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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:
Tabs
Click on the buttons inside the tabbed menu:
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
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta name=”viewport” content=”width=device-width, initial-scale=1″>
<style>
body {font-family: Arial;}
/* Style the tab */
.tab {
overflow: hidden;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
background-color: #f1f1f1;
}
/* Style the buttons inside the tab */
.tab button {
background-color: inherit;
float: left;
border: none;
outline: none;
cursor: pointer;
padding: 14px 16px;
transition: 0.3s;
font-size: 17px;
}
/* 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;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>Tabs</h2>
<p>Click on the buttons inside the tabbed menu:</p>
<div>
<button onclick=”openCity(event, ‘London’)”>London</button>
<button onclick=”openCity(event, ‘Paris’)”>Paris</button>
<button onclick=”openCity(event, ‘Tokyo’)”>Tokyo</button>
</div>
<div id=”London”>
<h3>London</h3>
<p>London is the capital city of England.</p>
</div>
<div id=”Paris”>
<h3>Paris</h3>
<p>Paris is the capital of France.</p>
</div>
<div id=”Tokyo”>
<h3>Tokyo</h3>
<p>Tokyo is the capital of Japan.</p>
</div>
<script>
function openCity(evt, cityName) {
var i, tabcontent, tablinks;
tabcontent = document.getElementsByClassName(“tabcontent”);
for (i = 0; i < tabcontent.length; i++) {
tabcontent[i].style.display = “none”;
}
tablinks = document.getElementsByClassName(“tablinks”);
for (i = 0; i < tablinks.length; i++) {
tablinks[i].className = tablinks[i].className.replace(” active”, “”);
}
document.getElementById(cityName).style.display = “block”;
evt.currentTarget.className += ” active”;
}
</script>
</body>
</html>
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
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta name=”viewport” content=”width=device-width, initial-scale=1″>
<style>
body {font-family: Arial;}
/* Style the tab */
.tab {
overflow: hidden;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
background-color: #f1f1f1;
}
/* Style the buttons inside the tab */
.tab button {
background-color: inherit;
float: left;
border: none;
outline: none;
cursor: pointer;
padding: 14px 16px;
transition: 0.3s;
font-size: 17px;
}
/* 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;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>Tabs</h2>
<p>Click on the buttons inside the tabbed menu:</p>
<div>
<button onclick=”openCity(event, ‘London’)”>London</button>
<button onclick=”openCity(event, ‘Paris’)”>Paris</button>
<button onclick=”openCity(event, ‘Tokyo’)”>Tokyo</button>
</div>
<div id=”London”>
<h3>London</h3>
<p>London is the capital city of England.</p>
</div>
<div id=”Paris”>
<h3>Paris</h3>
<p>Paris is the capital of France.</p>
</div>
<div id=”Tokyo”>
<h3>Tokyo</h3>
<p>Tokyo is the capital of Japan.</p>
</div>
<script>
function openCity(evt, cityName) {
var i, tabcontent, tablinks;
tabcontent = document.getElementsByClassName(“tabcontent”);
for (i = 0; i < tabcontent.length; i++) {
tabcontent[i].style.display = “none”;
}
tablinks = document.getElementsByClassName(“tablinks”);
for (i = 0; i < tablinks.length; i++) {
tablinks[i].className = tablinks[i].className.replace(” active”, “”);
}
document.getElementById(cityName).style.display = “block”;
evt.currentTarget.className += ” active”;
}
</script>
</body>
</html>
Fade in Tabs:
If you want to fade in the tab content, add the following CSS:
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta name=”viewport” content=”width=device-width, initial-scale=1″>
<style>
body {font-family: Arial;}
/* Style the tab */
.tab {
overflow: hidden;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
background-color: #f1f1f1;
}
/* Style the buttons inside the tab */
.tab button {
background-color: inherit;
float: left;
border: none;
outline: none;
cursor: pointer;
padding: 14px 16px;
transition: 0.3s;
font-size: 17px;
}
/* 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;
-webkit-animation: fadeEffect 1s;
animation: fadeEffect 1s;
}
/* Fade in tabs */
@-webkit-keyframes fadeEffect {
from {opacity: 0;}
to {opacity: 1;}
}
@keyframes fadeEffect {
from {opacity: 0;}
to {opacity: 1;}
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h3>Fade in Tabs</h3>
<div>
<button onclick=”openCity(event, ‘London’)”>London</button>
<button onclick=”openCity(event, ‘Paris’)”>Paris</button>
<button onclick=”openCity(event, ‘Tokyo’)”>Tokyo</button>
</div>
<div id=”London”>
<h3>London</h3>
<p>London is the capital city of England.</p>
</div>
<div id=”Paris”>
<h3>Paris</h3>
<p>Paris is the capital of France.</p>
</div>
<div id=”Tokyo”>
<h3>Tokyo</h3>
<p>Tokyo is the capital of Japan.</p>
</div>
<script>
function openCity(evt, cityName) {
var i, tabcontent, tablinks;
tabcontent = document.getElementsByClassName(“tabcontent”);
for (i = 0; i < tabcontent.length; i++) {
tabcontent[i].style.display = “none”;
}
tablinks = document.getElementsByClassName(“tablinks”);
for (i = 0; i < tablinks.length; i++) {
tablinks[i].className = tablinks[i].className.replace(” active”, “”);
}
document.getElementById(cityName).style.display = “block”;
evt.currentTarget.className += ” active”;
}
</script>
</body>
</html>
Show a tab by default
To open a specific tab on page load, use JavaScript to “click” on the specified tab button:
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta name=”viewport” content=”width=device-width, initial-scale=1″>
<style>
body {font-family: Arial;}
/* Style the tab */
.tab {
overflow: hidden;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
background-color: #f1f1f1;
}
/* Style the buttons inside the tab */
.tab button {
background-color: inherit;
float: left;
border: none;
outline: none;
cursor: pointer;
padding: 14px 16px;
transition: 0.3s;
font-size: 17px;
}
/* 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;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<p>In this example, we use JavaScript to “click” on the London button, to open the tab on page load.</p>
<div>
<button onclick=”openCity(event, ‘London’)” id=”defaultOpen”>London</button>
<button onclick=”openCity(event, ‘Paris’)”>Paris</button>
<button onclick=”openCity(event, ‘Tokyo’)”>Tokyo</button>
</div>
<div id=”London”>
<h3>London</h3>
<p>London is the capital city of England.</p>
</div>
<div id=”Paris”>
<h3>Paris</h3>
<p>Paris is the capital of France.</p>
</div>
<div id=”Tokyo”>
<h3>Tokyo</h3>
<p>Tokyo is the capital of Japan.</p>
</div>
<script>
function openCity(evt, cityName) {
var i, tabcontent, tablinks;
tabcontent = document.getElementsByClassName(“tabcontent”);
for (i = 0; i < tabcontent.length; i++) {
tabcontent[i].style.display = “none”;
}
tablinks = document.getElementsByClassName(“tablinks”);
for (i = 0; i < tablinks.length; i++) {
tablinks[i].className = tablinks[i].className.replace(” active”, “”);
}
document.getElementById(cityName).style.display = “block”;
evt.currentTarget.className += ” active”;
}
// Get the element with id=”defaultOpen” and click on it
document.getElementById(“defaultOpen”).click();
</script>
</body>
</html>
Close a tab
If you want to close a specific tab, use JavaScript to hide the tab with a click of a button:
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta name=”viewport” content=”width=device-width, initial-scale=1″>
<style>
body {font-family: Arial;}
/* Style the tab */
.tab {
overflow: hidden;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
background-color: #f1f1f1;
}
/* Style the buttons inside the tab */
.tab button {
background-color: inherit;
float: left;
border: none;
outline: none;
cursor: pointer;
padding: 14px 16px;
transition: 0.3s;
font-size: 17px;
}
/* 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;
}
/* Style the close button */
.topright {
float: right;
cursor: pointer;
font-size: 28px;
}
.topright:hover {color: red;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>Tabs</h2>
<p>Click on the x button in the top right corner to close the current tab:</p>
<div>
<button onclick=”openCity(event, ‘London’)” id=”defaultOpen”>London</button>
<button onclick=”openCity(event, ‘Paris’)”>Paris</button>
<button onclick=”openCity(event, ‘Tokyo’)”>Tokyo</button>
</div>
<div id=”London”>
<span onclick=”this.parentElement.style.display=’none'”>×</span>
<h3>London</h3>
<p>London is the capital city of England.</p>
</div>
<div id=”Paris”>
<span onclick=”this.parentElement.style.display=’none'”>×</span>
<h3>Paris</h3>
<p>Paris is the capital of France.</p>
</div>
<div id=”Tokyo”>
<span onclick=”this.parentElement.style.display=’none'”>×</span>
<h3>Tokyo</h3>
<p>Tokyo is the capital of Japan.</p>
</div>
<script>
function openCity(evt, cityName) {
var i, tabcontent, tablinks;
tabcontent = document.getElementsByClassName(“tabcontent”);
for (i = 0; i < tabcontent.length; i++) {
tabcontent[i].style.display = “none”;
}
tablinks = document.getElementsByClassName(“tablinks”);
for (i = 0; i < tablinks.length; i++) {
tablinks[i].className = tablinks[i].className.replace(” active”, “”);
}
document.getElementById(cityName).style.display = “block”;
evt.currentTarget.className += ” active”;
}
// Get the element with id=”defaultOpen” and click on it
document.getElementById(“defaultOpen”).click();
</script>
</body>
</html>