tanstack-virtual

Overview

TanStack Virtual provides virtualization logic for rendering only visible items in large lists, grids, and tables. It calculates which items are in the viewport and positions them with absolute positioning, keeping DOM node count minimal regardless of dataset size.

Package: @tanstack/react-virtual Core: @tanstack/virtual-core (framework-agnostic)

Installation

npm install @tanstack/react-virtual

Core Pattern

import { useVirtualizer } from '@tanstack/react-virtual'

function VirtualList() {
  const parentRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null)

  const virtualizer = useVirtualizer({
    count: 10000,
    getScrollElement: () => parentRef.current,
    estimateSize: () => 35, // estimated row height in px
    overscan: 5,
  })

  return (
    <div ref={parentRef} style={{ height: '400px', overflow: 'auto' }}>
      <div
        style={{
          height: `${virtualizer.getTotalSize()}px`,
          width: '100%',
          position: 'relative',
        }}
      >
        {virtualizer.getVirtualItems().map((virtualItem) => (
          <div
            key={virtualItem.key}
            style={{
              position: 'absolute',
              top: 0,
              left: 0,
              width: '100%',
              height: `${virtualItem.size}px`,
              transform: `translateY(${virtualItem.start}px)`,
            }}
          >
            Row {virtualItem.index}
          </div>
        ))}
      </div>
    </div>
  )
}

Virtualizer Options

Required

| Option | Type | Description | |--------|------|-------------| | count | number | Total number of items | | getScrollElement | () => Element \| null | Returns scroll container | | estimateSize | (index) => number | Estimated item size (overestimate recommended) |

Optional

| Option | Type | Default | Description | |--------|------|---------|-------------| | overscan | number | 1 | Extra items rendered beyond viewport | | horizontal | boolean | false | Horizontal virtualization | | gap | number | 0 | Gap between items (px) | | lanes | number | 1 | Number of lanes (masonry/grid) | | paddingStart | number | 0 | Padding before first item | | paddingEnd | number | 0 | Padding after last item | | scrollPaddingStart | number | 0 | Offset for scrollTo positioning | | scrollPaddingEnd | number | 0 | Offset for scrollTo positioning | | initialOffset | number | 0 | Starting scroll position | | initialRect | Rect | - | Initial dimensions (SSR) | | enabled | boolean | true | Enable/disable | | getItemKey | (index) => Key | (i) => i | Stable key for items | | rangeExtractor | (range) => number[] | default | Custom visible indices | | scrollToFn | (offset, options, instance) => void | default | Custom scroll behavior | | measureElement | (el, entry, instance) => number | default | Custom measurement | | onChange | (instance, sync) => void | - | State change callback | | isScrollingResetDelay | number | 150 | Delay before scroll complete |

Virtualizer API

// Get visible items
virtualizer.getVirtualItems(): VirtualItem[]

// Get total scrollable size
virtualizer.getTotalSize(): number

// Scroll to specific index
virtualizer.scrollToIndex(index, { align: 'start' | 'center' | 'end' | 'auto', behavior: 'auto' | 'smooth' })

// Scroll to offset
virtualizer.scrollToOffset(offset, options)

// Force recalculation
virtualizer.measure()

VirtualItem Properties

interface VirtualItem {
  key: Key           // Unique key
  index: number      // Index in source data
  start: number      // Pixel offset (use for transform)
  end: number        // End pixel offset
  size: number       // Item dimension
  lane: number       // Lane index (multi-column)
}

Dynamic/Variable Heights

Use measureElement ref for items with unknown heights:

const virtualizer = useVirtualizer({
  count: items.length,
  getScrollElement: () => parentRef.current,
  estimateSize: () => 50, // overestimate
})

{virtualizer.getVirtualItems().map((virtualItem) => (
  <div
    key={virtualItem.key}
    data-index={virtualItem.index}  // REQUIRED for measurement
    ref={virtualizer.measureElement} // Attach for dynamic measurement
    style={{
      position: 'absolute',
      top: 0,
      left: 0,
      width: '100%',
      transform: `translateY(${virtualItem.start}px)`,
      // Do NOT set fixed height - let content determine it
    }}
  >
    {items[virtualItem.index].content}
  </div>
))}

Horizontal Virtualization

const virtualizer = useVirtualizer({
  count: columns.length,
  getScrollElement: () => parentRef.current,
  estimateSize: () => 100,
  horizontal: true,
})

// Use width for container, translateX for positioning
<div style={{ width: `${virtualizer.getTotalSize()}px`, position: 'relative' }}>
  {virtualizer.getVirtualItems().map((item) => (
    <div style={{
      position: 'absolute',
      height: '100%',
      width: `${item.size}px`,
      transform: `translateX(${item.start}px)`,
    }}>
      Column {item.index}
    </div>
  ))}
</div>

Grid Virtualization (Two Virtualizers)

function VirtualGrid() {
  const parentRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null)

  const rowVirtualizer = useVirtualizer({
    count: 10000,
    getScrollElement: () => parentRef.current,
    estimateSize: () => 35,
    overscan: 5,
  })

  const columnVirtualizer = useVirtualizer({
    count: 10000,
    getScrollElement: () => parentRef.current,
    estimateSize: () => 100,
    horizontal: true,
    overscan: 5,
  })

  return (
    <div ref={parentRef} style={{ height: '500px', width: '500px', overflow: 'auto' }}>
      <div style={{
        height: `${rowVirtualizer.getTotalSize()}px`,
        width: `${columnVirtualizer.getTotalSize()}px`,
        position: 'relative',
      }}>
        {rowVirtualizer.getVirtualItems().map((virtualRow) => (
          <Fragment key={virtualRow.key}>
            {columnVirtualizer.getVirtualItems().map((virtualColumn) => (
              <div
                key={virtualColumn.key}
                style={{
                  position: 'absolute',
                  width: `${virtualColumn.size}px`,
                  height: `${virtualRow.size}px`,
                  transform: `translateX(${virtualColumn.start}px) translateY(${virtualRow.start}px)`,
                }}
              >
                Cell {virtualRow.index},{virtualColumn.index}
              </div>
            ))}
          </Fragment>
        ))}
      </div>
    </div>
  )
}

Window Scrolling

import { useWindowVirtualizer } from '@tanstack/react-virtual'

function WindowList() {
  const listRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null)

  const virtualizer = useWindowVirtualizer({
    count: 10000,
    estimateSize: () => 45,
    overscan: 5,
    scrollMargin: listRef.current?.offsetTop ?? 0,
  })

  return (
    <div ref={listRef}>
      <div style={{
        height: `${virtualizer.getTotalSize()}px`,
        position: 'relative',
      }}>
        {virtualizer.getVirtualItems().map((item) => (
          <div
            key={item.key}
            style={{
              position: 'absolute',
              height: `${item.size}px`,
              transform: `translateY(${item.start - virtualizer.options.scrollMargin}px)`,
            }}
          >
            Row {item.index}
          </div>
        ))}
      </div>
    </div>
  )
}

Infinite Scrolling

import { useVirtualizer } from '@tanstack/react-virtual'
import { useInfiniteQuery } from '@tanstack/react-query'

function InfiniteList() {
  const { data, fetchNextPage, hasNextPage, isFetchingNextPage } = useInfiniteQuery({
    queryKey: ['items'],
    queryFn: ({ pageParam = 0 }) => fetchItems(pageParam),
    getNextPageParam: (lastPage) => lastPage.nextCursor,
  })

  const allItems = data?.pages.flatMap((page) => page.items) ?? []

  const vi