Issue

Setting the focus on the first click via React doesn't work because the input element is currently still disabled.

Solution

Convert the span elements to label elements and link them to their respective input element by id attribute. When the label for inputs are clicked the inputs receive the focus.

Example:

<div>
  <input
    id="input1" // <-- add id attribute
    disabled={config.config1}
    value={input1}
    type={config.config1 ? "text" : "password"}
    onChange={(e) => setInput1(e.target.value)}
  />
  <label
    htmlFor="input1" // <-- label for specific input
    onClick={() => {
      setInput1("");
      setConfig({ ...config, config1: false });
    }}
  >
    Enable Input 1
  </label>
</div>
<div>
  <input
    id="input2"
    disabled={config.config2}
    value={input2}
    type={config.config2 ? "text" : "password"}
    onChange={(e) => setInput2(e.target.value)}
  />
  <label
    htmlFor="input2"
    onClick={() => {
      setInput2("");
      setConfig({ ...config, config2: false });
    }}
  >
    Enable Input 2
  </label>
</div>

Solution #2

This is a bit hackish IMO, but if you want to use the React ref to programatically set the focus then you can use a setTimeout with a callback to set the focus. Using the the setTimeout will place the callback at the end of the event queue and be processed after the React state update has been processed and the component rerendered, thus making the input focusable.

Example:

<div>
  <input
    disabled={config.config1}
    value={input1}
    ref={ref1}
    type={config.config1 ? "text" : "password"}
    onChange={(e) => setInput1(e.target.value)}
  />
  <span
    onClick={() => {
      setInput1("");
      setConfig({ ...config, config1: false });
      setTimeout(() => {
        ref1.current.focus();
      });
    }}
  >
    Enable Input 1
  </span>
</div>
<div>
  <input
    disabled={config.config2}
    value={input2}
    ref={ref2}
    type={config.config2 ? "text" : "password"}
    onChange={(e) => setInput2(e.target.value)}
  />
  <span
    onClick={() => {
      setInput2("");
      setConfig({ ...config, config2: false });
      setTimeout(() => {
        ref2.current.focus();
      })
    }}
  >
    Enable Input 2
  </span>
</div>

import React, { useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
import { render } from "react-dom";
import * as data from "./messages.json";

const App = () => {
  return <Test {...{ alreadySetVal1: true, alreadySetVal2: true }} />;
};

const Test = ({ alreadySetVal1, alreadySetVal2 }) => {
  const [input1, setInput1] = useState(alreadySetVal1 ? "Already Set" : "");
  const [input2, setInput2] = useState(alreadySetVal2 ? "Already Set" : "");
  const [config, setConfig] = useState({
    config1: !!input1,
    config2: !!input2
  });
  const ref1 = useRef(null);
  const ref2 = useRef(null);
 

  return (
    <>
      <div>
        <input
          disabled={config.config1}
          value={input1}
          ref={ref1}
          type={config.config1 ? "text" : "password"}
          onChange={(e) => setInput1(e.target.value)}
        />
        <span
          onClick={async () => {
            setInput1("");
              await Promise.all([
                setConfig({ ...config, config1: false }),
              ]);
              ref1.current.focus()
          }}
        >
          Enable Input 1
        </span>
      </div>
      <div>
        <input
          disabled={config.config2}
          value={input2}
          ref={ref2}
          type={config.config2 ? "text" : "password"}
          onChange={(e) => setInput2(e.target.value)}
        />
        <span
          onClick={async() => {
            setInput2("");
            await Promise.all([
              setConfig({ ...config, config2: false }),
            ]);
              ref2.current.focus();
          }}
        >
          Enable Input 2
        </span>
      </div>
    </>
  );
};

render(<App messages={data.messages} />, document.getElementById("root"));

Problem: Here problem is you call setConfig({ ...config, config1: false }), AND ref1.current.focus(); in a single render so ref1.current.focus(); this focus can't understand is previous state changes.

Solution: So, solution is you need a complete setConfig({ ...config, config1: false }), this call first then call ref1.current.focus(); . Here possible solution is either you use setTimeout or promise.all. Here I use promise.all because promise.all is comparatively good approach than using setTimeout

You can check here what promis.all do: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Promise/all