enableGlobalFilterRankedResults: false, //preserve the order of the data when fuzzy match searching
});

Similar to the column filter modes, you can enable the user to be able to choose between multiple different filter modes for the global filter with the enableGlobalFilterModes table option. You can then customize which filter modes are available in the drop-down by setting the globalFilterModeOptions table option or by rendering your own custom menu items with the renderGlobalFilterModeMenuItems table option.

const table = useMaterialReactTable({
  columns,
  data,
  enableGlobalFilterModes: true, //enable the user to choose between multiple search filter modes
  globalFilterModeOptions: ['fuzzy', 'startsWith'], //only allow the user to choose between fuzzy and startsWith filter modes
});

Additionally, if you want to show the search text box by default and not hide it behind the search icon, you can set the showGlobalFilter state to true in the initialState.

A very common use case when you have a lot of data is to filter the data on the server, instead of client-side. In this case, you will want to set the manualFiltering table option to true and manage the globalFilter state yourself like in the example below (can work in conjunction with manual column filtering).

// You can manage and have control over the columnFilters state yourself
const [globalFilter, setGlobalFilter] = useState('');
const [data, setData] = useState([]); //data will get updated after re-fetching

useEffect(() => {
  const fetchData = async () => {
    // send api requests when columnFilters state changes
    const filteredData = await fetch();
    setData([...filteredData]);
  };
}, [globalFilter]);

const table = useMaterialReactTable({
  columns,
  data, // this will already be filtered on the server
  manualFiltering: true, //turn off client-side filtering
  onGlobalFilterChange: setGlobalFilter, //hoist internal global state to your state
  state: { globalFilter }, //pass in your own managed globalFilter state
});

return <MaterialReactTable table={table} />;

Specifying manualFiltering turns off all client-side filtering and assumes that the data you pass to <MaterialReactTable /> is already filtered.

Here is the full Remote Data example showing off server-side filtering, pagination, and sorting.

1import { useEffect, useMemo, useState } from 'react';
2import {
3  MaterialReactTable,
4  useMaterialReactTable,
5  type MRT_ColumnDef,
6  type MRT_ColumnFiltersState,
7  type MRT_PaginationState,
8  type MRT_SortingState,
9} from 'material-react-table';
10
11type UserApiResponse = {
12  data: Array<User>;
13  meta: {
14    totalRowCount: number;
15  };
16};
17
18type User = {
19  firstName: string;
20  lastName: string;
21  address: string;
22  state: string;
23  phoneNumber: string;
24};
25
26const Example = () => {
27  //data and fetching state
28  const [data, setData] = useState<User[]>([]);
29  const [isError, setIsError] = useState(false);
30  const [isLoading, setIsLoading] = useState(false);
31  const [isRefetching, setIsRefetching] = useState(false);
32  const [rowCount, setRowCount] = useState(0);
33
34  //table state
35  const [columnFilters, setColumnFilters] = useState<MRT_ColumnFiltersState>(
36    [],
37  );
38  const [globalFilter, setGlobalFilter] = useState('');
39  const [sorting, setSorting] = useState<MRT_SortingState>([]);
40  const [pagination, setPagination] = useState<MRT_PaginationState>({
41    pageIndex: 0,
42    pageSize: 10,
43  });
44
45  //if you want to avoid useEffect, look at the React Query example instead
46  useEffect(() => {
47    const fetchData = async () => {
48      if (!data.length) {
49        setIsLoading(true);
50      } else {
51        setIsRefetching(true);
52      }
53
54      const url = new URL(
55        '/api/data',
56        process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production'
57          ? 'https://www.material-react-table.com'
58          : 'http://localhost:3000',
59      );
60      url.searchParams.set(
61        'start',
62        `${pagination.pageIndex * pagination.pageSize}`,
63      );
64      url.searchParams.set('size', `${pagination.pageSize}`);
65      url.searchParams.set('filters', JSON.stringify(columnFilters ?? []));
66      url.searchParams.set('globalFilter', globalFilter ?? '');
67      url.searchParams.set('sorting', JSON.stringify(sorting ?? []));
68
69      try {
70        const response = await fetch(url.href);
71        const json = (await response.json()) as UserApiResponse;
72        setData(json.data);
73        setRowCount(json.meta.totalRowCount);
74      } catch (error) {
75        setIsError(true);
76        console.error(error);
77        return;
78      }
79      setIsError(false);
80      setIsLoading(false);
81      setIsRefetching(false);
82    };
83    fetchData();
84    // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
85  }, [
86    columnFilters, //re-fetch when column filters change
87    globalFilter, //re-fetch when global filter changes
88    pagination.pageIndex, //re-fetch when page index changes
89    pagination.pageSize, //re-fetch when page size changes
90    sorting, //re-fetch when sorting changes
91  ]);
92
93  const columns = useMemo<MRT_ColumnDef<User>[]>(
94    () => [
95      {
96        accessorKey: 'firstName',
97        header: 'First Name',
98      },
99      //column definitions...
100      {
101        accessorKey: 'lastName',
102        header: 'Last Name',
103      },
104      {
105        accessorKey: 'address',
106        header: 'Address',
107      },
108      {
109        accessorKey: 'state',
110        header: 'State',
111      },
112      {
113        accessorKey: 'phoneNumber',
114        header: 'Phone Number',
115      },
116      
117    ],
118    [],
119  );
120
121  const table = useMaterialReactTable({
122    columns,
123    data,
124    enableRowSelection: true,
125    getRowId: (row) => row.phoneNumber,
126    initialState: { showColumnFilters: true },
127    manualFiltering: true,
128    manualPagination: true,
129    manualSorting: true,
130    muiToolbarAlertBannerProps: isError
131      ? {
132          color: 'error',
133          children: 'Error loading data',
134        }
135      : undefined,
136    onColumnFiltersChange: setColumnFilters,
137    onGlobalFilterChange: setGlobalFilter,
138    onPaginationChange: setPagination,
139    onSortingChange: setSorting,
140    rowCount,
141    state: {
142      columnFilters,
143      globalFilter,
144      isLoading,
145      pagination,
146      showAlertBanner: isError,
147      showProgressBars: isRefetching,
148      sorting,
149    },
150  });
151
152  return <MaterialReactTable table={table} />;
153};
154
155export default Example;
156

You can customize the position of the global filter (search box) in the top toolbar by setting the positionGlobalFilter table option to left or right. It is shown on the right by default.

const table = useMaterialReactTable({
  columns,
  data,
  positionGlobalFilter: 'left', //show the global filter on the left side of the top toolbar
  initialState: {
    showGlobalFilter: true, //show the global filter by default
  },
});

You can customize the search text field by passing in props to the muiSearchTextFieldProps table option. This is useful if you want to customize the placeholder text, add styles, or any other text field props.

const table = useMaterialReactTable({
  columns,
  data,
  muiSearchTextFieldProps: {
    placeholder: 'Search all users',
    sx: { minWidth: '300px' },
    variant: 'outlined',
  },
});

return <MaterialReactTable table={table} />;

1import { useMemo } from 'react';
2import { MaterialReactTable, type MRT_ColumnDef } from 'material-react-table';
3import { data, type Person } from './makeData';
4
5const Example = () => {
6  const columns = useMemo<MRT_ColumnDef<Person>[]>(
7    //column definitions...
8    () => [
9      {
10        accessorKey: 'id',
11        header: 'ID',
12      },
13      {
14        accessorKey: 'firstName',
15        header: 'First Name',
16      },
17      {
18        accessorKey: 'middleName',
19        header: 'Middle Name',
20      },
21      {
22        accessorKey: 'lastName',
23        header: 'Last Name',
24      },
25      {
26        accessorKey: 'age',
27        header: 'Age',
28      },
29    ],
30    [],
31    
32  );
33
34  return (
35    <MaterialReactTable
36      columns={columns}
37      data={data}
38      enableGlobalFilterModes
39      initialState={{
40        showGlobalFilter: true,
41      }}
42      positionGlobalFilter="left"
43      muiSearchTextFieldProps={{
44        placeholder: `Search ${data.length} rows`,
45        sx: { minWidth: '300px' },
46        variant: 'outlined',
47      }}
48    />
49  );
50};
51
52export default Example;
53

Filter match highlighting is a new featured enabled by default that will highlight text in the table body cells that matches the current search query with a shade of the theme.palette.warning.main color.

If you are using a custom Cell render override for a column, you will need to use the renderedCellValue table option instead of cell.getValue() to preserve the filter match highlighting.

const columns = [
  {
    accessorKey: 'name',
    header: 'Name',
    Cell: ({ renderedCellValue }) => <span>{renderedCellValue}</span>, // use renderedCellValue instead of cell.getValue()
  },
];

Filter match highlighting can be disabled by setting the enableFilterMatchHighlighting table option to false.

const table = useMaterialReactTable({
  columns,
  data,
  enableFilterMatchHighlighting: false, //disable filter match highlighting
});

View Extra Storybook Examples