Individual form controls automatically receive some global styling. All textual <input>, <textarea>, and <select> elements with .form-control are set to width: 100%; by default. Wrap labels and controls in .form-group for optimum spacing.
Do not mix form groups directly with input groups. Instead, nest the input group inside of the form group.
Add .form-inline to your form (which doesn't have to be a <form>) for left-aligned and inline-block controls. This only applies to forms within viewports that are at least 768px wide.
Inputs and selects have width: 100%; applied by default in Bootstrap. Within inline forms, we reset that to width: auto; so multiple controls can reside on the same line. Depending on your layout, additional custom widths may be required.
Screen readers will have trouble with your forms if you don't include a label for every input. For these inline forms, you can hide the labels using the .sr-only class. There are further alternative methods of providing a label for assistive technologies, such as the aria-label, aria-labelledby or title attribute. If none of these is present, screen readers may resort to using the placeholder attribute, if present, but note that use of placeholder as a replacement for other labelling methods is not advised.
Use Bootstrap's predefined grid classes to align labels and groups of form controls in a horizontal layout by adding .form-horizontal to the form (which doesn't have to be a <form>). Doing so changes .form-groups to behave as grid rows, so no need for .row.
Examples of standard form controls supported in an example form layout.
Most common form control, text-based input fields. Includes support for all HTML5 types: text, password, datetime, datetime-local, date, month, time, week, number, email, url, search, tel, and color.
Inputs will only be fully styled if their type is properly declared.
To add integrated text or buttons before and/or after any text-based <input>, check out the input group component.
Form control which supports multiple lines of text. Change rows attribute as necessary.
Checkboxes are for selecting one or several options in a list, while radios are for selecting one option from many.
A checkbox or radio with the disabled attribute will be styled appropriately. To have the <label> for the checkbox or radio also display a "not-allowed" cursor when the user hovers over the label, add the .disabled class to your .radio, .radio-inline, .checkbox, .checkbox-inline, or <fieldset>.
Use the .checkbox-inline or .radio-inline classes on a series of checkboxes or radios for controls that appear on the same line.
Should you have no text within the <label>, the input is positioned as you'd expect. Currently only works on non-inline checkboxes and radios. Remember to still provide some form of label for assistive technologies (for instance, using aria-label).
Note that many native select menus—namely in Safari and Chrome—have rounded corners that cannot be modified via border-radius properties.
For <select> controls with the multiple attribute, multiple options are shown by default.
When you need to place plain text next to a form label within a form, use the .form-control-static class on a <p>.
We remove the default outline styles on some form controls and apply a box-shadow in its place for :focus.
:focus stateThe above example input uses custom styles in our documentation to demonstrate the :focus state on a .form-control.
Add the disabled boolean attribute on an input to prevent user interactions. Disabled inputs appear lighter and add a not-allowed cursor.
Add the disabled attribute to a <fieldset> to disable all the controls within the <fieldset> at once.
<a>By default, browsers will treat all native form controls (<input>, <select> and <button> elements) inside a <fieldset disabled> as disabled, preventing both keyboard and mouse interactions on them. However, if your form also includes <a ... class="btn btn-*"> elements, these will only be given a style of pointer-events: none. As noted in the section about disabled state for buttons (and specifically in the sub-section for anchor elements), this CSS property is not yet standardized and isn't fully supported in Opera 18 and below, or in Internet Explorer 11, and won't prevent keyboard users from being able to focus or activate these links. So to be safe, use custom JavaScript to disable such links.
While Bootstrap will apply these styles in all browsers, Internet Explorer 11 and below don't fully support the disabled attribute on a <fieldset>. Use custom JavaScript to disable the fieldset in these browsers.
Add the readonly boolean attribute on an input to prevent modification of the input's value. Read-only inputs appear lighter (just like disabled inputs), but retain the standard cursor.
Bootstrap includes validation styles for error, warning, and success states on form controls. To use, add .has-warning, .has-error, or .has-success to the parent element. Any .control-label, .form-control, and .help-block within that element will receive the validation styles.
Using these validation styles to denote the state of a form control only provides a visual, color-based indication, which will not be conveyed to users of assistive technologies - such as screen readers - or to colorblind users.
Ensure that an alternative indication of state is also provided. For instance, you can include a hint about state in the form control's <label> text itself (as is the case in the following code example), include a Glyphicon (with appropriate alternative text using the .sr-only class - see the Glyphicon examples), or by providing an additional help text block. Specifically for assistive technologies, invalid form controls can also be assigned an aria-invalid="true" attribute.
You can also add optional feedback icons with the addition of .has-feedback and the right icon.
Feedback icons only work with textual <input class="form-control"> elements.
Manual positioning of feedback icons is required for inputs without a label and for input groups with an add-on on the right. You are strongly encouraged to provide labels for all inputs for accessibility reasons. If you wish to prevent labels from being displayed, hide them with the .sr-only class. If you must do without labels, adjust the top value of the feedback icon. For input groups, adjust the right value to an appropriate pixel value depending on the width of your addon.
To ensure that assistive technologies – such as screen readers – correctly convey the meaning of an icon, additional hidden text should be included with the .sr-only class and explicitly associated with the form control it relates to using aria-describedby. Alternatively, ensure that the meaning (for instance, the fact that there is a warning for a particular text entry field) is conveyed in some other form, such as changing the text of the actual <label> associated with the form control.
Although the following examples already mention the validation state of their respective form controls in the <label> text itself, the above technique (using .sr-only text and aria-describedby) has been included for illustrative purposes.
.sr-only labelsIf you use the .sr-only class to hide a form control's <label> (rather than using other labelling options, such as the aria-label attribute), Bootstrap will automatically adjust the position of the icon once it's been added.
Set heights using classes like .input-lg, and set widths using grid column classes like .col-lg-*.
Create taller or shorter form controls that match button sizes.
Quickly size labels and form controls within .form-horizontal by adding .form-group-lg or .form-group-sm.
Wrap inputs in grid columns, or any custom parent element, to easily enforce desired widths.
Block level help text for form controls.
Help text should be explicitly associated with the form control it relates to using the aria-describedby attribute. This will ensure that assistive technologies – such as screen readers – will announce this help text when the user focuses or enters the control.