How TO - Tabs


Learn how to create tabs with CSS and JavaScript.


Tabs

Tabs are perfect for single page web applications, or for web pages capable of displaying different subjects:

London

London is the capital city of England.

Paris

Paris is the capital of France.

Tokyo

Tokyo is the capital of Japan.

Try it Yourself »


Create Toggleable Tabs

Step 1) Add HTML:

Example

<!-- Tab links -->
<div class="tab">
  <button class="tablinks" onclick="openCity(event, 'London')">London</button>
  <button class="tablinks" onclick="openCity(event, 'Paris')">Paris</button>
  <button class="tablinks" onclick="openCity(event, 'Tokyo')">Tokyo</button>
</div>

<!-- Tab content -->
<div id="London" class="tabcontent">
  <h3>London</h3>
  <p>London is the capital city of England.</p>
</div>

<div id="Paris" class="tabcontent">
  <h3>Paris</h3>
  <p>Paris is the capital of France.</p>
</div>

<div id="Tokyo" class="tabcontent">
  <h3>Tokyo</h3>
  <p>Tokyo is the capital of Japan.</p>
</div>

Create buttons to open specific tab content. All <div> elements with class="tabcontent" are hidden by default (with CSS & JS). When the user clicks on a button - it will open the tab content that "matches" this button.


Step 2) Add CSS:

Style the buttons and the tab content:

Example

/* Style the tab */
.tab {
  overflow: hidden;
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
  background-color: #f1f1f1;
}

/* Style the buttons that are used to open the tab content */
.tab button {
  background-color: inherit;
  float: left;
  border: none;
  outline: none;
  cursor: pointer;
  padding: 14px 16px;
  transition: 0.3s;
}

/* Change background color of buttons on hover */
.tab button:hover {
  background-color: #ddd;
}

/* Create an active/current tablink class */
.tab button.active {
  background-color: #ccc;
}

/* Style the tab content */
.tabcontent {
  display: none;
  padding: 6px 12px;
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
  border-top: none;
}


Step 3) Add JavaScript:

Example

function openCity(evt, cityName) {
  // Declare all variables
  var i, tabcontent, tablinks;

  // Get all elements with class="tabcontent" and hide them
  tabcontent = document.getElementsByClassName("tabcontent");
  for (i = 0; i < tabcontent.length; i++) {
    tabcontent[i].style.display = "none";
  }

  // Get all elements with class="tablinks" and remove the class "active"
  tablinks = document.getElementsByClassName("tablinks");
  for (i = 0; i < tablinks.length; i++) {
    tablinks[i].className = tablinks[i].className.replace(" active", "");
  }

  // Show the current tab, and add an "active" class to the button that opened the tab
  document.getElementById(cityName).style.display = "block";
  evt.currentTarget.className += " active";
}
Try it Yourself »

Fade in Tabs:

If you want to fade in the tab content, add the following CSS:

Example

.tabcontent {
  animation: fadeEffect 1s; /* Fading effect takes 1 second */
}

/* Go from zero to full opacity */
@keyframes fadeEffect {
  from {opacity: 0;}
  to {opacity: 1;}
}
Try it Yourself »

Show a tab by default

To open a specific tab on page load, use JavaScript to "click" on the specified tab button:

Example

<button class="tablinks" onclick="openCity(event, 'London')" id="defaultOpen">London</button>

<script>
// Get the element with id="defaultOpen" and click on it
document.getElementById("defaultOpen").click();
</script>
Try it Yourself »

Close a tab

If you want to close a specific tab, use JavaScript to hide the tab with a click of a button:

Example

<!-- Click on the <span> element to close the tab -->

<div id="London" class="tabcontent">
  <h3>London</h3>
  <p>London is the capital city of England.</p>
  <span onclick="this.parentElement.style.display='none'">x</span>
</div>
Try it Yourself »

Tip: Also check out How To - Vertical Tabs.


Copyright 1999-2023 by Refsnes Data. All Rights Reserved.