How to update nested state properties in ReactJS?

Namachila November 12, 2025

0 0 1 minute read

There are the following approaches to update nested state properties in ReactJS:

Approach 1: We can create a dummy object to perform operations on it (update properties that we want) then replace the component’s state with the updated object.
Approach 2: We can pass the old nested object using the spread operator and then override the particular properties of the nested object.

Creating React Application:

Step 1: Create a React application using the following command:

npx create-react-app foldername

Step 2: After creating your project folder i.e. foldername, move to it using the following command:

cd foldername

Project Structure: It will look like the following.

Project Structure

Approach 1: App.js

Javascript

import React, { Component } from "react"; 
class App extends Component { 
  
  // Nested object 
  state = { 
    name: 'kapil', 
    address: { 
      colony: 'vaishnav nagar', 
      city: 'Jaipur', 
      state: 'Rajasthan'
    } 
  }; 
  
  handleUpdate = () => { 
    // Creating a dummy object using spread operator 
    var address = { ...this.state.address } 
  
    // Updating the city 
    address.city = 'Kota'; 
    this.setState({ address }) 
  } 
  
  render() { 
    return ( 
      <div style={{ margin: 200 }}> 
        <h1>{this.state.name}</h1> 
        <h1>{this.state.address.colony} {","} 
          {this.state.address.city}{", "} 
          {this.state.address.state}</h1> 
        <button 
          onClick={this.handleUpdate} 
        >UpdateCity </button> 
      </div> 
    ); 
  } 
} 
  
export default App;

Approach 2: App.js

Javascript

import React, { Component } from "react"; 
class App extends Component { 
  
  // Nested object 
  state = { 
    name: 'kapil', 
    address: { 
      colony: 'vaishnav nagar', 
      city: 'Jaipur', 
      state: 'Rajasthan'
    } 
  }; 
  
  handleUpdate = () => { 
    // Overriding the city property of address object 
    this.setState({ address: { ...this.state.address, city: "kota" } }) 
  } 
  
  render() { 
    return ( 
      <div style={{ margin: 200 }}> 
        <h1>{this.state.name}</h1> 
        <h1>{this.state.address.colony} {","} 
          {this.state.address.city}{", "} 
          {this.state.address.state}</h1> 
        <button 
          onClick={this.handleUpdate} 
        >UpdateCity </button> 
      </div> 
    ); 
  } 
} 
  
export default App;

Step to Run Application: Run the application using the following command from the root directory of the project:

npm start

Output:

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