Menu Bar

Styles
Overflow
Menu Item Features
Dividers
Open on Hover
Keyboard Usage
Drop-Down and "Combo" Buttons
Best Practices
Related Components

Menu Bar is a horizontal button bar with hierarchical drop-down menus. Menu items can either trigger an action, open a menu, or work as a toggle.

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Source code

MenuBarBasic.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.menubar;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.ClickEvent;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.ComponentEventListener;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.Text;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.MenuItem;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.SubMenu;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.menubar.MenuBar;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("menu-bar-basic")
public class MenuBarBasic extends Div {

  public MenuBarBasic() {
    // tag::snippet[]
    MenuBar menuBar = new MenuBar();
    Text selected = new Text("");
    ComponentEventListener<ClickEvent<MenuItem>> listener = e -> selected.setText(e.getSource().getText());
    Div message = new Div(new Text("Clicked item: "), selected);

    menuBar.addItem("View", listener);
    menuBar.addItem("Edit", listener);

    MenuItem share = menuBar.addItem("Share");
    SubMenu shareSubMenu = share.getSubMenu();
    MenuItem onSocialMedia = shareSubMenu.addItem("On social media");
    SubMenu socialMediaSubMenu = onSocialMedia.getSubMenu();
    socialMediaSubMenu.addItem("Facebook", listener);
    socialMediaSubMenu.addItem("Twitter", listener);
    socialMediaSubMenu.addItem("Instagram", listener);
    shareSubMenu.addItem("By email", listener);
    shareSubMenu.addItem("Get Link", listener);

    MenuItem move = menuBar.addItem("Move");
    SubMenu moveSubMenu = move.getSubMenu();
    moveSubMenu.addItem("To folder", listener);
    moveSubMenu.addItem("To trash", listener);

    menuBar.addItem("Duplicate", listener);
    // end::snippet[]

    add(menuBar, message);
  }

}

Styles

Default Variants

The following variants are available for adjusting the component’s appearance:

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Source code

MenuBarStyles.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.menubar;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.menubar.MenuBar;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.menubar.MenuBarVariant;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("menu-bar-styles")
public class MenuBarStyles extends Div {
    public MenuBarStyles() {
        // tag::snippet[]
        MenuBar menuWithDefaultTheme = new MenuBar();
        addItem(menuWithDefaultTheme, "Default");

        MenuBar menuWithTertiaryTheme = new MenuBar();
        menuWithTertiaryTheme.addThemeVariants(MenuBarVariant.LUMO_TERTIARY);
        addItem(menuWithTertiaryTheme, "Tertiary");

        MenuBar menuWithPrimaryTheme = new MenuBar();
        menuWithPrimaryTheme.addThemeVariants(MenuBarVariant.LUMO_PRIMARY);
        addItem(menuWithPrimaryTheme, "Primary");

        MenuBar menuWithSmallTheme = new MenuBar();
        menuWithSmallTheme.addThemeVariants(MenuBarVariant.LUMO_SMALL);
        addItem(menuWithSmallTheme, "Small");
        // end::snippet[]

        setInlineBlock(menuWithDefaultTheme);
        setInlineBlock(menuWithTertiaryTheme);
        setInlineBlock(menuWithPrimaryTheme);
        setInlineBlock(menuWithSmallTheme);

        add(menuWithDefaultTheme, menuWithTertiaryTheme, menuWithPrimaryTheme, menuWithSmallTheme);
    }

    private void addItem(MenuBar menuItem, String label) {
        menuItem.addItem(label)
                .getSubMenu()
                .addItem("Item");
    }

    private void setInlineBlock(MenuBar menuBar) {
        menuBar.getStyle().set("display", "inline-block");
    }

}

Variant	Usage recommendations
Tertiary	Corresponds to the tertiary button variant, omitting the background color.
Primary	Corresponds to the primary button variant. As only one primary action should be presented in the same part of the UI, this should only be used for drop-down button use cases.
Small	Compact variant. Can be combined with Tertiary and Primary.

Variant

Usage recommendations

Tertiary

Corresponds to the tertiary button variant, omitting the background color.

Primary

Corresponds to the primary button variant. As only one primary action should be presented in the same part of the UI, this should only be used for drop-down button use cases.

Small

Compact variant. Can be combined with Tertiary and Primary.

Tip	Default menu button styles can be customized Note that the standard Menu Button styles can be adjusted using theme features, so these variants should only be used to differentiate special instances of the component.

An individual menu item can be styled using a custom variant.

To style a root-level item, create a custom variant for the vaadin-menu-bar-button component.

To style a sub-menu item, create a custom variant for the vaadin-context-menu-item component.

See Vaadin Component Variants for details how to add style sheets for those components.

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Source code

MenuBarCustomTheme.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.menubar;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.ClickEvent;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.ComponentEventListener;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.Text;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.MenuItem;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.SubMenu;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.menubar.MenuBar;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("menu-bar-custom-theme")
public class MenuBarCustomTheme extends Div {

  public MenuBarCustomTheme() {
    MenuBar menuBar = new MenuBar();

    // tag::snippet[]
    MenuItem view = menuBar.addItem("View");
    view.addThemeNames("custom-theme");

    MenuItem edit = menuBar.addItem("Edit");

    MenuItem share = menuBar.addItem("Share");
    SubMenu shareSubMenu = share.getSubMenu();
    shareSubMenu.addItem("By email").addThemeNames("custom-theme");
    shareSubMenu.addItem("Get Link");
    // end::snippet[]

    add(menuBar);
  }

}
vaadin-context-menu-item.css:host([theme~='custom-theme']) {
    text-transform: uppercase;
}
vaadin-context-menu-item.css
vaadin-menu-bar-button.css:host([theme~='custom-theme']) {
    text-transform: uppercase;
}
vaadin-menu-bar-button.css

Overflow

Items that don’t fit into the current width of the menu bar automatically collapse into an overflow menu at the end:

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Source code

MenuBarOverflow.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.menubar;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.MenuItem;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.SubMenu;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.menubar.MenuBar;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.splitlayout.SplitLayout;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("menu-bar-overflow")
public class MenuBarOverflow extends Div {
    public MenuBarOverflow() {
        // tag::snippet[]
        MenuBar menuBar = new MenuBar();
        addItems(menuBar);
        Div div = new Div();
        div.setText("Move the splitter to see overflow feature");

        SplitLayout splitLayout = new SplitLayout(menuBar, div);
        // end::snippet[]

        add(splitLayout);
    }

    private void addItems(MenuBar menuBar) {
        menuBar.addItem("View");
        menuBar.addItem("Edit");

        MenuItem share = menuBar.addItem("Share");
        SubMenu shareSubMenu = share.getSubMenu();
        MenuItem onSocialMedia = shareSubMenu.addItem("On social media");
        SubMenu socialMediaSubMenu = onSocialMedia.getSubMenu();
        socialMediaSubMenu.addItem("Facebook");
        socialMediaSubMenu.addItem("Twitter");
        socialMediaSubMenu.addItem("Instagram");
        shareSubMenu.addItem("By email");
        shareSubMenu.addItem("Get Link");

        MenuItem move = menuBar.addItem("Move");
        SubMenu moveSubMenu = move.getSubMenu();
        moveSubMenu.addItem("To folder");
        moveSubMenu.addItem("To trash");

        menuBar.addItem("Duplicate");
    }

}

Icons

Menu items can have icons in addition to, or instead of text.

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Source code

MenuBarIcons.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.menubar;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.Text;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.HasMenuItems;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.MenuItem;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.SubMenu;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.icon.Icon;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.icon.VaadinIcon;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.menubar.MenuBar;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.menubar.MenuBarVariant;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("menu-bar-icons")
public class MenuBarIcons extends Div {
    public MenuBarIcons() {
        // tag::snippet[]
        MenuBar menuBar = new MenuBar();
        menuBar.addThemeVariants(MenuBarVariant.LUMO_ICON);
        MenuItem share = createIconItem(menuBar, VaadinIcon.SHARE, "Share", null);
        SubMenu shareSubMenu = share.getSubMenu();
        createIconItem(shareSubMenu, VaadinIcon.SHARE, "By Email", null, true);
        createIconItem(shareSubMenu, VaadinIcon.LINK, "Get link", null, true);
        createIconItem(menuBar, VaadinIcon.COPY, null, "duplicate");
        // end::snippet[]
        add(menuBar);
    }

    private MenuItem createIconItem(HasMenuItems menu, VaadinIcon iconName, String label, String ariaLabel) {
        return createIconItem(menu, iconName, label, ariaLabel, false);
    }
    private MenuItem createIconItem(HasMenuItems menu, VaadinIcon iconName, String label, String ariaLabel, boolean isChild) {
        Icon icon = new Icon(iconName);

        if (isChild) {
            icon.getStyle().set("width", "var(--lumo-icon-size-s)");
            icon.getStyle().set("height", "var(--lumo-icon-size-s)");
            icon.getStyle().set("marginRight", "var(--lumo-space-s)");
        }

        MenuItem item = menu.addItem(icon, e -> {
        });

        if (ariaLabel != null) {
            item.getElement().setAttribute("aria-label", ariaLabel);
        }

        if (label != null) {
            item.add(new Text(label));
        }

        return item;
    }

}

Usage recommendations:

Use icons sparingly. Most actions are difficult to reliably represent with icons, and the benefit of icons in addition to text should be weighed against the additional visual noise this creates.
Menu items in dropdown menus should always have text labels.
Icon-only menu buttons should be primarily used for extremely common recurring actions with highly standardized, universally understood icons (for example, a cross for close).
Icon-only menu buttons should provide a textual alternative for screen readers using the aria-label attribute.

Menu Bars with icon-only top-level items can use the Tertiary Inline style variant to reduce the horizontal padding around the icons.

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Source code

MenuBarIconOnly.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.menubar;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.MenuItem;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.SubMenu;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.icon.Icon;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.icon.VaadinIcon;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.menubar.MenuBar;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.menubar.MenuBarVariant;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("menu-bar-icon-only")
public class MenuBarIconOnly extends Div {
    public MenuBarIconOnly() {
        // tag::snippet[]
        MenuBar menuBar = new MenuBar();
        menuBar.addThemeVariants(MenuBarVariant.LUMO_TERTIARY_INLINE);

        createIconItem(menuBar, VaadinIcon.EYE, "View");
        createIconItem(menuBar, VaadinIcon.PENCIL, "Edit");

        MenuItem share = createIconItem(menuBar, VaadinIcon.SHARE, "Share");
        SubMenu shareSubMenu = share.getSubMenu();
        MenuItem onSocialMedia = shareSubMenu.addItem("On social media");
        SubMenu socialMediaSubMenu = onSocialMedia.getSubMenu();
        socialMediaSubMenu.addItem("Facebook");
        socialMediaSubMenu.addItem("Twitter");
        socialMediaSubMenu.addItem("Instagram");
        shareSubMenu.addItem("By email");
        shareSubMenu.addItem("Get Link");

        MenuItem move = createIconItem(menuBar, VaadinIcon.FOLDER, "Move");
        SubMenu moveSubMenu = move.getSubMenu();
        moveSubMenu.addItem("To folder");
        moveSubMenu.addItem("To trash");

        createIconItem(menuBar, VaadinIcon.COPY, "Duplicate");
        // end::snippet[]
        add(menuBar);
    }

    private MenuItem createIconItem(MenuBar menu, VaadinIcon iconName, String ariaLabel) {
        Icon icon = new Icon(iconName);
        MenuItem item = menu.addItem(icon);
        item.getElement().setAttribute("aria-label", ariaLabel);

        return item;
    }

}

Warning

Other components in menu items

While it’s technically possible to put any UI element in a menu item, this can be problematic in terms of accessibility, as they cannot be focused and may not be correctly interpreted by assistive technologies.

Disabled Items

Menu items can be disabled to indicate that they are currently unavailable.

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Source code

MenuBarDisabled.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.menubar;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.MenuItem;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.SubMenu;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.menubar.MenuBar;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("menu-bar-disabled")
public class MenuBarDisabled extends Div {
    public MenuBarDisabled() {
        // tag::snippet[]
        MenuBar menuBar = new MenuBar();

        menuBar.addItem("View");
        MenuItem edit = menuBar.addItem("Edit");
        edit.getElement().setAttribute("disabled", true);

        MenuItem share = menuBar.addItem("Share");
        SubMenu shareSubMenu = share.getSubMenu();
        shareSubMenu.addItem("By email")
                .getElement()
                .setAttribute("disabled", true);
        shareSubMenu.addItem("Get Link");
        // end::snippet[]

        add(menuBar);
    }

}

Menu items in drop-down menus can be configured as checkable, for toggling options on and off.

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Source code

MenuBarCheckable.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.menubar;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.ClickEvent;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.ComponentEventListener;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.MenuItem;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.SubMenu;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.menubar.MenuBar;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;


@Route("menu-bar-checkable")
public class MenuBarCheckable extends Div {
    public MenuBarCheckable() {
        // tag::snippet[]
        MenuBar menuBar = new MenuBar();
        MenuItem options = menuBar.addItem("Options");
        SubMenu subItems = options.getSubMenu();

        MenuItem saveItem = subItems.addItem("Save automatically");
        saveItem.setCheckable(true);
        saveItem.setChecked(true);
        MenuItem notifyItem = subItems.addItem("Notify watchers");
        notifyItem.setCheckable(true);
        notifyItem.setChecked(false);

        ComponentEventListener<ClickEvent<MenuItem>> listener = event -> {
            // System.out.println(event.getSource().isChecked());
        };

        saveItem.addClickListener(listener);
        notifyItem.addClickListener(listener);
        // end::snippet[]
        add(menuBar);
    }

}

Note	Not a replacement for radio buttons A Menu Bar with checkable items should not be used as a replacement for radio buttons in a form.

Dividers

You can use dividers to separate and group related content.

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Source code

MenuBarDividers.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.menubar;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.MenuItem;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.SubMenu;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Hr;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.menubar.MenuBar;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("menu-bar-dividers")
public class MenuBarDividers extends Div {
    public MenuBarDividers() {
        // tag::snippet[]
        MenuBar menuBar = new MenuBar();
        MenuItem item = menuBar.addItem("Share");
        SubMenu subMenu = item.getSubMenu();
        subMenu.addItem("Facebook");
        subMenu.addItem("Twitter");
        subMenu.addItem("Instagram");
        subMenu.add(new Hr());
        subMenu.addItem("By email");
        subMenu.addItem("Get link");
        subMenu.add(new Hr());
        subMenu.addItem("Set permissions");
        // end::snippet[]

        add(menuBar);
    }
}

Use dividers sparingly to avoid creating unnecessary visual clutter.

Warning

Content other than menu items not accessible

While it’s technically possible to put any UI element in a drop-down menu, including interactive components, they will not be accessible by keyboard or assistive technologies.

Open on Hover

The component can be configured to open drop-down menus on hover instead of on click.

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Source code

MenuBarOpenOnHover.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.menubar;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.MenuItem;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.SubMenu;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.menubar.MenuBar;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("menu-bar-open-on-hover")
public class MenuBarOpenOnHover extends Div {
    public MenuBarOpenOnHover() {
        // tag::snippet[]
        MenuBar menuBar = new MenuBar();
        menuBar.setOpenOnHover(true);
        addItems(menuBar);
        // end::snippet[]
        add(menuBar);
    }

    private void addItems(MenuBar menuBar) {
        menuBar.addItem("View");
        menuBar.addItem("Edit");

        MenuItem share = menuBar.addItem("Share");
        SubMenu shareSubMenu = share.getSubMenu();
        MenuItem onSocialMedia = shareSubMenu.addItem("On social media");
        SubMenu socialMediaSubMenu = onSocialMedia.getSubMenu();
        socialMediaSubMenu.addItem("Facebook");
        socialMediaSubMenu.addItem("Twitter");
        socialMediaSubMenu.addItem("Instagram");
        shareSubMenu.addItem("By email");
        shareSubMenu.addItem("Get Link");

        MenuItem move = menuBar.addItem("Move");
        SubMenu moveSubMenu = move.getSubMenu();
        moveSubMenu.addItem("To folder");
        moveSubMenu.addItem("To trash");

        menuBar.addItem("Duplicate");
    }

}

Keyboard Usage

Top-Level Items

Interaction	Keyboard Shortcut
Navigate between top-level items	`left` and `right` arrow keys
Open top-level menu	`down` / `space` / `enter`
Trigger top-level item with a menu	`space` / `enter`

Interaction

Keyboard Shortcut

Navigate between top-level items

left and right arrow keys

Open top-level menu

down / space / enter

Trigger top-level item with a menu

space / enter

Interaction	Keyboard Shortcut
Navigate between items in a dropdown menu	`top` and `down` arrow keys
Open sub-menu	`right` / `space` / `enter`
Trigger menu item without a sub-menu	`space` / `enter`
Return to previous menu	`left`
Close the drop-down menu	`esc`

Interaction

Keyboard Shortcut

Navigate between items in a dropdown menu

top and down arrow keys

Open sub-menu

right / space / enter

Trigger menu item without a sub-menu

space / enter

Return to previous menu

left

Close the drop-down menu

esc

Drop-Down and "Combo" Buttons

A Menu Bar with a single top-level item is essentially a drop-down button. This solution provides a better user experience and better accessibility than a regular Button paired with a Context Menu.

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Source code

MenuBarDropDown.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.menubar;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.MenuItem;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.SubMenu;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Hr;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.menubar.MenuBar;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("menu-bar-dropdown")
public class MenuBarDropDown extends Div {
    public MenuBarDropDown() {
        // tag::snippet[]
        MenuBar menuBar = new MenuBar();
        MenuItem item = menuBar.addItem("John Smith");
        SubMenu subMenu = item.getSubMenu();
        subMenu.addItem("Profile");
        subMenu.addItem("Account");
        subMenu.addItem("Preferences");
        subMenu.add(new Hr());
        subMenu.addItem("Sign out");
        // end::snippet[]

        add(menuBar);
    }
}

So-called “combo buttons” can be created in a similar way, for example to provide a set of variations on an action.

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Source code

MenuBarComboButtons.javapackage com.vaadin.demo.component.menubar;

import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.MenuItem;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.contextmenu.SubMenu;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.html.Div;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.icon.Icon;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.icon.VaadinIcon;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.menubar.MenuBar;
import com.vaadin.flow.component.menubar.MenuBarVariant;
import com.vaadin.flow.router.Route;

@Route("menu-bar-combo-buttons")
public class MenuBarComboButtons extends Div {
    public MenuBarComboButtons() {
        // tag::snippet[]
        MenuBar menuBar = new MenuBar();
        menuBar.addThemeVariants(MenuBarVariant.LUMO_ICON, MenuBarVariant.LUMO_PRIMARY);
        menuBar.addItem("Save");
        MenuItem item = menuBar.addItem(new Icon(VaadinIcon.CHEVRON_DOWN));
        SubMenu subItems = item.getSubMenu();
        subItems.addItem("Save as draft");
        subItems.addItem("Save as copy");
        subItems.addItem("Save and publish");
        // end::snippet[]
        add(menuBar);
    }
}

Best Practices

Menu Bar should not be used for navigation. Use tabs for switching between content, or anchor elements for regular navigation.
Menu Bar is not an input field. Use Select, Combo Box, or Radio Button instead.

Component	Usage recommendations
Button	Regular Button component for individual actions.
Select	Drop-down input field.
Tabs	Tabs should be used to split content into sections that the user can switch between.
Context Menu	A generic drop-down menu that can be triggered from any component.

Component

Usage recommendations

Button

Regular Button component for individual actions.

Select

Drop-down input field.

Tabs

Tabs should be used to split content into sections that the user can switch between.

Context Menu

A generic drop-down menu that can be triggered from any component.

9AC623D3-FAAD-42D2-99EC-774F9A777E13

Docs

Docs

Menu Bar

Styles

Default Variants

Styling Menu Items

Overflow

Menu Item Features

Icons

Disabled Items

Checkable Menu Items

Dividers

Open on Hover

Keyboard Usage

Top-Level Items

Menu-Items

Drop-Down and "Combo" Buttons

Best Practices

Docs

Styles

Default Variants

Styling Menu Items

Overflow

Menu Item Features

Icons

Disabled Items

Checkable Menu Items

Dividers

Open on Hover

Keyboard Usage

Top-Level Items

Menu-Items

Drop-Down and "Combo" Buttons

Best Practices

Related Components