Dropdowns

Dropdowns are toggleable, contextual overlays for displaying lists of links and actions in a dropdown menu format.

<b-dropdown> (or known by its shorter alias of <b-dd>) components are toggleable, contextual overlays for displaying lists of links and more. They're toggled by clicking (or pressing space or enter when focused), not by hovering; this is an intentional design decision.

<div>
  <b-dropdown id="dropdown-1" text="Dropdown Button" class="m-md-2">
    <b-dropdown-item>First Action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item>Second Action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item>Third Action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-divider></b-dropdown-divider>
    <b-dropdown-item active>Active action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item disabled>Disabled action</b-dropdown-item>
  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown.vue -->

Button content

You can customize the text of the dropdown button by using either the text prop (shown in previous examples), or use the button-content slot instead of the text prop. The button-content slot allows you to use basic HTML and icons in the button content.

If both the prop text and slot button-content are present, the slot button-content will take precedence.

<div>
  <b-dropdown text="Button text via Prop">
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">An item</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Another item</b-dropdown-item>
  </b-dropdown>

  <b-dropdown>
    <template slot="button-content">
      Custom <strong>Content</strong> with <em>HTML</em> via Slot
    </template>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">An item</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Another item</b-dropdown-item>
  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-button-content.vue -->

Positioning

Dropdown supports various positioning such as left and right aligned, dropdown and dropup, and supports auto-flipping (dropdown to dropup, and vice-versa) when the menu would overflow off of the visible screen area.

Menu alignment

The dropdown menu can either be left aligned (default) or right aligned with respect to the button above it. To have the dropdown aligned on the right, set the right prop.

<div>
  <b-dropdown id="dropdown-left" text="Left align" variant="primary" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Another action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Something else here</b-dropdown-item>
  </b-dropdown>

  <b-dropdown id="dropdown-right" right text="Right align" variant="primary" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Another action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Something else here</b-dropdown-item>
  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-right.vue -->

Dropup

Turn your dropdown menu into a drop-up menu by setting the dropup prop.

<div>
  <b-dropdown id="dropdown-dropup" dropup text="Drop-Up" variant="primary" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Another action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Something else here</b-dropdown-item>
  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-dropup.vue -->

Drop right or left

Turn your dropdown menu into a drop-right menu by setting the dropright prop. Or, turn it into a drop-left menu by setting the dropleft right prop to true.

dropright takes precedence over dropleft. Neither dropright or dropleft have any effect if dropup is set.

<div>
  <b-dropdown id="dropdown-dropright" dropright text="Drop-Right" variant="primary" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Another action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Something else here</b-dropdown-item>
  </b-dropdown>

  <b-dropdown id="dropdown-dropleft" dropleft text="Drop-Left" variant="primary" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Another action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Something else here</b-dropdown-item>
  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-dropright-dropleft.vue -->

Auto "flipping"

By default, dropdowns may flip to the top, or to the bottom, based on their current position in the viewport. To disable this auto-flip feature, set the no-flip prop.

Menu offset

Like to move your menu away from the toggle buttons a bit? Then use the offset prop to specify the number of pixels to push right (or left when negative) from the toggle button:

• Specified as a number of pixels: positive for right shift, negative for left shift.
• Specify the distance in CSS units (i.e. 0.3rem, 4px, 1.2em, etc) passed as a string.

<div>
  <b-dropdown id="dropdown-offset" offset="25" text="Offset Dropdown" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Another action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Something else here</b-dropdown-item>
  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-offset.vue -->

Boundary constraint

By default, dropdowns are visually constrained to its scroll parent, which will suffice in most situations. However, if you place a dropdown inside an element that has overflow: scroll (or similar) set, the dropdown menu may - in some situations - get cut off. To get around this, you can specify a boundary element via the boundary prop. Supported values are 'scrollParent' (the default), 'viewport', 'window' or a reference to an HTML element. The boundary value is passed directly to Popper.js's boundariesElement configuration option.

Note: when boundary is any value other than the default of 'scrollParent', the style position: static is applied to to the dropdown component's root element in order to allow the menu to "break-out" of its scroll container. In some situations this may affect your layout or positioning of the dropdown trigger button. In these cases you may need to wrap your dropdown inside another element.

Split button support

Create a split dropdown button, where the left button provides standard click event and link support, while the right hand side is the dropdown menu toggle button.

<div>
  <b-dropdown split text="Split Dropdown" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Another action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Something else here...</b-dropdown-item>
  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-split.vue -->

Split button link support

The left split button defaults to an element of type <button> (a <b-button> to be exact). To convert this button into a link or <router-link>, specify the href via the split-href prop or a router link to value via the split-to prop, while maintaining the look of a button.

<div>
  <b-dropdown split split-href="#foo/bar" text="Split Link" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Another action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Something else here...</b-dropdown-item>
  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-split-link.vue -->

Styling options

Dropdowns support various props for styling the dropdown trigger button.

Sizing

Dropdowns work with trigger buttons of all sizes, including default and split dropdown buttons.

Set the size prop to either sm for small button(s), or lg for large button(s).

<div>
  <div>
    <b-dropdown size="lg" text="Large" class="m-2">
      <b-dropdown-item-button>Action</b-dropdown-item-button>
      <b-dropdown-item-button>Another action</b-dropdown-item-button>
      <b-dropdown-item-button>Something else here</b-dropdown-item-button>
    </b-dropdown>

    <b-dropdown size="lg" split text="Large Split" class="m-2">
      <b-dropdown-item-button>Action</b-dropdown-item-button>
      <b-dropdown-item-button>Another action</b-dropdown-item-button>
      <b-dropdown-item-button>Something else here...</b-dropdown-item-button>
    </b-dropdown>
  </div>
  <div>
    <b-dropdown size="sm" text="Small" class="m-2">
      <b-dropdown-item-button>Action</b-dropdown-item-button>
      <b-dropdown-item-button>Another action</b-dropdown-item-button>
      <b-dropdown-item-button>Something else here...</b-dropdown-item-button>
    </b-dropdown>

    <b-dropdown size="sm" split text="Small Split" class="m-2">
      <b-dropdown-item-button>Action</b-dropdown-item-button>
      <b-dropdown-item-button>Another action</b-dropdown-item-button>
      <b-dropdown-item-button>Something else here...</b-dropdown-item-button>
    </b-dropdown>
  </div>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-sizes.vue -->

Note: changing the size of the button(s) does not affect the size of the menu items!

Dropdown color variants

The dropdown toggle button can have one of the standard Bootstrap contextual variants applied by setting the prop variant to success, primary, info, danger, link, outline-dark, etc. (or custom variants, if defined). The default variant is secondary.

See the Variant Reference for a full list of built-in contextual variants.

<div>
  <b-dropdown text="Primary" variant="primary" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Another action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Something else here</b-dropdown-item>
  </b-dropdown>

  <b-dropdown text="Success" variant="success" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Another action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Something else here</b-dropdown-item>
  </b-dropdown>

  <b-dropdown text="Outline Danger" variant="outline-danger" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Another action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Something else here</b-dropdown-item>
  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-variants.vue -->

You can also apply arbitrary classes to the toggle button via the toggle-class prop. This prop accepts either a string or array of strings.

Split button color variant

By default the left split button uses the same variant as the toggle button. You can give the split button its own variant via the split-variant prop.

<div>
  <b-dropdown
    split
    split-variant="outline-primary"
    variant="primary"
    text="Split Variant Dropdown"
    class="m-2"
  >
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Another action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Something else here...</b-dropdown-item>
  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-split-variant.vue -->

Dropdown sub-component color variants

Many of the supported dropdown sub-components provide a variant prop for controlling their text color.

Hidden caret

The dropdown can be created with the toggle's caret visually hidden by setting the no-caret prop to true. This is useful when the dropdown is to be displayed as an icon.

<div>
  <b-dropdown size="lg"  variant="link" toggle-class="text-decoration-none" no-caret>
    <template slot="button-content">&amp#x1f50d;<span class="sr-only">Search</span></template>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Another action</b-dropdown-item>
    <b-dropdown-item href="#">Something else here...</b-dropdown-item>
  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-hidden-caret.vue -->

Note: The caret will always be shown when using split mode.

Dropdown supported sub-components

The following components can be placed inside of your dropdowns. Using any other component or markup may break layout and/or keyboard navigation.

Note: Nested sub-menus are not supported.

<b-dropdown-item>

The <b-dropdown-item> is typically used to create a navigation link inside your menu. Use either the href prop or the to prop (for router link support) to generate the appropriate navigation link. If neither href nor to are provided, a standard <a> link will be generated with an href of # (with an event handler that will prevent scroll to top behaviour by preventing the default link action).

Disabled the dropdown item by setting the disabled prop.

<b-dropdown-item-button>

Historically dropdown menu contents had to be links (<b-dropdown-item>), but that's no longer the case with Bootstrap v4. Now you can optionally create <button> elements in your dropdowns by using the <b-dropdown-item-button> sub-component. <b-dropdown-item-button> does not support the href or to props.

Disabled the dropdown item button by setting the disabled prop.

<div>
  <b-dropdown id="dropdown-buttons" text="Dropdown using buttons as menu items" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-item-button>I'm a button</b-dropdown-item-button>
    <b-dropdown-item-button active>I'm a active button</b-dropdown-item-button>
    <b-dropdown-item-button disabled>I'm a button, but disabled!</b-dropdown-item-button>
    <b-dropdown-item-button>I don't look like a button, but I am!</b-dropdown-item-button>
  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-item-buttons.vue -->

When the menu item doesn't trigger navigation, it is recommended to use the <b-dropdown-item-button> sub-component.

<b-dropdown-item-divider>

Separate groups of related menu items with <b-dropdown-divider>.

<div>
  <b-dropdown id="dropdown-divider" text="Dropdown with divider" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-item-button>First item</b-dropdown-item-button>
    <b-dropdown-item-button>Second item</b-dropdown-item-button>
    <b-dropdown-divider></b-dropdown-divider>
    <b-dropdown-item-button>Separated Item</b-dropdown-item-button>
  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-item-divider.vue -->

<b-dropdown-text>

Place any freeform text within a dropdown menu using the <b-dropdown-text> sub component or use text and use spacing utilities. Note that you'll likely need additional sizing styles to constrain/set the menu width.

<div>
  <b-dropdown id="dropdown-text" text="Dropdown with text" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-text style="width: 240px;">
      Some example text that's free-flowing within the dropdown menu.
    </b-dropdown-text>
    <b-dropdown-text>And this is more example text.</b-dropdown-text>
    <b-dropdown-divider></b-dropdown-divider>
    <b-dropdown-item-button>First item</b-dropdown-item-button>
    <b-dropdown-item-button>Second Item</b-dropdown-item-button>
  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-text.vue -->

<b-dropdown-text> has the BootstrapVue custom class .b-dropdown-text applied to it which sets some basic styles which are suitable in most situations. By default it's width will be the same as the widest <b-dropdown-item> content. You may need to place additional styles or helper classes on the component.

By default <b-dropdown-text> renders using tag <p>. You can change the rendered tag by setting the tag prop to any valid HTML5 tag on the <b-dropdown-text> sub-component.

<b-dropdown-form>

Dropdowns support basic forms. Put a <b-dropdown-form> within a dropdown menu and place form controls within the <b-dropdown-form>. The <b-dropdown-form> is based on the <b-form> component, and supports the same props and attributes as a regular form.

<template>
  <div>
    <b-dropdown id="dropdown-form" text="Dropdown with form" ref="dropdown" class="m-2">
      <b-dropdown-form>
        <b-form-group label="Email" label-for="dropdown-form-email" @submit.stop.prevent>
          <b-form-input
            id="dropdown-form-email"
            size="sm"
            placeholder="email@example.com"
          ></b-form-input>
        </b-form-group>

        <b-form-group label="Password" label-for="dropdown-form-password">
          <b-form-input
            id="dropdown-form-password"
            type="password"
            size="sm"
            placeholder="Password"
          ></b-form-input>
        </b-form-group>

        <b-form-checkbox class="mb-3">Remember me</b-form-checkbox>
        <b-button variant="primary" size="sm" @click="onClick">Sign In</b-button>
      </b-dropdown-form>
      <b-dropdown-divider></b-dropdown-divider>
      <b-dropdown-item-button>New around here? Sign up</b-dropdown-item-button>
      <b-dropdown-item-button>Forgot Password?</b-dropdown-item-button>
    </b-dropdown>
  </div>
</template>

<script>
  export default {
    methods: {
      onClick() {
        // Close the menu and (by passing true) return focus to the toggle button
        this.$refs.dropdown.hide(true)
      }
    }
  }
</script>

<!-- b-dropdown-form.vue -->

<b-dropdown-form> has the BootstrapVue custom class .b-dropdown-form applied to it which sets some basic styles which are suitable in most situations. By default it's width will be the same as the widest <b-dropdown-item> content. You may need to place additional styles or helper classes on the component.

<b-dropdown-item-group>

Group a set of dropdown sub components with an optional associated header. Place a <b-dropdown-divider> between your <b-dropdown-group> and other groups or non-grouped dropdown contents

<div>
  <b-dropdown id="dropdown-header" text="Dropdown with group" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-item-button>
      Non-grouped Item
    </b-dropdown-item-button>
    <b-dropdown-divider></b-dropdown-divider>
    <b-dropdown-group id="dropdown-group-1" header="Group 1">
      <b-dropdown-item-button>First Grouped item</b-dropdown-item-button>
      <b-dropdown-item-button>Second Grouped Item</b-dropdown-item-button>
    </b-dropdown-group>
    <b-dropdown-group id="dropdown-group-2" header="Group 2">
      <b-dropdown-item-button>First Grouped item</b-dropdown-item-button>
      <b-dropdown-item-button>Second Grouped Item</b-dropdown-item-button>
    </b-dropdown-group>
    <b-dropdown-divider></b-dropdown-divider>
    <b-dropdown-item-button>
      Another Non-grouped Item
    </b-dropdown-item-button>
  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-item-group.vue -->

Using <b-dropdown-group> instead of <b-dropdown-header> is the recommended method for providing accessible grouped items with a header.

<b-dropdown-item-header>

Add a header to label sections of actions in any dropdown menu.

<div>
  <b-dropdown id="dropdown-header" text="Dropdown with header" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-header id="dropdown-header-label">
      Dropdown header
    </b-dropdown-header>
    <b-dropdown-item-button aria-describedby="dropdown-header-label">
      First item
    </b-dropdown-item-button>
    <b-dropdown-item-button aria-describedby="dropdown-header-label">
      Second Item
    </b-dropdown-item-button>
  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-item-header.vue -->

See Section Dropdown headers and accessibility for details on making headers more accessible for users of assistive technologies.

Using the <b-dropdown-group> sub-component simplifies creating accessible grouped dropdown items with an associated header.

Closing the menu via form interaction

Clicking buttons inside of a <b-dropdown-form> will not automatically close the menu. If you need to close the menu using a button (or via the form submit event), call the hide() method on the <b-dropdown> instance, as is shown in the above example.

The hide() method accepts a single boolean argument. If the argument is true, then focus will be returned to the dropdown toggle button after the menu has closed. Otherwise the document will gain focus once the menu is closed.

Listening to dropdown changes via $root events

To listen to any dropdown opening, use:

export default {
  mounted() {
    this.$root.$on('bv::dropdown::show', bvEvent => {
      console.log('Dropdown is about to be shown', bvEvent)
    })
  }
}

Refer to the Events section of documentation for the full list of events.

Optionally scoped default slot

NEW in 2.0.0-rc.20

The default slot is optionally scoped with the following scope available:

Accessibility

Providing a unique id prop ensures ARIA compliance by automatically adding the appropriate aria-* attributes in the rendered markup.

The default ARIA role is set to menu, but you can change this default to another role (such as navigation) via the role prop, depending on your user case.

When a menu item doesn't trigger navigation, it is recommended to use the <b-dropdown-item-button> sub-component (which is not announced as a link) instead of <b-dropdown-item> (which is presented as a link to the user).

Headers and accessibility

When using <b-dropdown-header> components in the dropdown menu, it is recommended to add an id attribute to each of the headers, and then set the aria-describedby attribute (set to the id value of the associated header) on each following dropdown items under that header. This will provide users of assistive technologies (i.e. sight-impaired users) additional context about the dropdown item:

<div>
  <b-dropdown id="dropdown-aria" text="Dropdown ARIA" variant="primary" class="m-2">
    <b-dropdown-header id="dropdown-header-1">Groups</b-dropdown-header>
    <b-dropdown-item-button aria-describedby="dropdown-header-1">Add</b-dropdown-item-button>
    <b-dropdown-item-button aria-describedby="dropdown-header-1">Delete</b-dropdown-item-button>

    <b-dropdown-header id="dropdown-header-2">Users</b-dropdown-header>
    <b-dropdown-item-button aria-describedby="dropdown-header-2">Add</b-dropdown-item-button>
    <b-dropdown-item-button aria-describedby="dropdown-header-2">Delete</b-dropdown-item-button>

    <b-dropdown-divider></b-dropdown-divider>

    <b-dropdown-item-button>
      Something <strong>not</strong> associated with Users
    </b-dropdown-item-button>

  </b-dropdown>
</div>

<!-- b-dropdown-aria.vue -->

As a simplified alternative, use the <b-dropdown-group> instead to easily associate header text to the contained dropdown sub-components.

Keyboard navigation

Dropdowns support keyboard navigation, emulating native <select> behaviour.

Note that DOWN and UP will not move focus into <b-dropdown-form> sub components, but users can still use TAB or SHIFT+TAB to move into form controls within the menu.

Implementation notes

NEW in 2.0.0-rc.19 The dropdown menu is rendered with semantic <ul> and <li> elements for accessibility reasons. The .dropdown-menu is the <ul> element, while dropdown items (items, buttons, text, form, headers, and dividers) are wrapped in an <li> element. If creating custom items to place inside the dropdown menu, ensure they are wrapped with a plain <li>.

On touch-enabled devices, opening a <b-dropdown> adds empty (noop) mouseover handlers to the immediate children of the <body> element. This admittedly ugly hack is necessary to work around a quirk in iOS' event delegation, which would otherwise prevent a tap anywhere outside of the dropdown from triggering the code that closes the dropdown. Once the dropdown is closed, these additional empty mouseover handlers are removed.

See also

• <b-nav-item-dropdown> for dropdown support inside <b-nav> and <n-navbar>
• Router Link Support reference for information about router-link specific props available on <b-dropdown-item>