React Native Navigation Drawer – Example using React Navigation V5

Navigation Drawer/Sidebar

This is an example of React Native Navigation Drawer for Android and IOS using React Navigation V5. We will use react-navigation to make a navigation drawer in this example. React Native Navigation Drawer is a very popular component in app development. It provides you to manage the number of app options in a very easy manner. A user can navigate from one screen to another screen very easily by just pulling out the drawer. Here is an example of a navigation drawer.

This example is updated for the React Navigation V5. For the React Navigation V4, you can scroll to the bottom.

To Create React Navigation Drawer

<NavigationContainer>
  <Drawer.Navigator
    drawerContentOptions={{
      activeTintColor: '#e91e63',
      itemStyle: { marginVertical: 5 },
    }}>
    <Drawer.Screen
      name="FirstPage"
      options={{ drawerLabel: 'First page Option' }}
      component={firstScreenStack} />
    <Drawer.Screen
      name="SecondPage"
      options={{ drawerLabel: 'Second page Option' }}
      component={secondScreenStack} />
  </Drawer.Navigator>
</NavigationContainer>

In this example, we will make a navigation drawer with Three screens. So let’s get started.

To Make a React Native App

Getting started with React Native will help you to know more about the way you can make a React Native project. We are going to use react-native init to make our React Native App. Assuming that you have node installed, you can use npm to install the react-native-cli command line utility. Open the terminal and go to the workspace and run

npm install -g react-native-cli

Run the following commands to create a new React Native project

react-native init ProjectName

If you want to start a new project with a specific React Native version, you can use the --version argument:

react-native init ProjectName --version X.XX.X

react-native init ProjectName --version react-native@next

This will make a project structure with an index file named App.js in your project directory.

Installation of Dependencies

For React Native Navigation Drawer we need to add react-navigation and other supporting dependencies.

To install the dependencies open the terminal and jump into your project

cd ProjectName

1. Install react-navigation

npm install @react-navigation/native --save

2. Other supporting libraries react-native-gesture-handler, react-native-reanimated, react-native-screens and react-native-safe-area-context and @react-native-community/masked-view

npm install react-native-reanimated react-native-gesture-handler react-native-screens react-native-safe-area-context @react-native-community/masked-view --save

3. For the Drawer Navigator install

npm install @react-navigation/drawer --save

4. These steps are enough for the drawer navigation but in this example, we are also using between screens so we will also need Stack Navigator

npm install @react-navigation/stack --save

Note: When you use a navigator, you’ll need to follow the installation instructions of that navigator for any additional dependencies. If you’re getting an error “Unable to resolve module”, you need to install that module in your project.

You might get warnings related to peer dependencies after installation. They are usually caused by incorrect version ranges specified in some packages. You can safely ignore most warnings as long as your app builds.

CocoaPods Installation

Please use the following command to install CocoaPods

npx pod-install ios

To finalize the installation of react-native-gesture-handler, add the following at the top (make sure it’s at the top and there’s nothing else before it) of your entry files, such as index.js or App.js:

import 'react-native-gesture-handler';

Note: If you skip this step, your app may crash in production even if it works fine in development.

Project Structure

To start with this Example you need to create a directory named pages in your project and create three files FirstPage.js, SecondPage.js, and ThirdPage.js in it.

Code for Navigation Drawer

App.js

Open App.js in any code editor and replace the code with the following code.

// React Native Navigation Drawer
// https://aboutreact.com/react-native-navigation-drawer/
import 'react-native-gesture-handler';

import * as React from 'react';
import {
  Button,
  View,
  Text,
  TouchableOpacity,
  Image
} from 'react-native';

import { NavigationContainer } from '@react-navigation/native';
import { createStackNavigator } from '@react-navigation/stack';
import { createDrawerNavigator } from '@react-navigation/drawer';

import FirstPage from './pages/FirstPage';
import SecondPage from './pages/SecondPage';
import ThirdPage from './pages/ThirdPage';

const Stack = createStackNavigator();
const Drawer = createDrawerNavigator();

const NavigationDrawerStructure = (props)=> {
  //Structure for the navigatin Drawer
  const toggleDrawer = () => {
    //Props to open/close the drawer
    props.navigationProps.toggleDrawer();
  };

  return (
    <View style={{ flexDirection: 'row' }}>
      <TouchableOpacity onPress={()=> toggleDrawer()}>
        {/*Donute Button Image */}
        <Image
          source={{uri: 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AboutReact/sampleresource/master/drawerWhite.png'}}
          style={{
            width: 25,
            height: 25,
            marginLeft: 5
          }}
        />
      </TouchableOpacity>
    </View>
  );
}

function firstScreenStack({ navigation }) {
  return (
      <Stack.Navigator initialRouteName="FirstPage">
        <Stack.Screen
          name="FirstPage"
          component={FirstPage}
          options={{
            title: 'First Page', //Set Header Title
            headerLeft: ()=>
              <NavigationDrawerStructure
                navigationProps={navigation}
              />,
            headerStyle: {
              backgroundColor: '#f4511e', //Set Header color
            },
            headerTintColor: '#fff', //Set Header text color
            headerTitleStyle: {
              fontWeight: 'bold', //Set Header text style
            },
          }}
        />
      </Stack.Navigator>
  );
}

function secondScreenStack({ navigation }) {
  return (
    <Stack.Navigator
      initialRouteName="SecondPage"
      screenOptions={{
        headerLeft: ()=>
          <NavigationDrawerStructure
            navigationProps={navigation}
          />,
        headerStyle: {
          backgroundColor: '#f4511e', //Set Header color
        },
        headerTintColor: '#fff', //Set Header text color
        headerTitleStyle: {
          fontWeight: 'bold', //Set Header text style
        }
      }}>
      <Stack.Screen
        name="SecondPage"
        component={SecondPage}
        options={{
          title: 'Second Page', //Set Header Title
          
        }}/>
      <Stack.Screen
        name="ThirdPage"
        component={ThirdPage}
        options={{
          title: 'Third Page', //Set Header Title
        }}/>
    </Stack.Navigator>
  );
}

function App() {
  return (
    <NavigationContainer>
      <Drawer.Navigator
        drawerContentOptions={{
          activeTintColor: '#e91e63',
          itemStyle: { marginVertical: 5 },
        }}>
        <Drawer.Screen
          name="FirstPage"
          options={{ drawerLabel: 'First page Option' }}
          component={firstScreenStack} />
        <Drawer.Screen
          name="SecondPage"
          options={{ drawerLabel: 'Second page Option' }}
          component={secondScreenStack} />
      </Drawer.Navigator>
    </NavigationContainer>
  );
}

export default App;

Open pages/FirstPage.js in any code editor and replace the code with the following code.

FirstPage.js

// React Native Navigation Drawer
// https://aboutreact.com/react-native-navigation-drawer/
import * as React from 'react';
import {
  Button,
  View,
  Text,
  SafeAreaView
} from 'react-native';

const FirstPage = ({ navigation }) => {
  return (
    <SafeAreaView style={{ flex: 1 }}>
      <View style={{ flex: 1 , padding: 16}}>
        <View
          style={{
            flex: 1,
            alignItems: 'center',
            justifyContent: 'center',
          }}>
          <Text
            style={{
              fontSize: 25,
              textAlign: 'center',
              marginBottom: 16
            }}>
            This is the First Page under First Page Option
          </Text>
          <Button
            onPress={
              () => navigation.navigate('SecondPage')
            }
            title="Go to Second Page"
          />
          <Button
            onPress={
              () => navigation.navigate('ThirdPage')
            }
            title="Go to Third Page"
          />
        </View>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 18,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey'
          }}>
          React Navigate Drawer
        </Text>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 16,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey'
          }}>
          www.aboutreact.com
        </Text>
      </View>
    </SafeAreaView>
  );
}

export default FirstPage;

SecondPage.js

Open pages/SecondPage.js in any code editor and place the following code.

// React Native Navigation Drawer
// https://aboutreact.com/react-native-navigation-drawer/
import * as React from 'react';
import {
  Button,
  View,
  Text,
  SafeAreaView
} from 'react-native';

const SecondPage = ({ navigation }) => {
  return (
    <SafeAreaView style={{ flex: 1 }}>
      <View style={{ flex: 1, padding: 16 }}>
        <View
          style={{
            flex: 1,
            alignItems: 'center',
            justifyContent: 'center',
          }}>
          <Text
            style={{
              fontSize: 25,
              textAlign: 'center',
              marginBottom: 16
            }}>
            This is Second Page under Second Page Option
          </Text>
          <Button
            title="Go to First Page"
            onPress={
              () => navigation.navigate('FirstPage')
            }
          />
          <Button
            title="Go to Third Page"
            onPress={
              () => navigation.navigate('ThirdPage')
            }
          />
        </View>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 18,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey'
          }}>
          React Navigate Drawer
        </Text>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 16,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey'
          }}>
          www.aboutreact.com
        </Text>
      </View>
    </SafeAreaView>
  );
}

export default SecondPage;

ThirdPage.js

Open pages/ThirdPage.js in any code editor and place the following code.

// React Native Navigation Drawer
// https://aboutreact.com/react-native-navigation-drawer/

import * as React from 'react';
import {
  Button,
  View,
  Text,
  SafeAreaView
} from 'react-native';

const ThirdPage = ({ route, navigation }) => {
  return (
    <SafeAreaView style={{ flex: 1 }}>
      <View style={{ flex: 1, padding: 16 }}>
        <View
          style={{
            flex: 1,
            alignItems: 'center',
            justifyContent: 'center',
          }}>
          <Text
            style={{
              fontSize: 25,
              textAlign: 'center',
              marginBottom: 16
            }}>
            This is Third Page under Second Page Option
          </Text>
          <Button
            onPress={
              () => navigation.navigate('FirstPage')
            }
            title="Go to First Page"
          />
          <Button
            onPress={
              () => navigation.navigate('SecondPage')
            }
            title="Go to Second Page"
          />
        </View>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 18,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey'
          }}>
          React Navigate Drawer
        </Text>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 16,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey'
          }}>
          www.aboutreact.com
        </Text>
      </View>
    </SafeAreaView>
  );
}

export default ThirdPage;

To Run the React Native App

Open the terminal again and jump into your project using.

cd ProjectName

To run the project on an Android Virtual Device or on real debugging device

react-native run-android

or on the iOS Simulator by running (macOS only)

react-native run-ios

Download Source Code

Output Screenshot

Output in Online Emulator

So that was React Native Navigation Drawer – Example using React Navigation V5. If you have any doubts or you want to share something about the topic you can comment below or contact us here. There will be more posts coming soon. Stay tuned!

I hope you liked it. 🙂

For React Navigation V4

If you are starting a new app or learning for the first time you should follow V5 steps to create React Navigation Drawer but if you are still developing the application using React Navigation V4 then you can follow the below steps.

Installation of Dependencies

Please run following commands in your project directory to install the dependencies

npm install react-navigation --save

npm install react-native-gesture-handler react-native-safe-area-context @react-native-community/masked-view react-native-screens react-native-reanimated --save

npm install react-navigation-drawer --save

npm install react-navigation-stack --save

cd ios && pod install && cd ..

Project Structure

Create the following project structure and copy the code

Here is the drawer.png if you want to download it

Code

App.js

//This is an example code for NavigationDrawer//

//import react in our code.
import React, { Component } from 'react';

// import all basic components
import { View, Image, TouchableOpacity } from 'react-native';

//Import React Navigation
import {createAppContainer} from 'react-navigation';
import {createDrawerNavigator} from 'react-navigation-drawer';
import {createStackNavigator} from 'react-navigation-stack';

//Import external files
import Screen1 from './pages/Screen1';
import Screen2 from './pages/Screen2';
import Screen3 from './pages/Screen3';

class NavigationDrawerStructure extends Component {
  //Structure for the navigatin Drawer
  toggleDrawer = () => {
    //Props to open/close the drawer
    this.props.navigationProps.toggleDrawer();
  };
  render() {
    return (
      <View style={{ flexDirection: 'row' }}>
        <TouchableOpacity onPress={this.toggleDrawer.bind(this)}>
          {/*Donute Button Image */}
          <Image
            source={require('./image/drawer.png')}
            style={{ width: 25, height: 25, marginLeft: 5 }}
          />
        </TouchableOpacity>
      </View>
    );
  }
}

const FirstActivity_StackNavigator = createStackNavigator({
  //All the screen from the Screen1 will be indexed here
  First: {
    screen: Screen1,
    navigationOptions: ({ navigation }) => ({
      title: 'Demo Screen 1',
      headerLeft: ()=>
        <NavigationDrawerStructure
          navigationProps={navigation}
        />,
      headerStyle: {
        backgroundColor: '#FF9800',
      },
      headerTintColor: '#fff',
    }),
  },
});

const Screen2_StackNavigator = createStackNavigator({
  //All the screen from the Screen2 will be indexed here
  Second: {
    screen: Screen2,
    navigationOptions: ({ navigation }) => ({
      title: 'Demo Screen 2',
      headerLeft: ()=>
        <NavigationDrawerStructure
          navigationProps={navigation}
        />,
      headerStyle: {
        backgroundColor: '#FF9800',
      },
      headerTintColor: '#fff',
    }),
  },
});

const Screen3_StackNavigator = createStackNavigator({
  //All the screen from the Screen3 will be indexed here
  Third: {
    screen: Screen3,
    navigationOptions: ({ navigation }) => ({
      title: 'Demo Screen 3',
      headerLeft: ()=>
        <NavigationDrawerStructure
          navigationProps={navigation}
        />,
      headerStyle: {
        backgroundColor: '#FF9800',
      },
      headerTintColor: '#fff',
    }),
  },
});

const DrawerNavigatorExample = createDrawerNavigator({
  //Drawer Optons and indexing
  Screen1: {
    //Title
    screen: FirstActivity_StackNavigator,
    navigationOptions: {
      drawerLabel: 'Demo Screen 1',
    },
  },
  Screen2: {
    //Title
    screen: Screen2_StackNavigator,
    navigationOptions: {
      drawerLabel: 'Demo Screen 2',
    },
  },
  Screen3: {
    //Title
    screen: Screen3_StackNavigator,
    navigationOptions: {
      drawerLabel: 'Demo Screen 3',
    },
  },
});

export default createAppContainer(DrawerNavigatorExample);

Screen1.js

//This is an example code for NavigationDrawer//
import React, { Component } from 'react';
//import react in our code.
import { StyleSheet, View, Text } from 'react-native';
// import all basic components

export default class Screen1 extends Component {
  //Screen1 Component
  render() {
    return (
      <View style={styles.MainContainer}>
        <Text style={{ fontSize: 23 }}> Screen 1 </Text>
      </View>
    );
  }
}

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  MainContainer: {
    flex: 1,
    paddingTop: 20,
    alignItems: 'center',
    marginTop: 50,
    justifyContent: 'center',
  },
});

Screen2.js

//This is an example code for NavigationDrawer//
import React, { Component } from 'react';
//import react in our code.
import { StyleSheet, View, Text } from 'react-native';
// import all basic components

export default class Screen2 extends Component {
  //Screen2 Component
  render() {
    return (
      <View style={styles.MainContainer}>
        <Text style={{ fontSize: 23 }}> Screen 2 </Text>
      </View>
    );
  }
}

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  MainContainer: {
    flex: 1,
    paddingTop: 20,
    alignItems: 'center',
    marginTop: 50,
    justifyContent: 'center',
  },
});

Screen3.js

//This is an example code for NavigationDrawer//
import React, { Component } from 'react';
//import react in our code.
import { StyleSheet, View, Text } from 'react-native';
// import all basic components

export default class Screen3 extends Component {
  //Screen3 Component
  render() {
    return (
      <View style={styles.MainContainer}>
        <Text style={{ fontSize: 23 }}> Screen 3 </Text>
      </View>
    );
  }
}

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  MainContainer: {
    flex: 1,
    paddingTop: 20,
    alignItems: 'center',
    marginTop: 50,
    justifyContent: 'center',
  },
});

Download Source Code for V4

React Navigation V5 update brings lots of changes in terms of performance and structure. I will suggest you switch to V5 if you are on V4.