layout: docs title: Forms description: Examples and usage guidelines for form control styles, layout options, and custom components for creating a wide variety of forms. group: forms toc: true aliases: "/docs/5.0/forms/" sections:
Bootstrap's form controls expand on our Rebooted form styles with classes. Use these classes to opt into their customized displays for a more consistent rendering across browsers and devices.
Be sure to use an appropriate type
attribute on all inputs (e.g., email
for email address or number
for numerical information) to take advantage of newer input controls like email verification, number selection, and more.
Here's a quick example to demonstrate Bootstrap's form styles. Keep reading for documentation on required classes, form layout, and more.
{{< example >}}
<label for="exampleInputEmail1" class="form-label">Email address</label>
<input type="email" class="form-control" id="exampleInputEmail1" aria-describedby="emailHelp">
<div id="emailHelp" class="form-text">We'll never share your email with anyone else.</div>
<label for="exampleInputPassword1" class="form-label">Password</label>
<input type="password" class="form-control" id="exampleInputPassword1">
<input type="checkbox" class="form-check-input" id="exampleCheck1">
<label class="form-check-label" for="exampleCheck1">Check me out</label>
Submit
{{< /example >}}
Block-level or inline-level form text can be created using .form-text
.
{{< callout warning >}}
Form text should be explicitly associated with the form control it relates to using the aria-describedby
attribute. This will ensure that assistive technologies—such as screen readers—will announce this form text when the user focuses or enters the control.
{{< /callout >}}
Form text below inputs can be styled with .form-text
. If a block-level element will be used, a top margin is added for easy spacing from the inputs above.
{{< example >}} Password
Inline text can use any typical inline HTML element (be it a <span>
, <small>
, or something else) with nothing more than the .form-text
class.
{{< example >}}
<label for="inputPassword6" class="col-form-label">Password</label>
<input type="password" id="inputPassword6" class="form-control" aria-describedby="passwordHelpInline">
<span id="passwordHelpInline" class="form-text">
Must be 8-20 characters long.
</span>
Add the disabled
boolean attribute on an input to prevent user interactions and make it appear lighter.
<input class="form-control" id="disabledInput" type="text" placeholder="Disabled input here..." disabled>
Add the disabled
attribute to a <fieldset>
to disable all the controls within. Browsers treat all native form controls (<input>
, <select>
, and <button>
elements) inside a <fieldset disabled>
as disabled, preventing both keyboard and mouse interactions on them.
However, if your form also includes custom button-like elements such as <a class="btn btn-*">...</a>
, these will only be given a style of pointer-events: none
, meaning they are still focusable and operable using the keyboard. In this case, you must manually modify these controls by adding tabindex="-1"
to prevent them from receiving focus and aria-disabled="disabled"
to signal their state to assistive technologies.
{{< example >}}
<legend>Disabled fieldset example</legend>
<div class="mb-3">
<label for="disabledTextInput" class="form-label">Disabled input</label>
<input type="text" id="disabledTextInput" class="form-control" placeholder="Disabled input">
</div>
<div class="mb-3">
<label for="disabledSelect" class="form-label">Disabled select menu</label>
<select id="disabledSelect" class="form-select">
<option>Disabled select</option>
</select>
</div>
<div class="mb-3">
<div class="form-check">
<input class="form-check-input" type="checkbox" id="disabledFieldsetCheck" disabled>
<label class="form-check-label" for="disabledFieldsetCheck">
Can't check this
</label>
</div>
</div>
<button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary">Submit</button>
{{< /example >}}
Ensure that all form controls have an appropriate accessible name so that their purpose can be conveyed to users of assistive technologies. The simplest way to achieve this is to use a <label>
element, or—in the case of buttons—to include sufficiently descriptive text as part of the <button>...</button>
content.
For situations where it's not possible to include a visible <label>
or appropriate text content, there are alternative ways of still providing an accessible name, such as:
<label>
elements hidden using the .visually-hidden
classaria-labelledby
title
attributearia-label
If none of these are present, assistive technologies may resort to using the placeholder
attribute as a fallback for the accessible name on <input>
and <textarea>
elements. The examples in this section provide a few suggested, case-specific approaches.
While using visually hidden content (.visually-hidden
, aria-label
, and even placeholder
content, which disappears once a form field has content) will benefit assistive technology users, a lack of visible label text may still be problematic for certain users. Some form of visible label is generally the best approach, both for accessibility and usability.
Many form variables are set at a general level to be re-used and extended by individual form components. You'll see these most often as $btn-input-*
and $input-*
variables.
$btn-input-*
variables are shared global variables between our buttons and our form components. You'll find these frequently reassigned as values to other component-specific variables.
{{< scss-docs name="input-btn-variables" file="scss/_variables.scss" >}}