Stop a useEffect that loops forever

My counter climbs to a huge number in under a second, then the tab freezes.

IntermediateRead 5 minDoing: under an hour6 steps

▶ Start

What you'll have at the end

The counter settles at a small, steady number and stops, with the dependency array fixed

Before you start

You need

A React component using useState and useEffect where a displayed count climbs uncontrollably or the tab locks up soon after the page loads, open in a browser with React DevTools installed.

Not covered

An effect that reruns because something outside it genuinely changed, a fresh prop, a value the reader typed. This recipe covers only an effect that restarts itself with no outside cause.

Leans on

6 steps

Where to go next

One class component still runs on lifecycle methods everyone else replaced

For a class component whose componentDidUpdate calls a setter unconditionally, since that lifecycle method hides the identical self-feeding mistake under older syntax.

Checked 22 Aug 2026

Part of the React Frontend Framework cookbook