Checkbox

Common Input Field Features
States
Orientation
Best Practices
Related Components

Checkbox is an input field representing a binary choice. Checkbox Group is a group of related binary choices.

Source code

CheckboxBasic.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.checkbox;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.checkbox.Checkbox;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("checkbox-basic")
public class CheckboxBasic extends Div {

  public CheckboxBasic() {
    // tag::snippet[]
    Checkbox checkbox = new Checkbox();
    checkbox.setLabel("I accept the terms and conditions");

    add(checkbox);
    // end::snippet[]
  }

}

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Source code

CheckboxGroupBasic.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.checkbox;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.checkbox.CheckboxGroup;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.checkbox.CheckboxGroupVariant;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("checkbox-group-basic")
public class CheckboxGroupBasic extends Div {

    public CheckboxGroupBasic() {
        // tag::snippet[]
        CheckboxGroup<String> checkboxGroup = new CheckboxGroup<>();
        checkboxGroup.setLabel("Export data");
        checkboxGroup.setItems("Order ID", "Product name", "Customer", "Status");
        checkboxGroup.select("Order ID", "Customer");
        checkboxGroup.addThemeVariants(CheckboxGroupVariant.LUMO_VERTICAL);
        add(checkboxGroup);
        // end::snippet[]
    }

}

Use Checkbox Group to group related items. Individual checkboxes should be used for options that are not related to each other in any way.

Common Input Field Features

Checkbox Group includes all shared input field features.

See shared input field features

States

Disabled

Disable a field to mark it as currently unavailable. Disabled state is used for fields that are not editable and do not need to be readable. Disabled elements cannot be focused and may be inaccessible to assistive technologies like screen readers.

Disabling can be preferable to hiding an element to prevent changes in layout when the element’s visibility changes, and to make users aware of its existence even when currently unavailable.

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Source code

CheckboxDisabled.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.checkbox;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.checkbox.CheckboxGroup;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.checkbox.CheckboxGroupVariant;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("checkbox-disabled")
public class CheckboxDisabled extends Div {

    public CheckboxDisabled() {
        // tag::snippet[]
        CheckboxGroup<String> disabledCheckGroup = new CheckboxGroup<>();
        disabledCheckGroup.setLabel("Departments");
        disabledCheckGroup.setItems("Engineering", "Human Resources", "Marketing", "Operations", "Sales");
        disabledCheckGroup.addThemeVariants(CheckboxGroupVariant.LUMO_VERTICAL);
        disabledCheckGroup.setEnabled(false);
        add(disabledCheckGroup);
        // end::snippet[]
    }

}

Note	Read-only state Checkbox does not support read-only state.

Indeterminate

The indeterminate state can be used for a parent checkbox to show that there is a mix of checked and unchecked child items in a list, and to change the state of all child items at once.

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Source code

CheckboxIndeterminate.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.checkbox;

import com.vaadin.demo.domain.DataService;
import com.vaadin.demo.domain.Person;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.checkbox.Checkbox;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.checkbox.CheckboxGroup;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.checkbox.CheckboxGroupVariant;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.orderedlayout.VerticalLayout;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.List;

@Route("checkbox-indeterminate")
public class CheckboxIndeterminate extends VerticalLayout {

    private List<Person> items = DataService.getPeople(3);

    public CheckboxIndeterminate() {
        setPadding(false);

        // tag::snippet[]
        Checkbox checkbox = new Checkbox("Notify users");

        CheckboxGroup<Person> checkboxGroup = new CheckboxGroup<>();
        checkboxGroup.setLabel("Users to notify");
        checkboxGroup.setItemLabelGenerator(person -> person.getFirstName() + " " + person.getLastName());
        checkboxGroup.setItems(items);
        checkboxGroup.addThemeVariants(CheckboxGroupVariant.LUMO_VERTICAL);
        checkboxGroup.addValueChangeListener(event -> {
            if (event.getValue().size() == items.size()) {
                checkbox.setValue(true);
                checkbox.setIndeterminate(false);
            } else if (event.getValue().size() == 0) {
                checkbox.setValue(false);
                checkbox.setIndeterminate(false);
            } else {
                checkbox.setIndeterminate(true);
            }
        });
        checkbox.addValueChangeListener(event -> {
            if (checkbox.getValue()) {
                checkboxGroup.setValue(new HashSet<>(items));
            } else {
                checkboxGroup.deselectAll();
            }
        });
        checkboxGroup.select(items.get(0), items.get(2));
        add(checkbox, checkboxGroup);
        // end::snippet[]
    }

}

Orientation

The component’s default orientation is horizontal but vertical orientation is recommended whenever possible as it’s easier for the user to scan a vertical list of options:

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Source code

CheckboxVertical.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.checkbox;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.checkbox.CheckboxGroup;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.checkbox.CheckboxGroupVariant;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("checkbox-vertical")
public class CheckboxVertical extends Div {

    public CheckboxVertical() {
        // tag::snippet[]
        CheckboxGroup<String> checkboxGroup = new CheckboxGroup<>();
        checkboxGroup.setLabel("Working days");
        checkboxGroup.setItems("Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday", "Sunday");
        checkboxGroup.addThemeVariants(CheckboxGroupVariant.LUMO_VERTICAL);
        add(checkboxGroup);
        // end::snippet[]
    }

}

In cases where vertical space needs to be conserved, horizontal orientation can be used, but no more than 3 options are recommended:

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Source code

CheckboxHorizontal.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.checkbox;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.checkbox.CheckboxGroup;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("checkbox-horizontal")
public class CheckboxHorizontal extends Div {

    public CheckboxHorizontal() {
        // tag::snippet[]
        CheckboxGroup<String> checkboxGroup = new CheckboxGroup<>();
        checkboxGroup.setLabel("Permissions");
        checkboxGroup.setItems("Read", "Edit", "Delete");
        add(checkboxGroup);
        // end::snippet[]
    }

}

Best Practices

Labeling

Aim for short and descriptive labels using positive wording. Avoid negations.

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Source code

checkbox-labeling.tsimport { html, LitElement, customElement } from 'lit-element';
import '@vaadin/vaadin-checkbox/vaadin-checkbox';
import { applyTheme } from 'Frontend/generated/theme';

// tag::snippet[]
@customElement('checkbox-labeling')
export class Example extends LitElement {
  protected createRenderRoot() {
    const root = super.createRenderRoot();
    // Apply custom theme (only supported if your app uses one)
    applyTheme(root);
    return root;
  }

  render() {
    return html`
      <vaadin-checkbox>Yes, I agree</vaadin-checkbox>
    `;
  }
}

// end::snippet[]
checkbox-labeling.ts

It is important to provide labels for Checkbox Groups to clearly distinguish adjacent groups.

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Source code

CheckboxAdjacentGroups.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.checkbox;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.checkbox.CheckboxGroup;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.checkbox.CheckboxGroupVariant;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.orderedlayout.VerticalLayout;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("checkbox-adjacent-groups")
public class CheckboxAdjacentGroups extends VerticalLayout {

    public CheckboxAdjacentGroups() {
        setPadding(false);
        setSpacing(false);

        // tag::snippet[]
        CheckboxGroup<String> manufacturer = new CheckboxGroup<>();
        manufacturer.setLabel("Manufacturer");
        manufacturer.setItems("Akuchi", "Broek", "Wulf");
        manufacturer.addThemeVariants(CheckboxGroupVariant.LUMO_VERTICAL);

        CheckboxGroup<String> status = new CheckboxGroup<>();
        status.setLabel("Status");
        status.setItems("In progress", "Done", "Cancelled");
        status.addThemeVariants(CheckboxGroupVariant.LUMO_VERTICAL);

        add(manufacturer, status);
        // end::snippet[]
    }

}

Component	Usage recommendations
Select	A field for selecting an item from a list of options which are presented in an overlay. Recommended when there is insufficient space for a Radio Button Group.
Combo Box	A filterable, lazy loading alternative to Select, recommended for ten or more items.
List Box	Scrollable list of options. Supports single and multi-select.
Radio Button Group	Corresponding component for mutually exclusive options, or “single-select”.

Component

Usage recommendations

Select

A field for selecting an item from a list of options which are presented in an overlay. Recommended when there is insufficient space for a Radio Button Group.

Combo Box

A filterable, lazy loading alternative to Select, recommended for ten or more items.

List Box

Scrollable list of options. Supports single and multi-select.

Radio Button Group

Corresponding component for mutually exclusive options, or “single-select”.

8B864673-06F1-45B7-A039-5087706B427B

Docs

Docs

Checkbox

Common Input Field Features

States

Disabled

Indeterminate

Orientation

Best Practices

Labeling

Docs

Common Input Field Features

States

Disabled

Indeterminate

Orientation

Best Practices

Labeling

Related Components