Best Practices for React Folder Structure

⚓︎Best Practices for React Folder Structure

A well-organized folder structure is essential for building scalable and maintainable React applications. In this article, I’ll share some practical approaches and folder structures that work well for both small and large projects.

⚓︎Why Folder Structure Matters

Scalability: As your app grows, a clear structure helps you and your team find and manage files easily.
Maintainability: Logical organization reduces technical debt and makes onboarding new developers easier.
Separation of Concerns: Keeping related files together (like components, styles, and tests) improves code readability.

⚓︎Common Folder Structures

1. Feature-Based Structure

This is the most popular approach for modern React apps.

src/
├── features/
│   ├── auth/
│   │   ├── AuthForm.tsx
│   │   ├── authSlice.ts
│   │   ├── authAPI.ts
│   │   └── Auth.css
│   │
│   └── dashboard/
│       ├── Dashboard.tsx
│       ├── dashboardAPI.ts
│       └── Dashboard.css
│
├── common/
│   ├── components/
│   ├── hooks/
│   └── utils/
│
├── App.tsx
└── index.tsx

Pros:

Keeps related files together
Scales well for large apps
Encourages modularity

2. Domain-Driven Structure

Organize by business domain or module.

src/
├── user/
│   ├── components/
│   ├── hooks/
│   └── services/
│
├── product/
│   ├── components/
│   ├── hooks/
│   └── services/
│
└── shared/
    ├── components/
    └── utils/

Pros:

Mirrors business logic
Easy to delegate work to teams

3. Atomic Design Structure

Inspired by Atomic Design :

src/
├── components/
│   ├── atoms/        # Smallest UI elements (e.g., Button, Input, Label)
│   ├── molecules/    # Combinations of atoms (e.g., FormField, SearchBar)
│   ├── organisms/    # Complex UI blocks (e.g., Header, ProductList, UserCard)
│   ├── templates/    # Page-level layout structures with placeholder content
│   └── pages/        # Complete pages composed from templates and organisms

Pros:

Promotes reusability
Good for design systems

⚓︎Example: My Recommended Structure

Here’s a structure I often use for mid-to-large React projects:

src/
├── common/             # Shared resources across the app
│   ├── components/     # Reusable UI components (buttons, modals, inputs)
│   ├── hooks/          # Shared custom React hooks
│   ├── utils/          # Utility/helper functions (formatters, validators)
│   ├── assets/         # Static assets (images, fonts, icons)
│   ├── styles/         # Global CSS/SCSS styles and themes
│   └── types/          # Shared TypeScript types and interfaces
│
├── features/           # Feature-specific modules (domain logic, pages)
│
├── App.tsx             # Main application root component
└── index.tsx           # ReactDOM entry point

⚓︎Conclusion

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but a thoughtful folder structure will save you time and headaches as your React app grows. Start simple, and adapt as your project evolves!

Happy Coding! 🎉