This is an experimental technology
Because this technology's specification has not stabilized, check the compatibility table for usage in various browsers. Also note that the syntax and behavior of an experimental technology is subject to change in future versions of browsers as the specification changes.

The HTML <menu> element represents a group of commands that a user can perform or activate. This includes both list menus, which might appear across the top of a screen, as well as context menus, such as those that might appear underneath a button after it has been clicked.

Usage note: The <menu> and <ul> elements both represent an unordered list of items. The key difference is that <ul> primarily contains items for display, whilst <menu> is intended for interactive items, to act on.

Notes: This element was deprecated in HTML4, but reintroduced in HTML5.1 (still working draft).")}}. This document describes current Firefox implementation. Type 'list' is likely to change to 'toolbar' according to HTML5.1 working draft.")}}

Content categories Flow content. Additionally, if in the list menu state, palpable content. (list menu is the default state, unless the parent element is a <menu> in the context menu state.)
Permitted content If the element is in the list menu state: flow content, or alternatively, zero or more occurrences of <li>, <script>, and <template>.
If the element is in the context menu state: zero or more occurrences, in any order, of <menu> (context menu state only), <menuitem>, <hr>, <script>, and <template>.
Tag omission None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory.
Permitted parent elements Any element that accepts flow content.
DOM interface HTMLMenuElement

Attributes

This element includes the global attributes.

label
The name of the menu as shown to the user. Used within nested menus, to provide a label through which the submenu can be accessed. Must only be specified when the parent element is a <menu> in the context menu state.
type
This attribute indicates the kind of menu being declared, and can be one of two values.
  • context: The context menu state, which represents a group of commands activated through another element. This might be through the menu attribute of a <button>, or an element with a contextmenu attribute. When nesting <menu> elements directly within one another, this is the missing value default if the parent is already in this state.
  • list: The list menu state, which represents a series of commands for user interaction. This is the missing value default, except where the parent element is a <menu> in the context menu state.

Examples

Example 1

<!-- A button, which displays a menu when clicked. -->
<button type="menu" menu="dropdown-menu">
  Dropdown
</button>

<menu type="context" id="dropdown-menu">
  <menuitem label="Action">
  <menuitem label="Another action">
  <hr>
  <menuitem label="Separated action">
</menu>

Result

Example 2

<!-- A context menu for a simple editor, containing two menu buttons. -->
<menu>
  <li>
    <button type="menu" value="File" menu="file-menu">
    <menu type="context" id="file-menu">
      <menuitem label="New..." onclick="newFile()">
      <menuitem label="Save..." onclick="saveFile()">
    </menu>
  </li>
  <li>
    <button type="menu" value="Edit" menu="edit-menu">
    <menu type="context" id="edit-menu">
      <menuitem label="Cut..." onclick="cutEdit()">
      <menuitem label="Copy..." onclick="copyEdit()">
      <menuitem label="Paste..." onclick="pasteEdit()">
    </menu>
  </li>
</menu>

Result

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
WHATWG HTML Living Standard
The definition of '<menu>' in that specification.		 Living Standard  
HTML5.1
The definition of '<menu>' in that specification.		 Working Draft Initial definition

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari
type="list" ? No support ? ? ?
type="context" ? 8 (8) ? ? ?
type="toolbar" ? No support ? ? ?
Feature Android Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
type="list" ? No support ? ? ?
type="context" ? (Yes) [1] ? ? ?
type="toolbar" ? No support ? ? ?

[1] Nested menus are not supported.

See also

Document Tags and Contributors

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 Contributors to this page: slimsag, cassiodoroVicinetti, crazytonyi, teoli, Sebastianz, Siddharth0892, kumarshikhardeep, Syle91, maybe, ebogucka, kscarfone, ChrisL, dhodder, jmdyck, SteveFaulkner, fbender, Sheppy, medicdude, ethertank, Huan, cers, fscholz, McGurk, jswisher, Yann Dìnendal
 Last updated by: slimsag,