Shadcn Attachment: React File Upload Previews for Dashboards
The shadcn attachment component displays uploaded files with media previews, upload states, and inline actions. It is a custom shadcn style component built with Tailwind CSS, designed for the moments a plain file input cannot handle: showing thumbnails, tracking upload progress, and letting users remove or retry a file. If you are searching for a react file upload component that matches the rest of your shadcn/ui interface, this is the piece that closes the gap.
This page collects five copy-paste attachment examples, from compact file chips to richer preview cards with image thumbnails and progress indicators. Each variant ships as typed TypeScript code that drops straight into a Next.js or Vite project, and every example integrates cleanly with interfaces built on Radix UI or Base UI.
What you get
- Media previews: Image thumbnails and file type icons so users can recognize what they uploaded at a glance.
- Upload states: Pending, uploading, success, and error presentations, including progress feedback while a file transfers.
- Inline actions: Remove, retry, and download buttons positioned inside each attachment item.
- Compact and expanded layouts: Dense chip style rows for forms and larger preview cards for galleries or message composers.
- Typed source: Every variant is written in TypeScript with props you can extend for your own upload service.
Implementation tips
- Separate state from UI: Keep upload progress in your own state or a small store and pass it down, so the attachment component stays a pure presentation layer.
- Handle errors visibly: Swap to the error variant and offer a retry action instead of silently dropping failed uploads.
- Revoke object URLs: If you preview local files with URL.createObjectURL, revoke the URL on unmount to avoid memory leaks.
- Constrain file types early: Validate extension and size before the upload starts, then surface the rule in helper text near the drop zone.
- Think about lists: Wrap multiple attachments in a scrollable container when users can upload many files at once.
Where it fits in a dashboard
Attachment components show up wherever users hand files to your app: support ticket forms, document management screens, chat composers, and profile settings that accept an avatar or verification document. In an admin dashboard the same pattern also works in reverse, rendering files that already exist on a record, such as invoices attached to an order or contracts attached to a customer.
Because the styling is pure Tailwind CSS on top of shadcn design tokens, the component inherits your theme automatically. Dark mode, custom radii, and brand colors all apply without extra work, which matters when attachments sit inside dense admin views.
Related components and patterns
Uploads rarely travel alone. Pair the attachment list with an Input or drop zone for file selection, a Progress bar for transfer feedback, and a Sonner Toast to confirm success or report a failure.
For layout, attachments often live inside a Card on detail pages, and an Empty state covers the moment before anything has been uploaded. If you are assembling a full screen around these pieces, the ready-made sections in Blocks can save you a step.
Library support
Attachment is not wrapped around a headless primitive. It is a custom shadcn style component built with Tailwind CSS and plain React, so there is no extra dependency to install and nothing to configure. That also means it coexists happily with Radix UI and Base UI components on the same page, since it makes no assumptions about which primitive library powers the rest of your interface.