String refs (ref="myInput" + this.refs.myInput) were deprecated in React 16.3, warn in React 18.3.1, and are removed in React 19.
| Pattern | Reference |
|---|---|
| Single ref on a DOM element | → patterns.md#single-ref |
| Multiple refs in one component | → patterns.md#multiple-refs |
| Refs in a list / dynamic refs | → patterns.md#list-refs |
| Callback refs (alternative approach) | → patterns.md#callback-refs |
| Ref passed to a child component | → patterns.md#forwarded-refs |
# Find all string ref assignments in JSX
grep -rn 'ref="' src/ --include="*.js" --include="*.jsx" | grep -v "\.test\."
# Find all this.refs accessors
grep -rn "this\.refs\." src/ --include="*.js" --include="*.jsx" | grep -v "\.test\."
Both should be migrated together - find the ref="name" and the this.refs.name accesses for each component as a pair.
Every string ref migrates to React.createRef():
refName = React.createRef(); as a class field (or in constructor)ref="refName" → ref={this.refName} in JSXthis.refs.refName → this.refName.current everywhereRead references/patterns.md for the full before/after for each case.