Window is not defined in Next.js React app

Question

In my Next.js app I can't seem to access window:

Unhandled Rejection (ReferenceError): window is not defined

componentWillMount() {     console.log('window.innerHeight', window.innerHeight); } 

Answer 1

̶A̶n̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶s̶o̶l̶u̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶u̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶c̶e̶s̶s̶.̶b̶r̶o̶w̶s̶e̶r ̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶e̶x̶e̶c̶u̶t̶e̶ ̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶m̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶d̶u̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶r̶e̶n̶d̶e̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶l̶i̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶s̶i̶d̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶.

But process object has been deprecated in Webpack5 and also NextJS, because it is a NodeJS variable for backend side only.

So we have to use back window object from the browser.

if (typeof window !== "undefined") {   // Client-side-only code }

Other solution is by using react hook to replace componentDidMount:

useEffect(() => {     // Client-side-only code })

Answer 2

Move the code from componentWillMount() to componentDidMount():

componentDidMount() {   console.log('window.innerHeight', window.innerHeight); } 

In Next.js, componentDidMount() is executed only on the client where window and other browser specific APIs will be available. From the Next.js wiki:

Next.js is universal, which means it executes code first server-side, then client-side. The window object is only present client-side, so if you absolutely need to have access to it in some React component, you should put that code in componentDidMount. This lifecycle method will only be executed on the client. You may also want to check if there isn't some alternative universal library which may suit your needs.

Along the same lines, componentWillMount() will be deprecated in v17 of React, so it effectively will be potentially unsafe to use in the very near future.