---
title: Textarea Field
label: Textarea
order: 190
desc: Textarea field types save a string to the database, similar to the Text field type but equipped for longer text. Learn how to use Textarea fields, see examples and options.
keywords: textarea, fields, config, configuration, documentation, Content Management System, cms, headless, javascript, node, react, express
---

<Banner >
  The Textarea field is almost identical to the Text field but it features a slightly larger input that is better suited to edit longer text.
</Banner>

### Config

| Option           | Description |
| ---------------- | ----------- |
| **`name`** *         | To be used as the property name when stored and retrieved from the database.  |
| **`label`**          | Used as a field label in the Admin panel and to name the generated GraphQL type. |
| **`unique`**         | Enforce that each entry in the Collection has a unique value for this field. |
| **`minLength`**      | Used by the default validation function to ensure values are of a minimum character length. |
| **`maxLength`**      | Used by the default validation function to ensure values are of a maximum character length. |
| **`validate`**       | Provide a custom validation function that will be executed on both the Admin panel and the backend. [More](/docs/fields/overview#validation) |
| **`index`**          | Build a [MongoDB index](https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/indexes/) for this field to produce faster queries. Set this field to `true` if your users will perform queries on this field's data often. |
| **`saveToJWT`**      | If this field is top-level and nested in a config supporting [Authentication](/docs/authentication/config), include its data in the user JWT. |
| **`hooks`**          | Provide field-based hooks to control logic for this field. [More](/docs/fields/overview#field-level-hooks) |
| **`access`**         | Provide field-based access control to denote what users can see and do with this field's data. [More](/docs/fields/overview#field-level-access-control) |
| **`hidden`**         | Restrict this field's visibility from all APIs entirely. Will still be saved to the database, but will not appear in any API or the Admin panel. |
| **`defaultValue`**   | Provide data to be used for this field's default value. [More](/docs/fields/overview#default-values) [More](/docs/fields/overview#default-values) |
| **`localized`**      | Enable localization for this field. Requires [localization to be enabled](/docs/configuration/localization) in the Base config. |
| **`required`**       | Require this field to have a value. |
| **`admin`**          | Admin-specific configuration. See below for [more detail](#admin-config). |

*\* An asterisk denotes that a property is required.*

### Admin config

In addition to the default [field admin config](/docs/fields/overview#admin-config), the Textarea field type allows for the following `admin` properties:

**`placeholder`**

Set this property to define a placeholder string in the textarea.

**`autoComplete`**

Set this property to a string that will be used for browser autocomplete.

### Example

`collections/ExampleCollection.ts`
```ts
import { CollectionConfig } from 'payload/types';

const ExampleCollection: CollectionConfig = {
  slug: 'example-collection',
  fields: [
    {
      name: 'metaDescription', // required
      type: 'textarea', // required
      required: true,
    }
  ]
}

```
