Bootstrap 4 Navigation Bar
Navigation Bars
A navigation bar is a navigation header that is placed at the top of the page:
Basic Navbar
With Bootstrap, a navigation bar can extend or collapse, depending on the screen size.
A standard navigation bar is created with the .navbar
class, followed by a responsive collapsing class: .navbar-expand-xl|lg|md|sm
(stacks the navbar vertically on extra large, large, medium or small screens).
To add links inside the navbar, use a <ul> element with class="navbar-nav".
Then add <li> elements with a .nav-item class
followed by an <a> element with a .nav-link class:
Example
<!-- A grey horizontal navbar that becomes
vertical on small screens -->
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm
bg-light">
<!-- Links -->
<ul class="navbar-nav">
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link
1</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link
2</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link
3</a>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
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Vertical Navbar
Remove the .navbar-expand-xl|lg|md|sm class to create a vertical navigation bar:
Example
<!-- A vertical navbar -->
<nav class="navbar bg-light">
<!-- Links -->
<ul class="navbar-nav">
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link
1</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link
2</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link
3</a>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
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Centered Navbar
Add the .justify-content-center class to
center the navigation bar.
The following example will center the navigation bar on medium, large and extra large screens. On small screens it will be displayed vertically and left-aligned (because of the .navbar-expand-sm class):
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm
bg-light justify-content-center">
...
</nav>
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Colored Navbar
Use any of the .bg-color classes to change the background color of the navbar (.bg-primary,
.bg-success, .bg-info, .bg-warning, .bg-danger, .bg-secondary, .bg-dark and .bg-light)
Tip: Add a white text color to all links in the navbar with the .navbar-dark class, or use the .navbar-light class to add a
black text color.
Example
<!-- Grey with black text -->
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm bg-light navbar-light">
<ul class="navbar-nav">
<li class="nav-item active">
<a class="nav-link"
href="#">Active</a>
</li>
<li
class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link
disabled" href="#">Disabled</a>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
<!-- Black with white text -->
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm bg-dark navbar-dark">...</nav>
<!-- Blue with white text -->
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm
bg-primary navbar-dark">...</nav>
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Active/disabled state: Add the .active class to an
<a> element to highlight the current link, or the .disabled class to indicate that the link is un-clickable.
Brand / Logo
The .navbar-brand class is used to highlight the brand/logo/project name of your page:
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm
bg-dark navbar-dark">
<a
class="navbar-brand" href="#">Logo</a>
...
</nav>
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When using the .navbar-brand class on images, Bootstrap 4 will automatically style the image to fit the navbar vertically.
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm
bg-dark navbar-dark">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">
<img src="bird.jpg"
alt="Logo" style="width:40px;">
</a>
...
</nav>
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Collapsing The Navigation Bar
Very often, especially on small screens, you want to hide the navigation links and replace them with a button that should reveal them when clicked on.
To create a collapsible navigation bar, use a button with class="navbar-toggler",
data-toggle="collapse" and data-target="#thetarget". Then wrap the
navbar content (links, etc) inside a div element with class="collapse navbar-collapse",
followed by an id that matches the data-target of the button: "thetarget".
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-md bg-dark
navbar-dark">
<!-- Brand -->
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Navbar</a>
<!-- Toggler/collapsibe Button -->
<button
class="navbar-toggler" type="button"
data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#collapsibleNavbar">
<span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
</button>
<!-- Navbar links -->
<div class="collapse navbar-collapse"
id="collapsibleNavbar">
<ul class="navbar-nav">
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link"
href="#">Link</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link"
href="#">Link</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link"
href="#">Link</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</nav>
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Tip: You can also remove the .navbar-expand-md class to ALWAYS hide navbar links and display the toggler button.
Navbar With Dropdown
Navbars can also hold dropdown menus:
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm
bg-dark navbar-dark">
<!-- Brand -->
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Logo</a>
<!-- Links -->
<ul class="navbar-nav">
<li
class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link
1</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link 2</a>
</li>
<!-- Dropdown -->
<li class="nav-item dropdown">
<a class="nav-link dropdown-toggle" href="#" id="navbardrop"
data-toggle="dropdown">
Dropdown
link
</a>
<div class="dropdown-menu">
<a
class="dropdown-item" href="#">Link 1</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Link 2</a>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Link 3</a>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
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Navbar Forms and Buttons
Add a <form> element with class="form-inline" to group inputs and
buttons side-by-side:
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm
bg-dark navbar-dark">
<form class="form-inline" action="/action_page.php">
<input class="form-control
mr-sm-2"
type="text" placeholder="Search">
<button class="btn btn-success" type="submit">Search</button>
</form>
</nav>
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You can also use other input classes, such as .input-group-prepend or .input-group-append to attach an icon or help text next to the input field. You will learn more about these classes in the Bootstrap Inputs chapter.
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm bg-dark navbar-dark">
<form class="form-inline" action="/action_page.php">
<div class="input-group">
<div
class="input-group-prepend">
<span class="input-group-text">@</span>
</div>
<input type="text"
class="form-control" placeholder="Username">
</div>
</form>
</nav>
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Navbar Text
Use the .navbar-text class to vertical align any elements inside the navbar that are not links (ensures proper padding
and text color).
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm bg-dark navbar-dark">
<!--
Links -->
<ul class="navbar-nav">
<li
class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link
1</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Link 2</a>
</li>
</ul>
<!-- Navbar text-->
<span class="navbar-text">
Navbar text
</span>
</nav>
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Fixed Navigation Bar
The navigation bar can also be fixed at the top or at the bottom of the page.
A fixed navigation bar stays visible in a fixed position (top or bottom) independent of the page scroll.
The .fixed-top class makes the navigation bar fixed at
the top:
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm bg-dark navbar-dark fixed-top">
...
</nav>
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Use the .fixed-bottom class to make the navbar stay at
the bottom of the page:
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm bg-dark navbar-dark fixed-bottom">
...
</nav>
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Use the .sticky-top class to make the navbar fixed/stay at
the top of the page when you scroll past it. Note:
This class does not work in IE11 and earlier (will treat it as position:relative).
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm bg-dark navbar-dark sticky-top">
...
</nav>
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