---
layout: docs
title: Carousel
description: A slideshow component for cycling through elements—images or slides of text—like a carousel.
group: components
toc: true
---
## How it works
The carousel is a slideshow for cycling through a series of content, built with CSS 3D transforms and a bit of JavaScript. It works with a series of images, text, or custom markup. It also includes support for previous/next controls and indicators.
In browsers where the [Page Visibility API](https://www.w3.org/TR/page-visibility/) is supported, the carousel will avoid sliding when the webpage is not visible to the user (such as when the browser tab is inactive, the browser window is minimized, etc.).
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Please be aware that nested carousels are not supported, and carousels are generally not compliant with accessibility standards.
Lastly, if you're building our JavaScript from source, it [requires `util.js`]({{< docsref "/getting-started/javascript#util" >}}).
## Example
Carousels don't automatically normalize slide dimensions. As such, you may need to use additional utilities or custom styles to appropriately size content. While carousels support previous/next controls and indicators, they're not explicitly required. Add and customize as you see fit.
**The `.active` class needs to be added to one of the slides** otherwise the carousel will not be visible. Also be sure to set a unique id on the `.carousel` for optional controls, especially if you're using multiple carousels on a single page. Control and indicator elements must have a `data-target` attribute (or `href` for links) that matches the id of the `.carousel` element.
### Slides only
Here's a carousel with slides only. Note the presence of the `.d-block` and `.w-100` on carousel images to prevent browser default image alignment.
{{< example >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#555" background="#777" text="First slide" >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#444" background="#666" text="Second slide" >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#333" background="#555" text="Third slide" >}}
{{< /example >}}
### With controls
Adding in the previous and next controls:
{{< example >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#555" background="#777" text="First slide" >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#444" background="#666" text="Second slide" >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#333" background="#555" text="Third slide" >}}
Previous
Next
{{< /example >}}
### With indicators
You can also add the indicators to the carousel, alongside the controls, too.
{{< example >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#555" background="#777" text="First slide" >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#444" background="#666" text="Second slide" >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#333" background="#555" text="Third slide" >}}
Previous
Next
{{< /example >}}
### With captions
Add captions to your slides easily with the `.carousel-caption` element within any `.carousel-item`. They can be easily hidden on smaller viewports, as shown below, with optional [display utilities]({{< docsref "/utilities/display" >}}). We hide them initially with `.d-none` and bring them back on medium-sized devices with `.d-md-block`.
{{< example >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#555" background="#777" text="First slide" >}}
First slide label
Some representative placeholder content for the first slide.
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#444" background="#666" text="Second slide" >}}
Second slide label
Some representative placeholder content for the second slide.
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#333" background="#555" text="Third slide" >}}
Third slide label
Some representative placeholder content for the third slide.
Previous
Next
{{< /example >}}
### Crossfade
Add `.carousel-fade` to your carousel to animate slides with a fade transition instead of a slide.
{{< example >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#555" background="#777" text="First slide" >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#444" background="#666" text="Second slide" >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#333" background="#555" text="Third slide" >}}
Previous
Next
{{< /example >}}
### Individual `.carousel-item` interval
Add `data-interval=""` to a `.carousel-item` to change the amount of time to delay between automatically cycling to the next item.
{{< example >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#555" background="#777" text="First slide" >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#444" background="#666" text="Second slide" >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#333" background="#555" text="Third slide" >}}
Previous
Next
{{< /example >}}
### Disable touch swiping
Carousels support swiping left/right on touchscreen devices to move between slides. This can be disabled using the `data-touch` attribute. The example below also does not include the `data-ride` attribute and has `data-interval="false"` so it doesn't autoplay.
{{< example >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#555" background="#777" text="First slide" >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#444" background="#666" text="Second slide" >}}
{{< placeholder width="800" height="400" class="bd-placeholder-img-lg d-block w-100" color="#333" background="#555" text="Third slide" >}}
Previous
Next
{{< /example >}}
## Usage
### Via data attributes
Use data attributes to easily control the position of the carousel. `data-slide` accepts the keywords `prev` or `next`, which alters the slide position relative to its current position. Alternatively, use `data-slide-to` to pass a raw slide index to the carousel `data-slide-to="2"`, which shifts the slide position to a particular index beginning with `0`.
The `data-ride="carousel"` attribute is used to mark a carousel as animating starting at page load. If you don't use `data-ride="carousel"` to initialize your carousel, you have to initialize it yourself. **It cannot be used in combination with (redundant and unnecessary) explicit JavaScript initialization of the same carousel.**
### Via JavaScript
Call carousel manually with:
```js
$('.carousel').carousel()
```
### Options
Options can be passed via data attributes or JavaScript. For data attributes, append the option name to `data-`, as in `data-interval=""`.
Name |
Type |
Default |
Description |
interval |
number |
5000 |
The amount of time to delay between automatically cycling an item. If false , carousel will not automatically cycle. |
keyboard |
boolean |
true |
Whether the carousel should react to keyboard events. |
pause |
string | boolean |
'hover' |
If set to 'hover' , pauses the cycling of the carousel on mouseenter and resumes the cycling of the carousel on mouseleave . If set to false , hovering over the carousel won't pause it.
On touch-enabled devices, when set to 'hover' , cycling will pause on touchend (once the user finished interacting with the carousel) for two intervals, before automatically resuming. Note that this is in addition to the above mouse behavior. |
ride |
string |
false |
Autoplays the carousel after the user manually cycles the first item. If set to 'carousel' , autoplays the carousel on load. |
wrap |
boolean |
true |
Whether the carousel should cycle continuously or have hard stops. |
touch |
boolean |
true |
Whether the carousel should support left/right swipe interactions on touchscreen devices. |
### Methods
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#### `.carousel(options)`
Initializes the carousel with an optional options `object` and starts cycling through items.
```js
$('.carousel').carousel({
interval: 2000
})
```
#### `.carousel('cycle')`
Cycles through the carousel items from left to right.
#### `.carousel('pause')`
Stops the carousel from cycling through items.
#### `.carousel(number)`
Cycles the carousel to a particular frame (0 based, similar to an array). **Returns to the caller before the target item has been shown** (i.e. before the `slid.bs.carousel` event occurs).
#### `.carousel('prev')`
Cycles to the previous item. **Returns to the caller before the previous item has been shown** (i.e. before the `slid.bs.carousel` event occurs).
#### `.carousel('next')`
Cycles to the next item. **Returns to the caller before the next item has been shown** (i.e. before the `slid.bs.carousel` event occurs).
#### `.carousel('dispose')`
Destroys an element's carousel.
#### `.carousel('nextWhenVisible')`
Don't cycle the carousel to next when the page isn't visible or the carousel or its parent isn't visible. **Returns to the caller before the next item has been shown** (i.e. before the `slid.bs.carousel` event occurs).
#### `.carousel('to')`
Cycles the carousel to a particular frame (0 based, similar to an array). **Returns to the caller before the next item has been shown** (i.e. before the `slid.bs.carousel` event occurs).
### Events
Bootstrap's carousel class exposes two events for hooking into carousel functionality. Both events have the following additional properties:
- `direction`: The direction in which the carousel is sliding (either `"left"` or `"right"`).
- `relatedTarget`: The DOM element that is being slid into place as the active item.
- `from`: The index of the current item
- `to`: The index of the next item
All carousel events are fired at the carousel itself (i.e. at the ``).
Event Type |
Description |
slide.bs.carousel |
This event fires immediately when the slide instance method is invoked. |
slid.bs.carousel |
This event is fired when the carousel has completed its slide transition. |
```js
$('#myCarousel').on('slide.bs.carousel', function () {
// do something...
})
```
### Change transition duration
The transition duration of `.carousel-item` can be changed with the `$carousel-transition` Sass variable before compiling or custom styles if you're using the compiled CSS. If multiple transitions are applied, make sure the transform transition is defined first (eg. `transition: transform 2s ease, opacity .5s ease-out`).