default.js

The default.js file is used to render a fallback within Parallel Routes when Next.js cannot recover a slot's active state after a full-page load.

During soft navigation, Next.js keeps track of the active state (subpage) for each slot. However, for hard navigations (full-page load), Next.js cannot recover the active state. In this case, a default.js file can be rendered for subpages that don't match the current URL.

Consider the following folder structure. The @team slot has a settings page, but @analytics does not.

When navigating to /settings, the @team slot will render the settings page while maintaining the currently active page for the @analytics slot.

On refresh, Next.js will render a default.js for @analytics. If default.js doesn't exist, a 404 is rendered instead.

Additionally, since children is an implicit slot, you also need to create a default.js file to render a fallback for children when Next.js cannot recover the active state of the parent page.

Props

params (optional)

An object containing the dynamic route parameters from the root segment down to the slot's subpages. For example: