SectionList

A performant interface for rendering sectioned lists, supporting the most handy features:

• Fully cross-platform.
• Configurable viewability callbacks.
• List header support.
• List footer support.
• Item separator support.
• Section header support.
• Section separator support.
• Heterogeneous data and item rendering support.
• Pull to Refresh.
• Scroll loading.

If you don't need section support and want a simpler interface, use <FlatList>.

Example

import React from 'react';
import {
  StyleSheet,
  Text,
  View,
  SafeAreaView,
  SectionList,
  StatusBar,
} from 'react-native';

const DATA = [
  {
    title: 'Main dishes',
    data: ['Pizza', 'Burger', 'Risotto'],
  },
  {
    title: 'Sides',
    data: ['French Fries', 'Onion Rings', 'Fried Shrimps'],
  },
  {
    title: 'Drinks',
    data: ['Water', 'Coke', 'Beer'],
  },
  {
    title: 'Desserts',
    data: ['Cheese Cake', 'Ice Cream'],
  },
];

const App = () => (
  <SafeAreaView style={styles.container}>
    <SectionList
      sections={DATA}
      keyExtractor={(item, index) => item + index}
      renderItem={({item}) => (
        <View style={styles.item}>
          <Text style={styles.title}>{item}</Text>
        </View>
      )}
      renderSectionHeader={({section: {title}}) => (
        <Text style={styles.header}>{title}</Text>
      )}
    />
  </SafeAreaView>
);

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
    paddingTop: StatusBar.currentHeight,
    marginHorizontal: 16,
  },
  item: {
    backgroundColor: '#f9c2ff',
    padding: 20,
    marginVertical: 8,
  },
  header: {
    fontSize: 32,
    backgroundColor: '#fff',
  },
  title: {
    fontSize: 24,
  },
});

export default App;

This is a convenience wrapper around <VirtualizedList>, and thus inherits its props (as well as those of <ScrollView>) that aren't explicitly listed here, along with the following caveats:

• Internal state is not preserved when content scrolls out of the render window. Make sure all your data is captured in the item data or external stores like Flux, Redux, or Relay.
• This is a PureComponent which means that it will not re-render if props remain shallow-equal. Make sure that everything your renderItem function depends on is passed as a prop (e.g. extraData) that is not === after updates, otherwise your UI may not update on changes. This includes the data prop and parent component state.
• In order to constrain memory and enable smooth scrolling, content is rendered asynchronously offscreen. This means it's possible to scroll faster than the fill rate and momentarily see blank content. This is a tradeoff that can be adjusted to suit the needs of each application, and we are working on improving it behind the scenes.
• By default, the list looks for a key prop on each item and uses that for the React key. Alternatively, you can provide a custom keyExtractor prop.

Reference

Props

VirtualizedList Props

Inherits VirtualizedList Props.

Required renderItem

Default renderer for every item in every section. Can be over-ridden on a per-section basis. Should return a React element.

The render function will be passed an object with the following keys:

• 'item' (object) - the item object as specified in this section's data key
• 'index' (number) - Item's index within the section.
• 'section' (object) - The full section object as specified in sections.
• 'separators' (object) - An object with the following keys:
  • 'highlight' (function) - () => void
  • 'unhighlight' (function) - () => void
  • 'updateProps' (function) - (select, newProps) => void
    • 'select' (enum) - possible values are 'leading', 'trailing'
    • 'newProps' (object)

Required sections

The actual data to render, akin to the data prop in FlatList.

extraData

A marker property for telling the list to re-render (since it implements PureComponent). If any of your renderItem, Header, Footer, etc. functions depend on anything outside of the data prop, stick it here and treat it immutably.

initialNumToRender

How many items to render in the initial batch. This should be enough to fill the screen but not much more. Note these items will never be unmounted as part of the windowed rendering in order to improve perceived performance of scroll-to-top actions.

ItemSeparatorComponent

Rendered in between each item, but not at the top or bottom. By default, highlighted, section, and [leading/trailing][Item/Section] props are provided. renderItem provides separators.highlight/unhighlight which will update the highlighted prop, but you can also add custom props with separators.updateProps. Can be a React Component (e.g. SomeComponent), or a React element (e.g. <SomeComponent />).

keyExtractor

Used to extract a unique key for a given item at the specified index. Key is used for caching and as the React key to track item re-ordering. The default extractor checks item.key, then falls back to using the index, like React does. Note that this sets keys for each item, but each overall section still needs its own key.

ListEmptyComponent

Rendered when the list is empty. Can be a React Component (e.g. SomeComponent), or a React element (e.g. <SomeComponent />).

ListFooterComponent

Rendered at the very end of the list. Can be a React Component (e.g. SomeComponent), or a React element (e.g. <SomeComponent />).

ListHeaderComponent

Rendered at the very beginning of the list. Can be a React Component (e.g. SomeComponent), or a React element (e.g. <SomeComponent />).

renderSectionFooter

Rendered at the bottom of each section.

renderSectionHeader

Rendered at the top of each section. These stick to the top of the ScrollView by default on iOS. See stickySectionHeadersEnabled.

Parameters:

Valid params keys are:

• 'animated' (boolean) - Whether the list should do an animation while scrolling. Defaults to true.
• 'itemIndex' (number) - Index within section for the item to scroll to. Required.
• 'sectionIndex' (number) - Index for section that contains the item to scroll to. Required.
• 'viewOffset' (number) - A fixed number of pixels to offset the final target position, e.g. to compensate for sticky headers.
• 'viewPosition' (number) - A value of 0 places the item specified by index at the top, 1 at the bottom, and 0.5 centered in the middle.

SectionSeparatorComponent

Rendered at the top and bottom of each section (note this is different from ItemSeparatorComponent which is only rendered between items). These are intended to separate sections from the headers above and below and typically have the same highlight response as ItemSeparatorComponent. Also receives highlighted, [leading/trailing][Item/Section], and any custom props from separators.updateProps.

stickySectionHeadersEnabled

Makes section headers stick to the top of the screen until the next one pushes it off. Only enabled by default on iOS because that is the platform standard there.

Methods

flashScrollIndicators() <div class="label ios" title="iOS">iOS (Kepler Not Available)</div>

flashScrollIndicators();

Displays the scroll indicators momentarily.

Type Definitions

Section

An object that identifies the data to be rendered for a given section.

Properties:

Last updated: Sep 30, 2025