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CSS•CSS Foundations

CSS Horizontal Navigation Bar

In a horizontal navigation bar, the navigation links are stacked horizontally (next to each other), and is typically aligned on the top of a webpage.

The basics of a horizontal navigation bar is an unordered list (<ul>), with list items (<li>), each holding a link (<a>), as shown in the Navbar Intro page.

It is also common to add a <nav> element around the <ul> element, that will serve as a container for your navigation bar.

Horizontal Navbar Using Float

One way of creating a horizontal navigation bar is to add the float property to the <li> elements.

Here we create a basic horizontal navigation bar with a dark background color and change the background color of the links when the user moves the mouse over them:

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Example

Formatted code

ul {
  list-style-type: none;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
  overflow: hidden;
  background-color: #333333;
}
ul li {
  float: left;
}
ul li a {
  display: block;
  color: white;
  text-align: center;
  padding: 14px 16px;
  text-decoration: none;
}
ul li a:hover {
  background-color: #111111;
}

Live preview

Example explained

overflow: hidden; - Prevents list items from going outside of the list
background-color: #333333; - Adds a black background-color to the <ul> element
float: left; - Makes <li> elements float next to each other
display: block; - Allows us to specify padding, height, width, and margins to <a>
padding: 14px 16px; - Add some padding between each <a> element
text-decoration: none; - Removes underline from the links

Horizontal Navbar Using Flex

A more modern way of creating a horizontal navigation bar, is to use CSS flexbox .

The following example creates an equal-looking horizontal navbar as above, but with flexbox:

Example

Formatted code

ul {
  list-style-type: none;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
  background-color: #333333;
  display: flex;
}
ul li a {
  display: block;
  color: white;
  padding: 14px
  16px;
  text-decoration: none;
}
ul li a:hover {
  background-color: #111111;
}

Live preview

The solution here are display: flex; . This creates a flex context and by default the items are shown from left to right.

And just by adding one line to the ul block: justify-content: center; , you will have a horizontally centered navbar:

Example

Formatted code

ul {
  list-style-type: none;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
  background-color: #333333;
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
}

Live preview

Active State

Here, we add an "active" class to highlight the link corresponding to the current page to let the user know which page/section he/she is on:

Home
News
Contact
About

Example

Formatted code

ul li a.active {
  background-color: #04AA6D;
}

Live preview

Gray Horizontal Navbar

Here is an example of a gray horizontal navigation bar with a thin, gray border:

Home
News
Contact
About

Example

Formatted code

ul {
  list-style-type: none;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
  display: flex;
  border: 1px solid #e7e7e7;
  background-color: #f3f3f3;
}

Live preview

Right-align Last Link

You can right-align one or more links by floating the list items to the right ( float: right; ):

Home
News
Contact
About

<ul> <li><a href="#home" class="active">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="#news">News</a></li> <li><a href="#contact">Contact</a></li>
<li style="float:right"><a href="#about">About</a></li> </ul>

Border Dividers

Add the border-right property to <li> elements (to all <li>s, except the last), to create link dividers:

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News
Contact
About

Example

Formatted code

/* Add a lightgray right border to all list items, except the last */
ul li {
  float: left;
  border-right: 1px solid #bbbbbb;
}
ul
li:last-child {
  border-right: none;
}

Live preview

Fixed Navigation Bar

You can make the navigation bar to stay fixed at the top or at the bottom of a page, by using the position property along with top or bottom :

Fixed Top

Formatted code

ul {
  position: fixed;
  top: 0;
  width: 100%;
}

Live preview

Fixed Bottom

Formatted code

ul {
  position: fixed;
  bottom: 0;
  width: 100%;
}

Live preview

Note

Fixed position might not work properly on mobile devices.

Sticky Navigation Bar

Add position: sticky; to <ul> to create a sticky navbar.

An element with position: sticky; toggles between a relative and fixed position, depending on the scroll position.

A sticky element is positioned relative until a certain scroll position is reached - then it "sticks" in that place (like position: fixed).

Example

Formatted code

ul {
  position: sticky;
  top: 0;
}

Live preview

Note

You must specify at least one of the top , right , bottom or left properties, for sticky positioning to work.

Dropdown Menu in Navigation Bar

Here we create a dropdown menu for one of the menu links:

Responsive Navbar

Example

How to use CSS media queries to create responsive top navigation:

no credit card required

CSS Vertical Navigation Bar

CSS Dropdowns

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CSS•CSS Foundations

CSS Horizontal Navigation Bar

In a horizontal navigation bar, the navigation links are stacked horizontally (next to each other), and is typically aligned on the top of a webpage.

The basics of a horizontal navigation bar is an unordered list (<ul>), with list items (<li>), each holding a link (<a>), as shown in the Navbar Intro page.

It is also common to add a <nav> element around the <ul> element, that will serve as a container for your navigation bar.

Horizontal Navbar Using Float

One way of creating a horizontal navigation bar is to add the float property to the <li> elements.

Here we create a basic horizontal navigation bar with a dark background color and change the background color of the links when the user moves the mouse over them:

Home
News
Contact
About

Example

Formatted code

ul {
  list-style-type: none;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
  overflow: hidden;
  background-color: #333333;
}
ul li {
  float: left;
}
ul li a {
  display: block;
  color: white;
  text-align: center;
  padding: 14px 16px;
  text-decoration: none;
}
ul li a:hover {
  background-color: #111111;
}

Live preview

Example explained

overflow: hidden; - Prevents list items from going outside of the list
background-color: #333333; - Adds a black background-color to the <ul> element
float: left; - Makes <li> elements float next to each other
display: block; - Allows us to specify padding, height, width, and margins to <a>
padding: 14px 16px; - Add some padding between each <a> element
text-decoration: none; - Removes underline from the links

Horizontal Navbar Using Flex

A more modern way of creating a horizontal navigation bar, is to use CSS flexbox .

The following example creates an equal-looking horizontal navbar as above, but with flexbox:

Example

Formatted code

ul {
  list-style-type: none;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
  background-color: #333333;
  display: flex;
}
ul li a {
  display: block;
  color: white;
  padding: 14px
  16px;
  text-decoration: none;
}
ul li a:hover {
  background-color: #111111;
}

Live preview

The solution here are display: flex; . This creates a flex context and by default the items are shown from left to right.

And just by adding one line to the ul block: justify-content: center; , you will have a horizontally centered navbar:

Example

Formatted code

ul {
  list-style-type: none;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
  background-color: #333333;
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
}

Live preview

Active State

Here, we add an "active" class to highlight the link corresponding to the current page to let the user know which page/section he/she is on:

Home
News
Contact
About

Example

Formatted code

ul li a.active {
  background-color: #04AA6D;
}

Live preview

Gray Horizontal Navbar

Here is an example of a gray horizontal navigation bar with a thin, gray border:

Home
News
Contact
About

Example

Formatted code

ul {
  list-style-type: none;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
  display: flex;
  border: 1px solid #e7e7e7;
  background-color: #f3f3f3;
}

Live preview

Right-align Last Link

You can right-align one or more links by floating the list items to the right ( float: right; ):

Home
News
Contact
About

<ul> <li><a href="#home" class="active">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="#news">News</a></li> <li><a href="#contact">Contact</a></li>
<li style="float:right"><a href="#about">About</a></li> </ul>

Border Dividers

Add the border-right property to <li> elements (to all <li>s, except the last), to create link dividers:

Home
News
Contact
About

Example

Formatted code

/* Add a lightgray right border to all list items, except the last */
ul li {
  float: left;
  border-right: 1px solid #bbbbbb;
}
ul
li:last-child {
  border-right: none;
}

Live preview

Fixed Navigation Bar

You can make the navigation bar to stay fixed at the top or at the bottom of a page, by using the position property along with top or bottom :

Fixed Top

Formatted code

ul {
  position: fixed;
  top: 0;
  width: 100%;
}

Live preview

Fixed Bottom

Formatted code

ul {
  position: fixed;
  bottom: 0;
  width: 100%;
}

Live preview

Note

Fixed position might not work properly on mobile devices.

Sticky Navigation Bar

Add position: sticky; to <ul> to create a sticky navbar.

An element with position: sticky; toggles between a relative and fixed position, depending on the scroll position.

A sticky element is positioned relative until a certain scroll position is reached - then it "sticks" in that place (like position: fixed).

Example

Formatted code

ul {
  position: sticky;
  top: 0;
}

Live preview

Note

You must specify at least one of the top , right , bottom or left properties, for sticky positioning to work.

Dropdown Menu in Navigation Bar

Here we create a dropdown menu for one of the menu links:

Responsive Navbar

Example

How to use CSS media queries to create responsive top navigation:

no credit card required

CSS Vertical Navigation Bar

CSS Dropdowns