Forcing a React-Router <Link> to load a page, even if we're already on that page

Is there a way to force a React-Router <Link> to load a page from path, even when the current location is already that page? I can't seem to find any mention of this in the react-router documentations.

We have a page on a route for "apply" that loads up a landing page with a hero image, some explanatory text, etc., and an "apply for this program" button that swaps in content that acts as an application form. This all happens on the same "apply" route, because users should not be able to directly navigate to this form without first hitting the landing page.

However, when they have this form open, and they click on the apply link in the nav menu again, the entire page should reload as it would on first mount, getting them "back" (but really, forward) to the landing page again.

Instead, clicking the <Link> does nothing, because react-router sees we're already on the "apply" page, and so does not unmount the current page to then mount a different one.

Is there a way to force it to unmount the current page before then mounting the requested page, even if it's for the page users are supposedly already on? (via a <Link> property for instance?)

Solution 1:

In the Route component, specify a random key.

<Route path={YOURPATH} render={(props) => <YourComp {...props} keyProp={someValue} key={randomGen()}/>} />

when react see a different key, they will trigger rerender.

Solution 2:

A fix I used to solve my little need around this was to change the location that React-Router looks at. If it sees a location that we're already on (as in your example) it won't do anything, but by using a location object and changing that, rather than using a plain string path, React-Router will "navigate" to the new location, even if the path looks the same.

You can do this by setting a key that's different from the current key (similar to how React's render relies on key) with a state property that allows you to write clear code around what you wanted to do:

render() {
  const linkTarget = {
    pathname: "/page",
    key: uuid(), // we could use Math.random, but that's not guaranteed unique.
    state: {
      applied: true
    }
  };

  return (
    ...
    <Link to={linkTarget}>Page</Link>
    ...
  );
}

Note that (confusingly) you tell the Link which values you need pass as a state object, but the link will pass those values on into the component as props. So don't make the mistake of trying to access this.state in the target component!

We can then check for this in the target component's componentDidUpdate like so:

componentDidUpdate(prevProps, prevState, snapshot) {
  // Check to see if the "applied" flag got changed (NOT just "set")
  if (this.props.location.state.applied && !prevProps.location.state.applied) {
    // Do stuff here 
  }
}

Solution 3:

Simple as:

<Route path="/my/path" render={(props) => <MyComp {...props} key={Date.now()}/>} />

Works fine for me. When targeting to the same path:

this.props.history.push("/my/path");

The page gets reloaded, even if I'm already at /my/path.

Solution 4:

Not a good solution because it forces a full page refresh and throws an error, but you can call forceUpdate() using an onClick handler like:

<Link onClick={this.forceUpdate} to={'/the-page'}>
    Click Me
</Link>

All I can say is it works. I'm stuck in a similar issue myself and hope someone else has a better answer!

React router Link not causing component to update within nested routes