CSS Dropdowns
Create a hoverable dropdown with CSS.
Basic Dropdown
Create a dropdown box that appears when the user moves
the mouse over an element.
Example
<style>
.dropdown {
position: relative;
display: inline-block;
}
.dropdown-content {
display: none;
position: absolute;
background-color: #f9f9f9;
min-width: 160px;
box-shadow: 0px 8px 16px 0px rgba(0,0,0,0.2);
padding: 12px 16px;
z-index: 1;
}
.dropdown:hover .dropdown-content {
display: block;
}
</style>
<div class="dropdown">
<span>Mouse
over me</span>
<div class="dropdown-content">
<p>Hello
World!</p>
</div>
</div>
Example Explained
HTML) Use
any element to open the dropdown content, e.g. a <span>, or a
<button> element.
Use a container element (like <div>) to create
the dropdown content and add whatever you want inside of it.
Wrap a <div> element around the elements to
position the dropdown content correctly with CSS.
CSS) The .dropdown class uses position:relative, which is needed when we want the dropdown content to
be placed right below the dropdown button (using position:absolute).
The .dropdown-content class holds the actual dropdown content. It is
hidden by default, and will be displayed on hover (see below). Note the min-width is set to 160px. Feel free to change this. Tip: If
you want the width of the dropdown content to be as wide as the dropdown
button, set the width to 100%
(and overflow:auto to
enable scroll on small screens).
Instead of using a border, we have used the CSS box-shadow property to make the dropdown menu look like a
"card".
The :hover selector
is used to show the dropdown menu when the user moves the mouse over the
dropdown button.
Dropdown Menu
Create a dropdown menu that allows the user to choose
an option from a list:
Dropdown Menu
This example is similar to the previous one, except
that we add links inside the dropdown box and style them to fit a styled
dropdown button:
Example
<style>
/* Style The Dropdown Button */
.dropbtn {
background-color: #4CAF50;
color: white;
padding: 16px;
font-size: 16px;
border: none;
cursor: pointer;
}
/* The container <div> - needed to
position the dropdown content */
.dropdown {
position: relative;
display: inline-block;
}
/* Dropdown Content (Hidden by Default) */
.dropdown-content {
display: none;
position: absolute;
background-color: #f9f9f9;
min-width: 160px;
box-shadow: 0px 8px 16px 0px rgba(0,0,0,0.2);
z-index: 1;
}
/* Links inside the dropdown */
.dropdown-content a {
color: black;
padding: 12px 16px;
text-decoration: none;
display: block;
}
/* Change color of dropdown links on hover */
.dropdown-content a:hover {background-color: #f1f1f1}
/* Show the dropdown menu on hover */
.dropdown:hover .dropdown-content {
display: block;
}
/* Change the background color of the
dropdown button when the dropdown content is shown */
.dropdown:hover .dropbtn {
background-color: #3e8e41;
}
</style>
<div class="dropdown">
<button class="dropbtn">Dropdown</button>
<div class="dropdown-content">
<a href="#">Link 1</a>
<a href="#">Link 2</a>
<a href="#">Link 3</a>
</div>
</div>
