CSS Horizontal Navigation Bar
Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2023 8:23 am
CSS Horizontal Navigation Bar
Horizontal Navigation Bar
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News
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There are two ways to create a horizontal navigation bar. Using
inline or floating list items.
Inline List Items
One way to build a horizontal navigation bar is to specify the <li> elements
as inline, in addition to the "standard" code from the previous page:
Example
li
{
display: inline;
}
Try it Yourself »
Example explained:
display: inline; - By default, <li> elements are block elements. Here, we
remove the line breaks before and after each list item, to display them on one line
Floating List Items
Another way of creating a horizontal navigation bar is to float the <li>
elements, and specify a layout for the navigation links:
Example
li
{
float: left;
}
a
{
display: block;
padding: 8px; background-color:
#dddddd;
}
Try it Yourself »
Example explained:
float: left; - Use float to get block elements to
float next to each other
display: block; -
Allows us to specify padding (and
height, width, margins, etc. if you want)
padding: 8px; - Specify some padding
between each <a> element, to make
them look good
background-color: #dddddd; - Add a gray background-color to each
<a> element
Tip: Add the background-color to <ul> instead of each <a> element if you want
a full-width background color:
Example
ul
{
background-color: #dddddd;
}
Try it Yourself »
Horizontal Navigation Bar Examples
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
ul { list-style-type: none; margin: 0; padding: 0;
overflow:
hidden; background-color: #333;}li {
float: left;}
li a { display: block;
color: white; text-align: center;
padding: 14px 16px; text-decoration: none;}
/* Change the link color to #111 (black) on hover */li a:hover { background-color:
#111;}
Try it Yourself »
Active/Current Navigation Link
Add an "active" class to the current link to let the user know which page he/she is on:
Home
News
Contact
About
Example
.active { background-color: #04AA6D;}
Try it Yourself »
Right-Align Links
Right-align links by floating the list items to the right (float:right;):
Home
News
Contact
About
Example
<ul> <li><a href="#home">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="#news">News</a></li> <li><a href="#contact">Contact</a></li>
<li style="float:right"><a
class="active" href="#about">About</a></li></ul>
Try it Yourself »
Border Dividers
Add the border-right property to <li> to create link dividers:
Home
News
Contact
About
Example
/* Add a gray right border to all list items, except the last item
(last-child) */li { border-right: 1px solid #bbb;}
li:last-child { border-right: none;}
Try it Yourself »
Fixed Navigation Bar
Make the navigation bar stay at the top or the bottom of the page, even when the user scrolls the page:
Fixed Top
ul { position: fixed; top: 0; width: 100%;}
Try it Yourself »
Fixed Bottom
ul { position: fixed; bottom: 0; width: 100%;}
Try it Yourself »
Note: Fixed position might not work properly on mobile devices.
Gray Horizontal Navbar
An example of a gray horizontal navigation bar with a thin gray border:
Home
News
Contact
About
Example
ul { border: 1px solid #e7e7e7;
background-color: #f3f3f3;}li a { color:
#666;}
Try it Yourself »
Sticky Navbar
Add position: sticky; to <ul> to create a sticky navbar.
A sticky element toggles between relative and fixed, depending on the scroll position. It is positioned relative until a given offset position is met in the viewport - then it "sticks" in place (like position:fixed).
Example
ul { position: -webkit-sticky; /* Safari */
position: sticky; top: 0;}
Try it Yourself »
Note: Internet Explorer do not support sticky positioning. Safari requires a -webkit-
prefix (see example above). You must also specify at least one of top, right, bottom or left for
sticky positioning to work.
More Examples
Responsive Topnav
How to use CSS media queries to create a responsive top navigation.
Try it Yourself »
Responsive Sidenav
How to use CSS media queries to create a responsive side navigation.
Try it Yourself »
Dropdown Navbar
How to add a dropdown menu inside a navigation bar.
Try it Yourself »
Ever heard about W3Schools Spaces? Here you can create your website from scratch or use a template, and host it for free.
Get started for free ❯
* no credit card required
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+1
Reference: https://www.w3schools.com/css/css_navbar_horizontal.asp
Horizontal Navigation Bar
Home
News
Contact
About
There are two ways to create a horizontal navigation bar. Using
inline or floating list items.
Inline List Items
One way to build a horizontal navigation bar is to specify the <li> elements
as inline, in addition to the "standard" code from the previous page:
Example
li
{
display: inline;
}
Try it Yourself »
Example explained:
display: inline; - By default, <li> elements are block elements. Here, we
remove the line breaks before and after each list item, to display them on one line
Floating List Items
Another way of creating a horizontal navigation bar is to float the <li>
elements, and specify a layout for the navigation links:
Example
li
{
float: left;
}
a
{
display: block;
padding: 8px; background-color:
#dddddd;
}
Try it Yourself »
Example explained:
float: left; - Use float to get block elements to
float next to each other
display: block; -
Allows us to specify padding (and
height, width, margins, etc. if you want)
padding: 8px; - Specify some padding
between each <a> element, to make
them look good
background-color: #dddddd; - Add a gray background-color to each
<a> element
Tip: Add the background-color to <ul> instead of each <a> element if you want
a full-width background color:
Example
ul
{
background-color: #dddddd;
}
Try it Yourself »
Horizontal Navigation Bar Examples
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
ul { list-style-type: none; margin: 0; padding: 0;
overflow:
hidden; background-color: #333;}li {
float: left;}
li a { display: block;
color: white; text-align: center;
padding: 14px 16px; text-decoration: none;}
/* Change the link color to #111 (black) on hover */li a:hover { background-color:
#111;}
Try it Yourself »
Active/Current Navigation Link
Add an "active" class to the current link to let the user know which page he/she is on:
Home
News
Contact
About
Example
.active { background-color: #04AA6D;}
Try it Yourself »
Right-Align Links
Right-align links by floating the list items to the right (float:right;):
Home
News
Contact
About
Example
<ul> <li><a href="#home">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="#news">News</a></li> <li><a href="#contact">Contact</a></li>
<li style="float:right"><a
class="active" href="#about">About</a></li></ul>
Try it Yourself »
Border Dividers
Add the border-right property to <li> to create link dividers:
Home
News
Contact
About
Example
/* Add a gray right border to all list items, except the last item
(last-child) */li { border-right: 1px solid #bbb;}
li:last-child { border-right: none;}
Try it Yourself »
Fixed Navigation Bar
Make the navigation bar stay at the top or the bottom of the page, even when the user scrolls the page:
Fixed Top
ul { position: fixed; top: 0; width: 100%;}
Try it Yourself »
Fixed Bottom
ul { position: fixed; bottom: 0; width: 100%;}
Try it Yourself »
Note: Fixed position might not work properly on mobile devices.
Gray Horizontal Navbar
An example of a gray horizontal navigation bar with a thin gray border:
Home
News
Contact
About
Example
ul { border: 1px solid #e7e7e7;
background-color: #f3f3f3;}li a { color:
#666;}
Try it Yourself »
Sticky Navbar
Add position: sticky; to <ul> to create a sticky navbar.
A sticky element toggles between relative and fixed, depending on the scroll position. It is positioned relative until a given offset position is met in the viewport - then it "sticks" in place (like position:fixed).
Example
ul { position: -webkit-sticky; /* Safari */
position: sticky; top: 0;}
Try it Yourself »
Note: Internet Explorer do not support sticky positioning. Safari requires a -webkit-
prefix (see example above). You must also specify at least one of top, right, bottom or left for
sticky positioning to work.
More Examples
Responsive Topnav
How to use CSS media queries to create a responsive top navigation.
Try it Yourself »
Responsive Sidenav
How to use CSS media queries to create a responsive side navigation.
Try it Yourself »
Dropdown Navbar
How to add a dropdown menu inside a navigation bar.
Try it Yourself »
Ever heard about W3Schools Spaces? Here you can create your website from scratch or use a template, and host it for free.
Get started for free ❯
* no credit card required
★
+1
Reference: https://www.w3schools.com/css/css_navbar_horizontal.asp