The datepicker allows users to enter a date either through text input, or by choosing a date from the calendar. It is made up of several components, directives and the date implementation that work together.
A datepicker is composed of a text input and a calendar pop-up, connected via the matDatepicker
property on the text input.
There is also an optional datepicker toggle button that gives the user an easy way to open the datepicker pop-up.
This works exactly the same with an input that is part of an <mat-form-field> and the toggle
can easily be used as a prefix or suffix on the Material input:
If you want to customize the icon that is rendered inside the mat-datepicker-toggle, you can do so
by using the matDatepickerToggleIcon directive:
If you want your users to select a range of dates, instead of a single date, you can use the
mat-date-range-input and mat-date-range-picker components. They work in tandem, similarly to the
mat-datepicker and the basic datepicker input.
The mat-date-range-input component requires two input elements for the start and end dates,
respectively:
<mat-date-range-input>
<input matStartDate placeholder="Start date">
<input matEndDate placeholder="End date">
</mat-date-range-input>
The mat-date-range-picker component acts as the pop-up panel for selecting dates. This works in
the same way as mat-datepicker, but allows the user to select multiple times:
<mat-date-range-picker #picker></mat-date-range-picker>
Connect the range picker and range input using the rangePicker property:
<mat-date-range-input [rangePicker]="picker">
<input matStartDate placeholder="Start date">
<input matEndDate placeholder="End date">
</mat-date-range-input>
<mat-date-range-picker #picker></mat-date-range-picker>
The mat-date-range-input component can be used together with the FormGroup directive from
@angular/forms to group the start and end values together and to validate them as a group.
The startView property of <mat-datepicker> can be used to set the view that will show up when
the calendar first opens. It can be set to month, year, or multi-year; by default it will open
to month view.
The month, year, or range of years that the calendar opens to is determined by first checking if any
date is currently selected, if so it will open to the month or year containing that date. Otherwise
it will open to the month or year containing today's date. This behavior can be overridden by using
the startAt property of <mat-datepicker>. In this case the calendar will open to the month or
year containing the startAt date.
When a year or a month is selected in multi-year and year views respectively, the yearSelected
and monthSelected outputs emit a normalized date representing the chosen year or month. By
"normalized" we mean that the dates representing years will have their month set to January and
their day set to the 1st. Dates representing months will have their day set to the 1st of the
month. For example, if <mat-datepicker> is configured to work with javascript native Date
objects, the yearSelected will emit new Date(2017, 0, 1) if the user selects 2017 in
multi-year view. Similarly, monthSelected will emit new Date(2017, 1, 1) if the user
selects February in year view and the current date value of the connected <input> was
set to something like new Date(2017, MM, dd) when the calendar was opened (the month and day are
irrelevant in this case).
Notice that the emitted value does not affect the current value in the connected <input>, which
is only bound to the selection made in the month view. So if the end user closes the calendar
after choosing a year in multi-view mode (by pressing the ESC key, for example), the selected
year, emitted by yearSelected output, will not cause any change in the value of the date in the
associated <input>.
The following example uses yearSelected and monthSelected outputs to emulate a month and year
picker (if you're not familiar with the usage of MomentDateAdapter and MAT_DATE_FORMATS
you can read more about them below in
this document to fully understand the example).
The type of values that the datepicker expects depends on the type of DateAdapter provided in your
application. The NativeDateAdapter, for example, works directly with plain JavaScript Date
objects. When using the MomentDateAdapter, however, the values will all be Moment.js instances.
This use of the adapter pattern allows the datepicker component to work with any arbitrary date
representation with a custom DateAdapter.
See Choosing a date implementation
for more information.
Depending on the DateAdapter being used, the datepicker may automatically deserialize certain date
formats for you as well. For example, both the NativeDateAdapter and MomentDateAdapter allow
ISO 8601 strings to be passed to the datepicker and
automatically converted to the proper object type. This can be convenient when binding data directly
from your backend to the datepicker. However, the datepicker will not accept date strings formatted
in user format such as "1/2/2017" as this is ambiguous and will mean different things depending on
the locale of the browser running the code.
As with other types of <input>, the datepicker works with @angular/forms directives such as
formGroup, formControl, ngModel, etc.
The datepicker popup will automatically inherit the color palette (primary, accent, or warn)
from the mat-form-field it is attached to. If you would like to specify a different palette for
the popup you can do so by setting the color property on mat-datepicker.
There are three properties that add date validation to the datepicker input. The first two are the
min and max properties. In addition to enforcing validation on the input, these properties will
disable all dates on the calendar popup before or after the respective values and prevent the user
from advancing the calendar past the month or year (depending on current view) containing the
min or max date.
The second way to add date validation is using the matDatepickerFilter property of the datepicker
input. This property accepts a function of <D> => boolean (where <D> is the date type used by
the datepicker, see
Choosing a date implementation).
A result of true indicates that the date is valid and a result of false indicates that it is
not. Again this will also disable the dates on the calendar that are invalid. However, one important
difference between using matDatepickerFilter vs using min or max is that filtering out all
dates before or after a certain point, will not prevent the user from advancing the calendar past
that point.
In this example the user cannot select any date that falls on a Saturday or Sunday, but all of the dates which fall on other days of the week are selectable.
Each validation property has a different error that can be checked:
min property will have a matDatepickerMin error.max property will have a matDatepickerMax error.matDatepickerFilter property will have a matDatepickerFilter error.The input's native (input) and (change) events will only trigger due to user interaction with
the input element; they will not fire when the user selects a date from the calendar popup.
Therefore, the datepicker input also has support for (dateInput) and (dateChange) events. These
trigger when the user interacts with either the input or the popup.
The (dateInput) event will fire whenever the value changes due to the user typing or selecting a
date from the calendar. The (dateChange) event will fire whenever the user finishes typing input
(on <input> blur), or when the user chooses a date from the calendar.
As with any standard <input>, it is possible to disable the datepicker input by adding the
disabled property. By default, the <mat-datepicker> and <mat-datepicker-toggle> will inherit
their disabled state from the <input>, but this can be overridden by setting the disabled
property on the datepicker or toggle elements. This can be useful if you want to disable text input
but allow selection via the calendar or vice-versa.
By default, clicking on a date in the calendar will select it and close the calendar popup. In some
cases this may not be desirable, because the user doesn't have a quick way of going back if they've
changed their mind. If you want your users to be able to cancel their selection and to have to
explicitly accept the value that they've selected, you can add a <mat-datepicker-actions> element
inside <mat-datepicker> with a "Cancel" and an "Apply" button marked with the
matDatepickerCancel and matDatepickerApply attributes respectively. Doing so will cause the
datepicker to only assign the value to the data model if the user presses "Apply", whereas pressing
"Cancel" will close popup without changing the value.
The actions element is also supported for <mat-date-range-picker> where that it is called
<mat-date-range-picker-actions> and the buttons are called matDateRangePickerCancel and
matDateRangePickerApply respectively.
If your users need to compare the date range that they're currently selecting with another range,
you can provide the comparison range start and end dates to the mat-date-range-input using the
comparisonStart and comparisonEnd bindings. The comparison range will be rendered statically
within the calendar, but it will change colors to indicate which dates overlap with the user's
selected range.
Note that comparison and overlap colors aren't derived from the current theme, due
to limitations in the Material Design theming system. They can be customized using the
datepicker-date-range-colors mixin.
@use '@angular/material' as mat;
@include mat.datepicker-date-range-colors(
hotpink, teal, yellow, purple);
The mat-date-range-picker supports custom behaviors for range previews and selection. To customize
this, you first create a class that implements MatDateRangeSelectionStrategy, and then provide
the class via the MAT_DATE_RANGE_SELECTION_STRATEGY injection token. The following example
uses the range selection strategy to create a custom range picker that limits the user to five-day
ranges.
The datepicker normally opens as a popup under the input. However this is not ideal for touch
devices that don't have as much screen real estate and need bigger click targets. For this reason
<mat-datepicker> has a touchUi property that can be set to true in order to enable a more
touch friendly UI where the calendar opens in a large dialog.
The calendar popup can be programmatically controlled using the open and close methods on the
<mat-datepicker>. It also has an opened property that reflects the status of the popup.
mat-calendar inline
If you want to allow the user to select a date from a calendar that is inlined on the page rather
than contained in a popup, you can use <mat-calendar> directly. The calendar's height is
determined automatically based on the width and the number of dates that need to be shown for a
month. If you want to make the calendar larger or smaller, adjust the width rather than the height.
Internationalization of the datepicker is configured via four aspects:
By default, the MAT_DATE_LOCALE injection token will use the existing LOCALE_ID locale code
from @angular/core. If you want to override it, you can provide a new value for the
MAT_DATE_LOCALE token:
bootstapApplication(MyApp, {
providers: [{provide: MAT_DATE_LOCALE, useValue: 'en-GB'}],
});
It's also possible to set the locale at runtime using the setLocale method of the DateAdapter.
Note: if you're using the provideDateFnsAdapter, you have to provide the data object for your
locale to MAT_DATE_LOCALE instead of the locale code, in addition to providing a configuration
compatible with date-fns to MAT_DATE_FORMATS. Locale data for date-fns can be imported
from date-fns/locale.
The datepicker was built to be date implementation agnostic. This means that it can be made to work with a variety of different date implementations. However it also means that developers need to make sure to provide the appropriate pieces for the datepicker to work with their chosen implementation.
The easiest way to ensure this is to import one of the provided date adapters:
provideNativeDateAdapter or MatNativeDateModule
| Date type | Date |
|---|---|
| Supported locales | en-US |
| Dependencies | None |
| Import from | @angular/material/core |
provideDateFnsAdapter or MatDateFnsModule (installed via ng add @angular/material-date-fns-adapter)
| Date type | Date |
|---|---|
| Supported locales | See project for details |
| Dependencies | date-fns |
| Import from | @angular/material-date-fns-adapter |
provideLuxonDateAdapter or MatLuxonDateModule (installed via ng add @angular/material-luxon-adapter)
| Date type | DateTime |
|---|---|
| Supported locales | See project for details |
| Dependencies | Luxon |
| Import from | @angular/material-luxon-adapter |
provideMomentDateAdapter or MatMomentDateModule (installed via ng add @angular/material-moment-adapter)
| Date type | Moment |
|---|---|
| Supported locales | See project for details |
| Dependencies | Moment.js |
| Import from | @angular/material-moment-adapter |
Please note: provideNativeDateAdapter is based off the functionality available in JavaScript's
native Date object.
Thus it is not suitable for many locales. One of the biggest shortcomings of the native Date
object is the inability to set the parse format. We strongly recommend using an adapter based on
a more robust formatting and parsing library. You can use provideMomentDateAdapter
or a custom DateAdapter that works with the library of your choice.
These APIs include providers for DateAdapter and MAT_DATE_FORMATS.
bootstrapApplication(MyApp, {
providers: [provideNativeDateAdapter()]
});
Because DateAdapter is a generic class, MatDatepicker and MatDatepickerInput also need to be
made generic. When working with these classes (for example as a ViewChild) you should include the
appropriate generic type that corresponds to the DateAdapter implementation you are using. For
example:
@Component({...})
export class MyComponent {
@ViewChild(MatDatepicker) datepicker: MatDatepicker<Date>;
}
By default the MomentDateAdapter creates dates in your time zone specific locale. You can change
the default behaviour to parse dates as UTC by passing useUtc: true into provideMomentDateAdapter
or by providing the MAT_MOMENT_DATE_ADAPTER_OPTIONS injection token.
bootstrapApplication(MyApp, {
providers: [provideMomentDateAdapter(undefined, {useUtc: true})]
});
By default the MomentDateAdapter will parse dates in a
forgiving way. This may result in dates
being parsed incorrectly. You can change the default behaviour to
parse dates strictly by strict: true to
provideMomentDateAdapter or by providing the MAT_MOMENT_DATE_ADAPTER_OPTIONS injection token.
bootstrapApplication(MyApp, {
providers: [provideMomentDateAdapter(undefined, {strict: true})]
});
It is also possible to create your own DateAdapter that works with any date format your app
requires. This is accomplished by subclassing DateAdapter and providing your subclass as the
DateAdapter implementation. You will also want to make sure that the MAT_DATE_FORMATS provided
in your app are formats that can be understood by your date implementation. See
Customizing the parse and display formats for more
information about MAT_DATE_FORMATS.
bootstrapApplication(MyApp, {
providers: [
{provide: DateAdapter, useClass: MyDateAdapter},
{provide: MAT_DATE_FORMATS, useValue: MY_DATE_FORMATS},
]
});
If you need to work with native Date objects, but need custom behavior (for example custom date
parsing), you can consider subclassing NativeDateAdapter.
The MAT_DATE_FORMATS object is a collection of formats that the datepicker uses when parsing
and displaying dates. These formats are passed through to the DateAdapter so you will want to make
sure that the format objects you're using are compatible with the DateAdapter used in your app.
If you want use one of the DateAdapters that ships with Angular Material, but use your own
MAT_DATE_FORMATS, you can either pass the formats into the providers function, or provide the
MAT_DATE_FORMATS token yourself. For example:
bootstrapApplication(MyApp, {
providers: [provideNativeDateAdapter(MY_NATIVE_DATE_FORMATS)],
});
To use custom formats with the provideMomentDateAdapter you can pick from the parse formats
documented here and the display formats
documented here.
It is also possible to support multiple parse formats. For example:
bootstraApplication(MyApp, {
providers: [provideMomentDateAdapter({
parse: {
dateInput: ['l', 'LL'],
},
display: {
dateInput: 'L',
monthYearLabel: 'MMM YYYY',
dateA11yLabel: 'LL',
monthYearA11yLabel: 'MMMM YYYY',
},
})]
});
The header section of the calendar (the part containing the view switcher and previous and next
buttons) can be replaced with a custom component if desired. This is accomplished using the
calendarHeaderComponent property of <mat-datepicker>. It takes a component class and constructs
an instance of the component to use as the header.
In order to interact with the calendar in your custom header component, you can inject the parent
MatCalendar in the constructor. To make sure your header stays in sync with the calendar,
subscribe to the stateChanges observable of the calendar and mark your header component for change
detection.
The various text strings used by the datepicker are provided through MatDatepickerIntl.
Localization of these messages can be done by providing a subclass with translated values in your
app config.
bootstrapApplication(MyApp, {
providers: [
{provide: MatDatepickerIntl, useClass: MyIntl},
provideNativeDateAdapter(),
],
});
If you want to apply one or more CSS classes to some dates in the calendar (e.g. to highlight a
holiday), you can do so with the dateClass input. It accepts a function which will be called
with each of the dates in the calendar and will apply any classes that are returned. The return
value can be anything that is accepted by ngClass.
The MatDatepicker pop-up uses the role="dialog" interaction pattern. This dialog then contains
multiple controls, the most prominent being the calendar itself. This calendar implements the
role="grid" interaction pattern.
Always enable confirmation action buttons. This allows assistive technology users to explicitly confirm their selection before committing a value.
The MatDatepickerInput and MatDatepickerToggle directives both apply the aria-haspopup
attribute to the native input and button elements, respectively.
MatDatepickerIntl includes strings that are used for aria-label attributes. Always provide
the datepicker text input a meaningful label via <mat-label>, aria-label, aria-labelledby or
MatDatepickerIntl.
Always communicate the date format (e.g. 'MM/DD/YYYY'). This can be accomplished using <mat-hint>
or by providing an additional label adjacent to the form field.
MatDatepickerInput adds >Alt + Down Arrow as a keyboard short to open the
datepicker pop-up. However, ChromeOS intercepts this key combination at the OS level such that the
browser only receives a PageDown key event. Because of this behavior, you should always include an
additional means of opening the pop-up, such as MatDatepickerToggle.
The datepicker supports the following keyboard shortcuts:
| Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Alt + Down Arrow | Open the calendar pop-up |
| Escape | Close the calendar pop-up |
In month view:
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Left Arrow | Go to previous day |
| Right Arrow | Go to next day |
| Up Arrow | Go to same day in the previous week |
| Down Arrow | Go to same day in the next week |
| Home | Go to the first day of the month |
| End | Go to the last day of the month |
| Page up | Go to the same day in the previous month |
| Alt + Page up | Go to the same day in the previous year |
| Page Down | Go to the same day in the next month |
| Alt + Page Down | Go to the same day in the next year |
| Enter | Select current date |
In year view:
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Left Arrow | Go to previous month |
| Right Arrow | Go to next month |
| Up Arrow | Go up a row (back 4 months) |
| Down Arrow | Go down a row (forward 4 months) |
| Home | Go to the first month of the year |
| End | Go to the last month of the year |
| Page Up | Go to the same month in the previous year |
| Alt + Page up | Go to the same month 10 years back |
| Page Down | Go to the same month in the next year |
| Alt + Page Down | Go to the same month 10 years forward |
| Enter | Select current month |
In multi-year view:
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Left Arrow | Go to previous year |
| Right Arrow | Go to next year |
| Up Arrow | Go up a row (back 4 years) |
| Down Arrow | Go down a row (forward 4 years) |
| Home | Go to the first year in the current range |
| End | Go to the last year in the current range |
| Page up | Go back 24 years |
| Alt + Page up | Go back 240 years |
| Page Down | Go forward 24 years |
| Alt + Page Down | Go forward 240 years |
| Enter | Select current year |
This error is thrown if you have not provided all of the injectables the datepicker needs to work.
The easiest way to resolve this is to add provideNativeDateAdapter or provideMomentDateAdapter
to your app config. See
Choosing a date implementation) for
more information.
This error is thrown if more than one <input> tries to claim ownership over the same
<mat-datepicker> (via the matDatepicker attribute on the input). A datepicker can only be
associated with a single input.
This error occurs if your <mat-datepicker> is not associated with any <input>. To associate an
input with your datepicker, create a template reference for the datepicker and assign it to the
matDatepicker attribute on the input:
<input [matDatepicker]="picker">
<mat-datepicker #picker></mat-datepicker>