layout: docs title: Navbar description: Documentation and examples for Bootstrap's powerful, responsive navigation header, the navbar. Includes support for branding, navigation, and more, including support for our collapse plugin. group: components
Here's what you need to know before getting started with the navbar:
.navbar
with .navbar-expand{-sm|-md|-lg|-xl|-xxl}
for responsive collapsing and color scheme classes.<nav>
element or, if using a more generic element such as a <div>
, add a role="navigation"
to every navbar to explicitly identify it as a landmark region for users of assistive technologies.aria-current="page"
for the current page or aria-current="true"
for the current item in a set.{{< callout info >}} {{< partial "callout-info-prefersreducedmotion.md" >}} {{< /callout >}}
Navbars come with built-in support for a handful of sub-components. Choose from the following as needed:
.navbar-brand
for your company, product, or project name..navbar-nav
for a full-height and lightweight navigation (including support for dropdowns)..navbar-toggler
for use with our collapse plugin and other navigation toggling behaviors..navbar-text
for adding vertically centered strings of text..collapse.navbar-collapse
for grouping and hiding navbar contents by a parent breakpoint..navbar-scroll
to set a max-height
and scroll expanded navbar content.Here's an example of all the sub-components included in a responsive light-themed navbar that automatically collapses at the lg
(large) breakpoint.
{{< example >}}
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Navbar</a>
<button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#navbarSupportedContent" aria-controls="navbarSupportedContent" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
<span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
</button>
<div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="navbarSupportedContent">
<ul class="navbar-nav me-auto mb-2 mb-lg-0">
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link active" aria-current="page" href="#">Home</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item dropdown">
<a class="nav-link dropdown-toggle" href="#" id="navbarDropdown" role="button" data-bs-toggle="dropdown" aria-expanded="false">
Dropdown
</a>
<ul class="dropdown-menu" aria-labelledby="navbarDropdown">
<li><a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a></li>
<li><a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a></li>
<li><hr class="dropdown-divider"></li>
<li><a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link disabled" href="#" tabindex="-1" aria-disabled="true">Disabled</a>
</li>
</ul>
<form class="d-flex">
<input class="form-control me-2" type="search" placeholder="Search" aria-label="Search">
<button class="btn btn-outline-success" type="submit">Search</button>
</form>
</div>
{{< /example >}}
This example uses background (bg-light
) and spacing (my-2
, my-lg-0
, me-sm-0
, my-sm-0
) utility classes.
The .navbar-brand
can be applied to most elements, but an anchor works best, as some elements might require utility classes or custom styles.
Add your text within an element with the .navbar-brand
class.
{{< example >}}
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Navbar</a>
<div class="container-fluid">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Navbar</a>
<button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#navbarColor02" aria-controls="navbarColor02" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
<span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
</button>
<div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="navbarColor02">
<ul class="navbar-nav me-auto mb-2 mb-lg-0">
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link active" aria-current="page" href="#">Home</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Features</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Pricing</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">About</a>
</li>
</ul>
<form class="d-flex">
<input class="form-control me-2" type="search" placeholder="Search" aria-label="Search">
<button class="btn btn-outline-light" type="submit">Search</button>
</form>
</div>
</div>
<div class="container-fluid">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Navbar</a>
<button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#navbarColor03" aria-controls="navbarColor03" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
<span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
</button>
<div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="navbarColor03">
<ul class="navbar-nav me-auto mb-2 mb-lg-0">
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link active" aria-current="page" href="#">Home</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Features</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Pricing</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">About</a>
</li>
</ul>
<form class="d-flex">
<input class="form-control me-2" type="search" placeholder="Search" aria-label="Search">
<button class="btn btn-outline-primary" type="submit">Search</button>
</form>
</div>
</div>
<nav class="navbar navbar-dark bg-dark">
<!-- Navbar content -->
</nav>
<nav class="navbar navbar-dark bg-primary">
<!-- Navbar content -->
</nav>
<nav class="navbar navbar-light" style="background-color: #e3f2fd;">
<!-- Navbar content -->
</nav>
Although it's not required, you can wrap a navbar in a .container
to center it on a page–though note that an inner container is still required. Or you can add a container inside the .navbar
to only center the contents of a fixed or static top navbar.
{{< example >}}
<div class="container-fluid">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Navbar</a>
</div>
Use any of the responsive containers to change how wide the content in your navbar is presented.
{{< example >}}
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Navbar</a>
{{< /example >}}
Use our position utilities to place navbars in non-static positions. Choose from fixed to the top, fixed to the bottom, or stickied to the top (scrolls with the page until it reaches the top, then stays there). Fixed navbars use position: fixed
, meaning they're pulled from the normal flow of the DOM and may require custom CSS (e.g., padding-top
on the <body>
) to prevent overlap with other elements.
Also note that .sticky-top
uses position: sticky
, which isn't fully supported in every browser.
{{< example >}}
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Default</a>
{{< /example >}}
{{< example >}}
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Fixed top</a>
{{< /example >}}
{{< example >}}
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Fixed bottom</a>
{{< /example >}}
{{< example >}}
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Sticky top</a>
{{< /example >}}
Add .navbar-nav-scroll
to a .navbar-nav
(or other navbar sub-component) to enable vertical scrolling within the toggleable contents of a collapsed navbar. By default, scrolling kicks in at 75vh
(or 75% of the viewport height), but you can override that with the local CSS custom property --bs-navbar-height
or custom styles. At larger viewports when the navbar is expanded, content will appear as it does in a default navbar.
Please note that this behavior comes with a potential drawback of overflow
—when setting overflow-y: auto
(required to scroll the content here), overflow-x
is the equivalent of auto
, which will crop some horizontal content.
Here's an example navbar using .navbar-nav-scroll
with style="--bs-scroll-height: 100px;"
, with some extra margin utilities for optimum spacing.
{{< example >}}
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Navbar scroll</a>
<button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#navbarScroll" aria-controls="navbarScroll" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
<span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
</button>
<div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="navbarScroll">
<ul class="navbar-nav me-auto my-2 my-lg-0 navbar-nav-scroll" style="--bs-scroll-height: 100px;">
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link active" aria-current="page" href="#">Home</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item dropdown">
<a class="nav-link dropdown-toggle" href="#" id="navbarScrollingDropdown" role="button" data-bs-toggle="dropdown" aria-expanded="false">
Link
</a>
<ul class="dropdown-menu" aria-labelledby="navbarScrollingDropdown">
<li><a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a></li>
<li><a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a></li>
<li><hr class="dropdown-divider"></li>
<li><a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link disabled" href="#" tabindex="-1" aria-disabled="true">Link</a>
</li>
</ul>
<form class="d-flex">
<input class="form-control me-2" type="search" placeholder="Search" aria-label="Search">
<button class="btn btn-outline-success" type="submit">Search</button>
</form>
</div>
{{< /example >}}
Navbars can use .navbar-toggler
, .navbar-collapse
, and .navbar-expand{-sm|-md|-lg|-xl|-xxl}
classes to determine when their content collapses behind a button. In combination with other utilities, you can easily choose when to show or hide particular elements.
For navbars that never collapse, add the .navbar-expand
class on the navbar. For navbars that always collapse, don't add any .navbar-expand
class.
Navbar togglers are left-aligned by default, but should they follow a sibling element like a .navbar-brand
, they'll automatically be aligned to the far right. Reversing your markup will reverse the placement of the toggler. Below are examples of different toggle styles.
With no .navbar-brand
shown at the smallest breakpoint:
{{< example >}}
<button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#navbarTogglerDemo01" aria-controls="navbarTogglerDemo01" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
<span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
</button>
<div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="navbarTogglerDemo01">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Hidden brand</a>
<ul class="navbar-nav me-auto mb-2 mb-lg-0">
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link active" aria-current="page" href="#">Home</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link disabled" href="#" tabindex="-1" aria-disabled="true">Disabled</a>
</li>
</ul>
<form class="d-flex">
<input class="form-control me-2" type="search" placeholder="Search" aria-label="Search">
<button class="btn btn-outline-success" type="submit">Search</button>
</form>
</div>
{{< /example >}}
With a brand name shown on the left and toggler on the right:
{{< example >}}
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Navbar</a>
<button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#navbarTogglerDemo02" aria-controls="navbarTogglerDemo02" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
<span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
</button>
<div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="navbarTogglerDemo02">
<ul class="navbar-nav me-auto mb-2 mb-lg-0">
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link active" aria-current="page" href="#">Home</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link disabled" href="#" tabindex="-1" aria-disabled="true">Disabled</a>
</li>
</ul>
<form class="d-flex">
<input class="form-control me-2" type="search" placeholder="Search" aria-label="Search">
<button class="btn btn-outline-success" type="submit">Search</button>
</form>
</div>
{{< /example >}}
With a toggler on the left and brand name on the right:
{{< example >}}
<button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#navbarTogglerDemo03" aria-controls="navbarTogglerDemo03" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
<span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
</button>
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Navbar</a>
<div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="navbarTogglerDemo03">
<ul class="navbar-nav me-auto mb-2 mb-lg-0">
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link active" aria-current="page" href="#">Home</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link disabled" href="#" tabindex="-1" aria-disabled="true">Disabled</a>
</li>
</ul>
<form class="d-flex">
<input class="form-control me-2" type="search" placeholder="Search" aria-label="Search">
<button class="btn btn-outline-success" type="submit">Search</button>
</form>
</div>
{{< /example >}}
Sometimes you want to use the collapse plugin to trigger a container element for content that structurally sits outside of the .navbar
. Because our plugin works on the id
and data-bs-target
matching, that's easily done!
{{< example >}}
<button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#navbarToggleExternalContent" aria-controls="navbarToggleExternalContent" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
<span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
</button>
{{< /example >}}
When you do this, we recommend including additional JavaScript to move the focus programmatically to the container when it is opened. Otherwise, keyboard users and users of assistive technologies will likely have a hard time finding the newly revealed content - particularly if the container that was opened comes before the toggler in the document's structure. We also recommend making sure that the toggler has the aria-controls
attribute, pointing to the id
of the content container. In theory, this allows assistive technology users to jump directly from the toggler to the container it controls–but support for this is currently quite patchy.
{{< scss-docs name="navbar-variables" file="scss/_variables.scss" >}}
{{< scss-docs name="navbar-theme-variables" file="scss/_variables.scss" >}}
Responsive navbar expand/collapse classes (e.g., .navbar-expand-lg
) are combined with the $breakpoints
map and generated through a loop in scss/_navbar.scss
.
{{< scss-docs name="navbar-expand-loop" file="scss/_navbar.scss" >}}