 import RichText from 'payload/dist/admin/components/forms/field-types/RichText';
 import { lexicalEditor } from '@payloadcms/richtext-lexical';
 // other imports
 
 export const Modal = ({}) => {
    // some code
    const defaultValue = {
        root: {
            children: [
                {
                    children: [
                        {
                            text: "test",
                            type: 'text',
                        },
                    ],
                    direction: null,
                    format: '',
                    indent: 0,
                    type: 'paragraph',
                    version: 1,
                },
            ],
            direction: null,
            format: '',
            indent: 0,
            type: 'root',
            version: 1,
        },
    };
    return (
         <Form onSubmit={onSubmit}>
             <RichText
                        name="test"
                        defaultValue={defaultValue}
                        label="test"
                        editor={lexicalEditor({ features: [] })}
                        type="richText"
                        admin={{
                            className: `${BASE_CLASS}__rich-text`,
                        }}
                    />
                    <Submit>Submit</Submit>
      </Form>
  )}

Payload Version

2.1.1

Adapters and Plugins

No response

Selected Answer
AlessioGr
last year
The defaultValue prop in the RichText component actually doesn't do anything. Since that's intended, I'm closing this issue & converted it into a discussion. I've also removed this prop in 4bc5fa7 since it wasn't used.

The defaultValue of the richtext field is populated solely through the Form. The RichText component itself receives it as value from the useField hook - which is provided by that Form.

In order to give it a default value, you will have to set the initialState property of the Form component. Check out the Blocks Feature if you need an example of how initialState can be created & passed to the Form - I did something similar there