Portals

Using ReactDOM.createPortal:

const modalRoot = document.getElementById("modal-root") as HTMLElement;
// assuming in your html file has a div with id 'modal-root';

export class Modal extends React.Component<{ children?: React.ReactNode }> {
  el: HTMLElement = document.createElement("div");

  componentDidMount() {
    modalRoot.appendChild(this.el);
  }

  componentWillUnmount() {
    modalRoot.removeChild(this.el);
  }

  render() {
    return ReactDOM.createPortal(this.props.children, this.el);
  }
}

View in the TypeScript Playground

Using hooks

Same as above but using hooks

import { useEffect, useRef, ReactNode } from "react";
import { createPortal } from "react-dom";

const modalRoot = document.querySelector("#modal-root") as HTMLElement;

type ModalProps = {
  children: ReactNode;
};

function Modal({ children }: ModalProps) {
  // create div element only once using ref
  const elRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
  if (!elRef.current) elRef.current = document.createElement("div");

  useEffect(() => {
    const el = elRef.current!; // non-null assertion because it will never be null
    modalRoot.appendChild(el);
    return () => {
      modalRoot.removeChild(el);
    };
  }, []);

  return createPortal(children, elRef.current);
}

View in the TypeScript Playground

Modal Component Usage Example:

import { useState } from "react";

function App() {
  const [showModal, setShowModal] = useState(false);

  return (
    <div>
      // you can also put this in your static html file
      <div id="modal-root"></div>
      {showModal && (
        <Modal>
          <div
            style={{
              display: "grid",
              placeItems: "center",
              height: "100vh",
              width: "100vh",
              background: "rgba(0,0,0,0.1)",
              zIndex: 99,
            }}
          >
            I'm a modal!{" "}
            <button
              style={{ background: "papyawhip" }}
              onClick={() => setShowModal(false)}
            >
              close
            </button>
          </div>
        </Modal>
      )}
      <button onClick={() => setShowModal(true)}>show Modal</button>
      // rest of your app
    </div>
  );
}

Context of Example

This example is based on the Event Bubbling Through Portal example of React docs.