Dropdowns

Dropdowns are toggleable, contextual overlays for displaying lists of links and more.

Single button dropdowns

Wrap the dropdown’s toggle (your button or link) and the dropdown menu within .dropdown, or another element that declares position: relative;. Any single .btn can be turned into a dropdown toggle with some markup changes.

Action Another action Something else here 
<div class="dropdown open">
  <button class="btn btn-secondary dropdown-toggle" type="button" id="dropdownMenuButton" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
    Dropdown button
  </button>
  <div class="dropdown-menu" aria-labelledby="dropdownMenuButton">
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
    <a class="dropdown-item active" href="#">Another action</a>
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
  </div>
</div>

And with <a> elements:

git push obliterate git clone coffee git checkout pomodoro 
<div class="dropdown open">
  <a class="btn btn-secondary dropdown-toggle" href="https://example.com" id="dropdownMenuLink" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
    Dropdown link
  </a>

  <div class="dropdown-menu" aria-labelledby="dropdownMenuLink">
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#"><span class="icon icon-brand-git mr-1"></span> git push obliterate</a>
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#"><span class="icon icon-brand-git mr-1"></span> git clone coffee</a>
    <a class="dropdown-item active" href="#"><span class="icon icon-brand-git mr-1"></span> git checkout pomodoro</a>
  </div>
</div>

The best part is you can do this with any button variant, too:

Action Another action Something else here
Separated link
Action Another action Something else here
Separated link
Action Another action Something else here
Separated link
Action Another action Something else here
Separated link
Action Another action Something else here
Separated link 
 
<div class="btn-group">
  <button type="button" class="btn btn-danger dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
    Action
  </button>
  <div class="dropdown-menu">
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
    <div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Separated link</a>
  </div>
</div>

Split button dropdowns

Similarly, create split button dropdowns with virtually the same markup as single button dropdowns, but with the addition of .dropdown-toggle-split for proper spacing around the dropdown caret.

Action Another action Something else here
Separated link
Action Another action Something else here
Separated link
Action Another action Something else here
Separated link
Action Another action Something else here
Separated link
Action Another action Something else here
Separated link 
<!-- Example split danger button -->
<div class="btn-group">
  <button type="button" class="btn btn-danger">Action</button>
  <button type="button" class="btn btn-danger dropdown-toggle dropdown-toggle-split" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
    <span class="sr-only">Toggle Dropdown</span>
  </button>
  <div class="dropdown-menu">
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
    <div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Separated link</a>
  </div>
</div>

Sizing

Action Another action Something else here
Separated link
Action Another action Something else here
Separated link 
<!-- Large button -->
<div class="btn-group">
  <button class="btn btn-secondary btn-lg dropdown-toggle" type="button" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
    Large button
  </button>
  <div class="dropdown-menu">
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
    ...
  </div>
</div>

<!-- Small button -->
<div class="btn-group">
  <button class="btn btn-secondary btn-lg dropdown-toggle" type="button" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
    Small button
  </button>
  <div class="dropdown-menu">
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
    ...
  </div>
</div>

Historically dropdown menu contents had to be links, but that’s no longer the case with v4. Now you can optionally use <button> elements in your dropdowns instead of just <a>s.

<div class="dropdown open">
  <button class="btn btn-secondary dropdown-toggle" type="button" id="dropdownMenu2" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
    Dropdown
  </button>
  <div class="dropdown-menu" aria-labelledby="dropdownMenu2">
    <button class="dropdown-item" type="button">Action</button>
    <button class="dropdown-item" type="button">Another action</button>
    <button class="dropdown-item" type="button">Something else here</button>
  </div>
</div>

By default, a dropdown menu is automatically positioned 100% from the top and along the left side of its parent. Add .dropdown-menu-right to a .dropdown-menu to right align the dropdown menu.

<div class="btn-group">
  <button type="button" class="btn btn-secondary dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
    This dropdown's menu is right-aligned
  </button>
  <div class="dropdown-menu dropdown-menu-right">
    <button class="dropdown-item" type="button">Action</button>
    <button class="dropdown-item" type="button">Another action</button>
    <button class="dropdown-item" type="button">Something else here</button>
  </div>
</div>
Dropdown header
Action Another action 
<div class="dropdown-menu">
  <h6 class="dropdown-header">Dropdown header</h6>
  <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
  <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
</div>
Action Another action Something else here
Separated link 
<div class="dropdown-menu">
  <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
  <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
  <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
  <div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
  <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Separated link</a>
</div>

Disabled menu items

Add .disabled to items in the dropdown to style them as disabled.

Regular link Disabled link Another link 
<div class="dropdown-menu">
  <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Regular link</a>
  <a class="dropdown-item disabled" href="#">Disabled link</a>
  <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another link</a>
</div>

Usage

Via data attributes or JavaScript, the dropdown plugin toggles hidden content (dropdown menus) by toggling the .open class on the parent list item. On mobile devices, opening a dropdown adds a .dropdown-backdrop as a tap area for closing dropdown menus when tapping outside the menu, a requirement for proper iOS support.

Via data attributes

Add data-toggle="dropdown" to a link or button to toggle a dropdown.

<div class="dropdown">
  <button id="dLabel" type="button" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
    Dropdown trigger
  </button>
  <div class="dropdown-menu" aria-labelledby="dLabel">
    ...
  </div>
</div>

Via JavaScript

Call the dropdowns via JavaScript:

$('.dropdown-toggle').dropdown()

Methods

  • Method: $().dropdown('toggle')
  • Description: Toggles the dropdown menu of a given navbar or tabbed navigation.

Events

All dropdown events are fired at the .dropdown-menu’s parent element and have a relatedTarget property, whose value is the toggling anchor element.

Event Description
show.bs.dropdown This event fires immediately when the show instance method is called.
shown.bs.dropdown This event is fired when the dropdown has been made visible to the user (will wait for CSS transitions, to complete).
hide.bs.dropdown This event is fired immediately when the hide instance method has been called.
hidden.bs.dropdown This event is fired when the dropdown has finished being hidden from the user (will wait for CSS transitions, to complete). 
$('#myDropdown').on('show.bs.dropdown', function () {
  // do something…
})