Focus

Focus determines whether the editor receives keyboard shortcuts and scroll wheel gestures. When focused, these inputs go to the editor. When unfocused, they pass through to the rest of your page.

import { Tldraw } from 'tldraw'
import 'tldraw/tldraw.css'

export default function App() {
	return (
		<div style={{ position: 'fixed', inset: 0 }}>
			<Tldraw
				autoFocus={false}
				onMount={(editor) => {
					// Focus later, for example when the user clicks the canvas
					const container = editor.getContainer()
					const focus = () => editor.focus()
					container.addEventListener('pointerdown', focus)
					return () => container.removeEventListener('pointerdown', focus)
				}}
			/>
		</div>
	)
}

Controlling focus

Use Editor.focus and Editor.blur to programmatically control focus:

editor.focus()
editor.blur()
editor.getIsFocused() // true or false

Both methods accept options to control whether the container element should also receive or lose DOM focus:

editor.focus({ focusContainer: false })
editor.blur({ blurContainer: false })

Both are no-ops when the editor is already in that state. If the editor is focused but the container has lost DOM focus, call editor.getContainer().focus() directly.

Focus/blur options

Why focus is separate from DOM focus

The editor tracks focus separately from the browser's DOM focus. The browser's focus model isn't reliable enough for an editor like tldraw: iframes aren't considered descendants of their parent elements, and many menus are portalled into other parts of the document tree.

The editor maintains its own isFocused state in the instance record, readable with the reactive Editor.getIsFocused. This lets you distinguish between "editor focus" (whether the editor responds to keyboard shortcuts) and "element focus" (which HTML element is active in the DOM).

When isFocused changes, the editor adds or removes the tl-container__focused CSS class on the container. Use this class for styling instead of :focus or :focus-within pseudo-selectors, which can't reliably detect editor focus.

Auto-focus

The autoFocus prop controls whether the editor focuses when it mounts. It defaults to true. Set it to false when embedding the editor in a page where you don't want it to capture keyboard input immediately.

<Tldraw autoFocus={false} />

Focus ring visibility

The editor manages focus ring visibility for accessibility. Focus rings appear around focused elements during keyboard navigation but are hidden during mouse interactions.

When you press Tab, ArrowUp, or ArrowDown, the editor removes the tl-container__no-focus-ring class to show focus rings. Mouse clicks add the class back to hide them. Focus rings stay hidden while editing a shape, and while the container itself is focused with shapes selected (arrow keys nudge shapes then).

Completing interactions on blur

When you call editor.blur(), it calls editor.complete() to finish any ongoing interaction like a drag or draw operation. This prevents the editor from being left mid-interaction when focus is lost.

Multiple editors

When you have multiple editors on the same page, you'll need to manage focus yourself. The browser's DOM focus alone isn't enough to reliably switch which editor receives keyboard input.

import { useState } from 'react'
import { Editor, Tldraw } from 'tldraw'
import 'tldraw/tldraw.css'

function MultipleEditors() {
	const [editors, setEditors] = useState<Editor[]>([])

	function handleEditorFocus(focusedEditor: Editor) {
		for (const editor of editors) {
			if (editor === focusedEditor) {
				editor.focus()
			} else {
				editor.blur()
			}
		}
	}

	return (
		<>
			<div onFocus={() => editors[0] && handleEditorFocus(editors[0])}>
				<Tldraw autoFocus={false} onMount={(e) => setEditors((prev) => [...prev, e])} />
			</div>
			<div onFocus={() => editors[1] && handleEditorFocus(editors[1])}>
				<Tldraw autoFocus={false} onMount={(e) => setEditors((prev) => [...prev, e])} />
			</div>
		</>
	)
}

This switches focus when a wrapper receives DOM focus. To also blur when the user clicks elsewhere on the page, listen for pointer down on the page as the multiple editors example does.

Related examples

• Editor focus - Control editor focus with focus and blur methods.
• Multiple editors - Manage focus between multiple tldraw instances.