Customizing Dropdown Icon in Bootstrap

Question

Customizing Dropdown Icon in Bootstrap

Previously in Bootstrap 3, changing the dropdown icon was straightforward by adjusting the span and inserting the desired icon. However, it appears to be a bit trickier with Bootstrap 4. Am I overlooking something?

Regardless, here is the basic code snippet:

<div class="dropdown">
  <button class="btn btn-secondary dropdown-toggle" type="button" id="dropdownMenuButton" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
    Dropdown button
  </button>
  <div class="dropdown-menu" aria-labelledby="dropdownMenuButton">
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
  </div>
</div>

I'm looking for guidance on changing the dropdown icon using fontawesome. Is this possible? If so, how can it be accomplished?

html css twitter-bootstrap bootstrap-4 bootstrap-5

Answer 1

Answer №1

Updates for Bootstrap 5 (2023)

In Bootstrap 5, changing the dropdown caret to an icon remains the same. Ensure to update data-toggle to data-bs-toggle:

<div class="dropdown">
  <button class="btn btn-secondary" type="button" id="dropdownMenuButton" data-bs-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
    Dropdown button
    <i class="fa fa-heart"></i>
  </button>
  <div class="dropdown-menu" aria-labelledby="dropdownMenuButton">
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
  </div>
</div>

Visit link for more information.

Original Bootstrap 4 Answer

To hide the caret icon in Bootstrap 4, use the following CSS:

.dropdown-toggle::after {
    display: none;
}

Then, replace it with a fontawesome icon like this:

<button class="btn btn-secondary dropdown-toggle" type="button" id="dropdownMenuButton" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
    Dropdown button
    <i class="fa fa-heart"></i>
</button>

Additional details can be found here.

Alternatively, you can remove the dropdown-toggle class from the button if its only purpose is to display the caret icon.

Answer 2

Updates for Bootstrap 5 (2023)

In Bootstrap 5, changing the dropdown caret to an icon remains the same. Ensure to update data-toggle to data-bs-toggle:

<div class="dropdown">
  <button class="btn btn-secondary" type="button" id="dropdownMenuButton" data-bs-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
    Dropdown button
    <i class="fa fa-heart"></i>
  </button>
  <div class="dropdown-menu" aria-labelledby="dropdownMenuButton">
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Action</a>
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Another action</a>
    <a class="dropdown-item" href="#">Something else here</a>
  </div>
</div>

Visit link for more information.

Original Bootstrap 4 Answer

To hide the caret icon in Bootstrap 4, use the following CSS:

.dropdown-toggle::after {
    display: none;
}

Then, replace it with a fontawesome icon like this:

<button class="btn btn-secondary dropdown-toggle" type="button" id="dropdownMenuButton" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
    Dropdown button
    <i class="fa fa-heart"></i>
</button>

Additional details can be found here.

Alternatively, you can remove the dropdown-toggle class from the button if its only purpose is to display the caret icon.

Answer 3

Answer №2

The default caret design is not an icon; it consists of a border with specific properties:

border-top: .3em solid;
border-right: .3em solid transparent;
border-bottom: 0;
border-left: .3em solid transparent;

By setting .dropdown-toggle::after to have border:none!important, you can then utilize the content property to display the desired icon.

Here's the code I am using for this purpose:

.dropdown-toggle::after {
  border: none!important;
  font: normal normal normal 14px/1 FontAwesome;
  content: "\f107"!important; /* the chosen FontAwesome icon */
  vertical-align: 0; /* for vertical centering */
}

Furthermore, with this approach, you have the ability to change the FontAwesome icon when the dropdown menu is visible by utilizing the .show class that gets added:

li.menu-item.show a.dropdown-toggle.::after {
  content: "\f106"!important; /* the alternate icon */
}

Answer 4

The default caret design is not an icon; it consists of a border with specific properties:

border-top: .3em solid;
border-right: .3em solid transparent;
border-bottom: 0;
border-left: .3em solid transparent;

By setting .dropdown-toggle::after to have border:none!important, you can then utilize the content property to display the desired icon.

Here's the code I am using for this purpose:

.dropdown-toggle::after {
  border: none!important;
  font: normal normal normal 14px/1 FontAwesome;
  content: "\f107"!important; /* the chosen FontAwesome icon */
  vertical-align: 0; /* for vertical centering */
}

Furthermore, with this approach, you have the ability to change the FontAwesome icon when the dropdown menu is visible by utilizing the .show class that gets added:

li.menu-item.show a.dropdown-toggle.::after {
  content: "\f106"!important; /* the alternate icon */
}

Answer 5

Answer №3

In a similar manner to the answer provided, I modified the default caret to display as a vertical ellipsis using Font Awesome:

.dropdown-toggle-ellipsis::after {
  display: none;
}

.dropdown-toggle-ellipsis::before {
  display: inline-block;
  padding: 0.5rem;
  font: normal normal normal 14px/1 FontAwesome;
  content: "\f142";
}

Simply add the dropdown-toggle-ellipsis class to your toggle button.

The primary distinction with this approach is that the actual icon (\f142 in this case) is now specified within your CSS rather than directly in your HTML markup. Whether this is advantageous will vary depending on your specific circumstances.

Answer 6

In a similar manner to the answer provided, I modified the default caret to display as a vertical ellipsis using Font Awesome:

.dropdown-toggle-ellipsis::after {
  display: none;
}

.dropdown-toggle-ellipsis::before {
  display: inline-block;
  padding: 0.5rem;
  font: normal normal normal 14px/1 FontAwesome;
  content: "\f142";
}

Simply add the dropdown-toggle-ellipsis class to your toggle button.

The primary distinction with this approach is that the actual icon (\f142 in this case) is now specified within your CSS rather than directly in your HTML markup. Whether this is advantageous will vary depending on your specific circumstances.

Answer 7

Answer №4

An easy solution to enhance the appearance of a dropdown menu without altering the existing HTML code is by adding a simple CSS rule:

.dropdown-toggle::after {
  border: none;
  font: normal normal normal 12px/1 'Font Awesome 5 Free';
  content: "\f078";
  vertical-align: 0;
}

This method specifically caters to Font Awesome 5, where the content property can be customized with various Unicode values. For instance, if you want to display a chevron-down icon (https://fontawesome.com/icons/chevron-down?style=solid), the Unicode value would be f078.

Answer 8

An easy solution to enhance the appearance of a dropdown menu without altering the existing HTML code is by adding a simple CSS rule:

.dropdown-toggle::after {
  border: none;
  font: normal normal normal 12px/1 'Font Awesome 5 Free';
  content: "\f078";
  vertical-align: 0;
}

This method specifically caters to Font Awesome 5, where the content property can be customized with various Unicode values. For instance, if you want to display a chevron-down icon (https://fontawesome.com/icons/chevron-down?style=solid), the Unicode value would be f078.

Answer 9

Answer №5

If you're searching on Google for a way to add a dropdown icon, here's a helpful method:

<span style="color:black;" class="fa fa-caret-down pl-1"></span>

This code utilizes font awesome 5 and the pl-1 class adds some padding to the left of the icon for better spacing.

The end result is an icon similar to the one seen on GitHub:

https://i.sstatic.net/8VKwA.png

Answer 10

If you're searching on Google for a way to add a dropdown icon, here's a helpful method:

<span style="color:black;" class="fa fa-caret-down pl-1"></span>

This code utilizes font awesome 5 and the pl-1 class adds some padding to the left of the icon for better spacing.

The end result is an icon similar to the one seen on GitHub:

https://i.sstatic.net/8VKwA.png

Answer 11

Answer №6

If you're not utilizing font-awesome, a simple alternative is to utilize the url() CSS function and insert the SVG code directly into your CSS:

.dropdown-toggle::after{
  content: url('data:image/svg+xml; utf8, <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 384 512"><!--! Font Awesome Pro 6.0.0 by @fontawesome - https://fontawesome.com License - https://fontawesome.com/license (Commercial License) Copyright 2022 Fonticons, Inc. --><path d="M192 384c-8.188 0-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375l-160-160c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0L192 306.8l137.4-137.4c12.5-12.5 32.75-12.5 45.25 0s12.5 32.75 0 45.25l-160 160C208.4 380.9 200.2 384 192 384z"/></svg>');
  border: none;
  width: 10px;
  height: auto;
  margin-left: 0.4rem;
  vertical-align: middle;
}

You can select and download any SVG icons of your choice from font awesome here: https://fontawesome.com/search?s=solid

Answer 12

If you're not utilizing font-awesome, a simple alternative is to utilize the url() CSS function and insert the SVG code directly into your CSS:

.dropdown-toggle::after{
  content: url('data:image/svg+xml; utf8, <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 384 512"><!--! Font Awesome Pro 6.0.0 by @fontawesome - https://fontawesome.com License - https://fontawesome.com/license (Commercial License) Copyright 2022 Fonticons, Inc. --><path d="M192 384c-8.188 0-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375l-160-160c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0L192 306.8l137.4-137.4c12.5-12.5 32.75-12.5 45.25 0s12.5 32.75 0 45.25l-160 160C208.4 380.9 200.2 384 192 384z"/></svg>');
  border: none;
  width: 10px;
  height: auto;
  margin-left: 0.4rem;
  vertical-align: middle;
}

You can select and download any SVG icons of your choice from font awesome here: https://fontawesome.com/search?s=solid

Answer 13

Answer №7

After implementing the advice provided in the previous responses, I incorporated specific rules into my application's main CSS file to customize the appearance of the dropdown-toggle feature.

An important aspect to note is that Bootstrap automatically applies the "collapsed" class to elements with the "dropdown-toggle" class when their content is hidden, and removes it once the content becomes visible.

/* Adjusting the position of the default Bootstrap Dropdown icon to align closer to the vertical center of the collapsed icon. */
.dropdown-toggle::after {
    vertical-align: 0.15em;
}

/* Modifying Dropdown icon orientation to point right when collapsed, while maintaining the Browser's default vertical alignment. */
.collapsed.dropdown-toggle::after {
    border-top: 0.3em solid transparent;
    border-left: 0.3em solid;
    border-bottom: 0.3em solid transparent;
    border-right: 0;
    vertical-align: unset;
}

Answer 14

After implementing the advice provided in the previous responses, I incorporated specific rules into my application's main CSS file to customize the appearance of the dropdown-toggle feature.

An important aspect to note is that Bootstrap automatically applies the "collapsed" class to elements with the "dropdown-toggle" class when their content is hidden, and removes it once the content becomes visible.

/* Adjusting the position of the default Bootstrap Dropdown icon to align closer to the vertical center of the collapsed icon. */
.dropdown-toggle::after {
    vertical-align: 0.15em;
}

/* Modifying Dropdown icon orientation to point right when collapsed, while maintaining the Browser's default vertical alignment. */
.collapsed.dropdown-toggle::after {
    border-top: 0.3em solid transparent;
    border-left: 0.3em solid;
    border-bottom: 0.3em solid transparent;
    border-right: 0;
    vertical-align: unset;
}

Answer 15

Answer №8

To eliminate the arrow in your dropdown menu, simply add the CSS property "border: none;". The arrow is created using borders, so by removing them, the arrow disappears. Once the border is removed, you have the freedom to insert your own custom icons or design elements.

.dropdown-toggle::after{
 border: none;
 content: '\icon';
}

Answer 16

To eliminate the arrow in your dropdown menu, simply add the CSS property "border: none;". The arrow is created using borders, so by removing them, the arrow disappears. Once the border is removed, you have the freedom to insert your own custom icons or design elements.

.dropdown-toggle::after{
 border: none;
 content: '\icon';
}

Customizing Dropdown Icon in Bootstrap

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

Answer №4

Answer №5

Answer №6

Answer №7

Answer №8

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