---
title: Error Handling
description: Handle runtime errors by automatically wrapping route segments and their nested children in a React Error Boundary.
---

The `error.js` file convention allows you to gracefully handle runtime errors in [nested routes](/docs/app/building-your-application/routing#nested-routes).

- Automatically wrap a route segment and its nested children in a [React Error Boundary](https://react.dev/reference/react/Component#catching-rendering-errors-with-an-error-boundary).
- Create error UI tailored to specific segments using the file-system hierarchy to adjust granularity.
- Isolate errors to affected segments while keeping the rest of the app functional.
- Add functionality to attempt to recover from an error without a full page reload.

Create error UI by adding an `error.js` file inside a route segment and exporting a React component:

<Image
  alt="error.js special file"
  srcLight="/docs/light/error-special-file.png"
  srcDark="/docs/dark/error-special-file.png"
  width="1600"
  height="606"
/>

```tsx filename="app/dashboard/error.tsx" switcher
'use client' // Error components must be Client Components

import { useEffect } from 'react'

export default function Error({
  error,
  reset,
}: {
  error: Error
  reset: () => void
}) {
  useEffect(() => {
    // Log the error to an error reporting service
    console.error(error)
  }, [error])

  return (
    <div>
      <h2>Something went wrong!</h2>
      <button
        onClick={
          // Attempt to recover by trying to re-render the segment
          () => reset()
        }
      >
        Try again
      </button>
    </div>
  )
}
```

```jsx filename="app/dashboard/error.js" switcher
'use client' // Error components must be Client Components

import { useEffect } from 'react'

export default function Error({ error, reset }) {
  useEffect(() => {
    // Log the error to an error reporting service
    console.error(error)
  }, [error])

  return (
    <div>
      <h2>Something went wrong!</h2>
      <button
        onClick={
          // Attempt to recover by trying to re-render the segment
          () => reset()
        }
      >
        Try again
      </button>
    </div>
  )
}
```

### How `error.js` Works

<Image
  alt="How error.js works"
  srcLight="/docs/light/error-overview.png"
  srcDark="/docs/dark/error-overview.png"
  width="1600"
  height="903"
/>

- `error.js` automatically creates an [React Error Boundary](https://react.dev/reference/react/Component#catching-rendering-errors-with-an-error-boundary) that **wraps** a nested child segment or `page.js` component.
- The React component exported from the `error.js` file is used as the **fallback** component.
- If an error is thrown within the error boundary, the error is **contained**, and the fallback component is **rendered**.
- When the fallback error component is active, layouts **above** the error boundary **maintain** their state and **remain** interactive, and the error component can display functionality to recover from the error.

### Recovering From Errors

The cause of an error can sometimes be temporary. In these cases, simply trying again might resolve the issue.

An error component can use the `reset()` function to prompt the user to attempt to recover from the error. When executed, the function will try to re-render the Error boundary's contents. If successful, the fallback error component is replaced with the result of the re-render.

```tsx filename="app/dashboard/error.tsx" switcher
'use client'

export default function Error({
  error,
  reset,
}: {
  error: Error
  reset: () => void
}) {
  return (
    <div>
      <h2>Something went wrong!</h2>
      <button onClick={() => reset()}>Try again</button>
    </div>
  )
}
```

```jsx filename="app/dashboard/error.js" switcher
'use client'

export default function Error({ error, reset }) {
  return (
    <div>
      <h2>Something went wrong!</h2>
      <button onClick={() => reset()}>Try again</button>
    </div>
  )
}
```

### Nested Routes

React components created through [special files](/docs/app/building-your-application/routing#file-conventions) are rendered in a [specific nested hierarchy](/docs/app/building-your-application/routing#component-hierarchy).

For example, a nested route with two segments that both include `layout.js` and `error.js` files are rendered in the following _simplified_ component hierarchy:

<Image
  alt="Nested Error Component Hierarchy"
  srcLight="/docs/light/nested-error-component-hierarchy.png"
  srcDark="/docs/dark/nested-error-component-hierarchy.png"
  width="1600"
  height="687"
/>

The nested component hierarchy has implications for the behavior of `error.js` files across a nested route:

- Errors bubble up to the nearest parent error boundary. This means an `error.js` file will handle errors for all its nested child segments. More or less granular error UI can be achieved by placing `error.js` files at different levels in the nested folders of a route.
- An `error.js` boundary will **not** handle errors thrown in a `layout.js` component in the **same** segment because the error boundary is nested **inside** that layouts component.

### Handling Errors in Layouts

`error.js` boundaries do **not** catch errors thrown in `layout.js` or `template.js` components of the same segment. This [intentional hierarchy](#nested-routes) keeps important UI that is shared between sibling routes (such as navigation) visible and functional when an error occurs.

To handle errors within a specific layout or template, place an `error.js` file in the layouts parent segment.

To handle errors within the root layout or template, use a variation of `error.js` called `global-error.js`.

### Handling Errors in Root Layouts

The root `app/error.js` boundary does **not** catch errors thrown in the root `app/layout.js` or `app/template.js` component.

To specifically handle errors in these root components, use a variation of `error.js` called `app/global-error.js` located in the root `app` directory.

Unlike the root `error.js`, the `global-error.js` error boundary wraps the **entire** application, and its fallback component replaces the root layout when active. Because of this, it is important to note that `global-error.js` **must** define its own `<html>` and `<body>` tags.

`global-error.js` is the least granular error UI and can be considered "catch-all" error handling for the whole application. It is unlikely to be triggered often as root components are typically less dynamic, and other `error.js` boundaries will catch most errors.

Even if a `global-error.js` is defined, it is still recommended to define a root `error.js` whose fallback component will be rendered **within** the root layout, which includes globally shared UI and branding.

```tsx filename="app/global-error.tsx" switcher
'use client'

export default function GlobalError({
  error,
  reset,
}: {
  error: Error
  reset: () => void
}) {
  return (
    <html>
      <body>
        <h2>Something went wrong!</h2>
        <button onClick={() => reset()}>Try again</button>
      </body>
    </html>
  )
}
```

```jsx filename="app/global-error.js" switcher
'use client'

export default function GlobalError({ error, reset }) {
  return (
    <html>
      <body>
        <h2>Something went wrong!</h2>
        <button onClick={() => reset()}>Try again</button>
      </body>
    </html>
  )
}
```

### Handling Server Errors

If an error is thrown during [data fetching](/docs/app/building-your-application/data-fetching/fetching) or inside a Server Component, Next.js will forward the resulting `Error` object to the nearest `error.js` file as the `error` prop.

When running `next dev`, the `error` will be serialized and forwarded from the Server Component to the client `error.js`. To ensure security when running `next start` in production, a generic error message is forwarded to `error` along with a `.digest` which contains a hash of the error message. This hash can be used to correspond to server logs.
