Bootstrap/docs/components/buttons.md

layout	title	group	redirect_from
docs	Buttons	components	/components/

Use Bootstrap's custom button styles for actions in forms, dialogs, and more. Includes support for a handful of contextual variations, sizes, states, and more.

Contents

• Will be replaced with the ToC, excluding the "Contents" header {:toc}

Examples

Bootstrap includes six predefined button styles, each serving its own semantic purpose.

{% example html %}

Primary

Secondary

Success

Info

Warning

Danger

Link {% endexample %}

{% callout warning %}

Conveying meaning to assistive technologies

Using color to add meaning to a button only provides a visual indication, which will not be conveyed to users of assistive technologies – such as screen readers. Ensure that information denoted by the color is either obvious from the content itself (the visible text of the button), or is included through alternative means, such as additional text hidden with the .sr-only class. {% endcallout %}

Button tags

The .btn classes are designed to be used with the <button> element. However, you can also use these classes on <a> or <input> elements (though some browsers may apply a slightly different rendering).

When using button classes on <a> elements that are used to trigger in-page functionality (like collapsing content), rather than linking to new pages or sections within the current page, these links should be given a role="button" to appropriately convey their purpose to assistive technologies such as screen readers.

{% example html %} Link Button {% endexample %}

Outline buttons

In need of a button, but not the hefty background colors they bring? Replace the default modifier classes with the .btn-*-outline ones to remove all background images and colors on any button.

{% example html %} Primary Secondary Success Info Warning Danger {% endexample %}

Sizes

Fancy larger or smaller buttons? Add .btn-lg or .btn-sm for additional sizes.

{% example html %} Large button Large button {% endexample %}

{% example html %} Small button Small button {% endexample %}

Create block level buttons—those that span the full width of a parent—by adding .btn-block.

{% example html %} Block level button Block level button {% endexample %}

Active state

Buttons will appear pressed (with a darker background, darker border, and inset shadow) when active. There's no need to add a class to <button>s as they use a pseudo-class. However, you can still force the same active appearance with .active (and include the aria-pressed="true" attribute) should you need to replicate the state programmatically.

{% example html %} Primary link Link {% endexample %}

Disabled state

Make buttons look inactive by adding the disabled boolean attribute to any <button> element.

{% callout info %} Heads up! IE9 and below render disabled buttons with gray, shadowed text that we can't override. {% endcallout %}

{% example html %} Primary button Button {% endexample %}

As <a> elements don't support the disabled attribute, you must add the .disabled class to fake it. In addition, include the aria-disabled="true" attribute, to indicate the state of the element to assistive technologies.

{% example html %} Primary link Link {% endexample %}

{% callout warning %}

Link functionality caveat

The .disabled class uses pointer-events: none to try to disable the link functionality of <a>s, but that CSS property is not yet standardized. In addition, even in browsers that do support pointer-events: none, keyboard navigation remains unaffected, meaning that sighted keyboard users and users of assistive technologies will still be able to activate these links. So to be safe, add a tabindex="-1" attribute on these links (to prevent them from receiving keyboard focus) and use custom JavaScript to disable their functionality. {% endcallout %}

Button plugin

Do more with buttons. Control button states or create groups of buttons for more components like toolbars.

Toggle states

Add data-toggle="button" to toggle a button's active state. If you're pre-toggling a button, you must manually add the .active class and aria-pressed="true" to the <button>.

{% example html %} Single toggle {% endexample %}

Checkbox and radio buttons

Bootstrap's .button styles can be applied to other elements, such as <label>s, to provide checkbox or radio style button toggling. Add data-toggle="buttons" to a .btn-group containing those modified buttons to enable toggling in their respective styles.

The checked state for these buttons is only updated via click event on the button. If you use another method to update the input—e.g., with <input type="reset"> or by manually applying the input's checked property—you'll need to toggle .active on the <label> manually.

Note that pre-checked buttons require you to manually add the .active class to the input's <label>.

{% example html %}

Checkbox 1 (pre-checked) Checkbox 2 Checkbox 3

{% endexample %}

{% example html %}

Radio 1 (preselected) Radio 2 Radio 3

{% endexample %}

Methods

Method	Description
$().button('toggle')	Toggles push state. Gives the button the appearance that it has been activated.