In my previous post, you learned how to create a navigation bar with CSS. Today I would like to show you how you can create a dropdown menu using CSS.

The CSS dropdown menu is a toggleable menu that allows the user to choose one of the values from a preferred list.
Example1. Hoverable Dropdown Menu:
Step 1: Add HTML
<div class="drop-down">
<button class="drop-button">Dropdown Menu</button>
<div class="drop-down-content">
<a href="#">Link 1</a>
<a href="#">Link 2</a>
<a href="#">Link 3</a>
</div>
Step 2: Add CSS
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<style>
.drop-button {
background-color: #2a9d8f;
color: white;
padding: 16px;
font-size: 16px;
border: none;
}
.drop-down {
position: relative;
display: inline-block;
}
.drop-down-content {
display: none;
position: absolute;
background-color: #f4a261;
min-width: 160px;
box-shadow: 0px 8px 16px 0px rgba(0,0,0,0.2);
z-index: 1;
}
.drop-down-content a {
color: black;
padding: 12px 16px;
text-decoration: none;
display: block;
}
.drop-down-content a:hover {background-color: #e76f51;}
.drop-down:hover .drop-down-content {display: block;}
.drop-down:hover .drop-button {background-color: #e9c46a;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>Hoverable Dropdown Menu:</h2>
<p>Hover over the button to open the dropdown menu.</p>
<div class="drop-down">
<button class="drop-button">Dropdown Menu</button>
<div class="drop-down-content">
<a href="#">Link 1</a>
<a href="#">Link 2</a>
<a href="#">Link 3</a>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>
Output:
You can create a dropdown menu that appears when the user moves the mouse over an element inside a navigation bar.
Example2. Dropdown Menu inside a Navigation Bar:
Step 1: Add HTML
<div class="nav-bar">
<a href="#home">Home</a>
<a href="#news">News</a>
<div class="dropDown">
<button class="dropButton">Dropdown
<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i>
</button>
<div class="dropDown-content">
<a href="#">Link 1</a>
<a href="#">Link 2</a>
<a href="#">Link 3</a>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Step 2: Add CSS
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/4.7.0/css/font-awesome.min.css">
<style>
.nav-bar {
overflow: hidden;
background-color: #2a9d8f;
}
.nav-bar a {
float: left;
font-size: 16px;
color: white;
text-align: center;
padding: 14px 16px;
text-decoration: none;
}
.dropDown {
float: left;
overflow: hidden;
}
.dropDown .dropButton {
font-size: 16px;
border: none;
outline: none;
color: white;
padding: 14px 16px;
background-color: inherit;
font-family: inherit;
margin: 0;
}
.nav-bar a:hover, .dropDown:hover .dropButton {
background-color: #e76f51;
}
.dropDown-content {
display: none;
position: absolute;
background-color: #e9c46a;
min-width: 160px;
box-shadow: 0px 8px 16px 0px rgba(0,0,0,0.2);
z-index: 1;
}
.dropDown-content a {
float: none;
color: black;
padding: 12px 16px;
text-decoration: none;
display: block;
text-align: left;
}
.dropDown-content a:hover {
background-color: #f4a261;
}
.dropDown:hover .dropDown-content {
display: block;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="nav-bar">
<a href="#home">Home</a>
<a href="#news">News</a>
<div class="dropDown">
<button class="dropButton">Dropdown
<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i>
</button>
<div class="dropDown-content">
<a href="#">Link 1</a>
<a href="#">Link 2</a>
<a href="#">Link 3</a>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>
Output:
Hover over the “Dropdown” link to see the dropdown menu.
Enjoy coding!
Read also:
How to create a responsive Navigation Bar?