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    Global Filtering (Search) Feature Guide

    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.

    Relevant Props

    1
    boolean
    true
    MRT Global Filtering Docs
    2
    boolean
    true
    MRT Global Filtering Docs
    3
    boolean
    true
    MRT Global Filtering Docs
    4
    (column: Column<TData, unknown>) => boolean
    5
    MRT_FilterOption
    6
    Array<MRT_FilterOption | string> | null
    7
    boolean
    TanStack Table Filters Docs
    8
    TextFieldProps | ({ table }) => TextFieldProps
    Material UI TextField Props
    9
    OnChangeFn<GlobalFilterState>
    TanStack Table Filters Docs
    10
    OnChangeFn<GlobalFilterState>
    TanStack Table Filters Docs
    11
    OnChangeFn<boolean>
    12
    'left' | 'right'
    13
    ({ internalFilterOptions, onSelectFilterMode, table }) => ReactNode[]

    Relevant Column Options

    1
    boolean

    Relevant State Options

    1
    any
    TanStack Table Filtering Docs
    2
    MRT_FilterFn
    3
    boolean
    false

    Disable Global Filtering

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

    Disable Global Filtering per Column

    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',
    },
    ];

    Disable Global Filter Feature

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

    <MaterialTable
    columns={columns}
    data={data}
    enableGlobalFilter={false} //disable search feature
    />

    Client-Side Global Filtering

    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.

    Global Filter Function

    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.

    <MaterialReactTable
    columns={columns}
    data={data}
    globalFilterFn="contains" //turn off fuzzy matching and use simple contains filter function
    />

    or a custom filter function:

    <MaterialReactTable
    columns={columns}
    data={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 prop.

    Ranked Results

    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 searchbox, the results will be sorted by the closest match first instead of the order the data was defined in.

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

    <MaterialReactTable
    columns={columns}
    data={data}
    enableGlobalFilterRankedResults={false} //preserve the order of the data when fuzzy match searching
    />

    Global Filter Modes

    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 prop. You can then customize which filter modes are available in the dropdown by setting the globalFilterModeOptions prop, or by rendering your own custom menu items with the renderGlobalFilterModeMenuItems prop.

    <MaterialReactTable
    columns={columns}
    data={data}
    enableGlobalFilterModes //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
    />

    Show Search Field by Default

    Also, 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.

    Manual Server-Side Global Filtering

    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 prop to true and manage the globalFilter state yourself like so. (Can work in conjuntion 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]);
    return (
    <MaterialReactTable
    columns={columns}
    data={data} // this will already be filtered on the server
    manualFiltering //turn off client-side filtering
    onGlobalFilterChange={setGlobalFilter} //hoist internal global state to your state
    state={{ globalFilter }} //pass in your own managed globalFilter state
    />
    );

    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.


    Demo

    Open StackblitzOpen Code SandboxOpen on GitHub

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    Source Code

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

    Customize Global Filter Position

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

    <MaterialReactTable
    columns={columns}
    data={data}
    positionGlobalFilter="left" //show the global filter on the left side of the top toolbar
    initialState={{
    showGlobalFilter: true, //show the global filter by default
    }}
    />

    Customize the Search Text Field

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

    <MaterialReactTable
    columns={columns}
    data={data}
    muiSearchTextFieldProps={{
    placeholder: 'Search all users',
    sx: { minWidth: '300px' },
    variant: 'outlined',
    }}
    />

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    Source Code

    1import React, { FC, useMemo } from 'react';
    2import MaterialReactTable, { MRT_ColumnDef } from 'material-react-table';
    3import { data, Person } from './makeData';
    4
    5const Example: FC = () => {
    6 const columns = useMemo<MRT_ColumnDef<Person>[]>(
    7 //column definitions...
    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

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