Angular Viewchild

Angular ViewChild / ContentChild

Version: Angular 21 (2025) Tags: ViewChild, ContentChild, DOM, Queries

References: ViewChild API • ContentChild API

Best Practices

• Use ViewChild for element reference

import { ViewChild, ElementRef, AfterViewInit } from '@angular/core';

@Component({})
export class MyComponent implements AfterViewInit {
  @ViewChild('input') inputEl!: ElementRef<HTMLInputElement>;
  
  ngAfterViewInit() {
    this.inputEl.nativeElement.focus();
  }
}

• Use static option

// Static - available in ngOnInit
@ViewChild('static', { static: true }) staticEl!: ElementRef;

// Dynamic - available in ngAfterViewInit
@ViewChild('dynamic', { static: false }) dynamicEl!: ElementRef;

• Use ContentChild for projected content

import { ContentChild, TemplateRef } from '@angular/core';

@Component({
  selector: 'app-card',
  template: `
    <div class="card">
      <ng-content></ng-content>
    </div>
  `
})
export class CardComponent {
  @ContentChild(TemplateRef) headerTemplate!: TemplateRef<any>;
}