While Refs are considered an escape hatch there are times when you might just need to use them.In this talk, with the help of real world examples, we will look at what Refs can do for us in terms of code clarity and also performance gains. Think along the lines of minimising renders and avoiding flickering UIs. We will cover the restrictions for safe usage and for those of you already using these patterns make sure you are prepared for the changes coming in React 19.