How TO - Search/Filter Dropdown
Learn how to search for items in a dropdown menu with CSS and JavaScript.
Filter Dropdown Menu
Try it Yourself »Create a Clickable Dropdown
Create a dropdown menu that appears when the user clicks on a button.
Step 1) Add HTML:
Example
<div class="dropdown">
<button onclick="myFunction()" class="dropbtn">Dropdown</button>
<div id="myDropdown" class="dropdown-content">
<input
type="text" placeholder="Search.." id="myInput" onkeyup="filterFunction()">
<a href="#about">About</a>
<a href="#base">Base</a>
<a href="#blog">Blog</a>
<a href="#contact">Contact</a>
<a href="#custom">Custom</a>
<a href="#support">Support</a>
<a href="#tools">Tools</a>
</div>
</div>
Example Explained
Use any element to open the dropdown menu, e.g. a <button>, <a> or <p> element.
Use a container element (like <div>) to create the dropdown menu and add the dropdown links inside it.
Wrap a <div> element around the button and the <div> to position the dropdown menu correctly with CSS.
Step 2) Add CSS:
Example
/* Dropdown Button */
.dropbtn {
background-color: #4CAF50;
color: white;
padding: 16px;
font-size: 16px;
border: none;
cursor: pointer;
}
/* Dropdown
button on hover & focus */
.dropbtn:hover, .dropbtn:focus {
background-color: #3e8e41;
}
/* The search field */
#myInput {
border-box: box-sizing;
background-image: url('searchicon.png');
background-position: 14px 12px;
background-repeat: no-repeat;
font-size: 16px;
padding: 14px 20px 12px 45px;
border:
none;
border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd;
}
/* The search field
when it gets focus/clicked on */
#myInput:focus {outline: 3px solid #ddd;}
/* The
container <div> - needed to position the dropdown content */
.dropdown {
position: relative;
display:
inline-block;
}
/* Dropdown Content (Hidden by Default) */
.dropdown-content {
display: none;
position:
absolute;
background-color: #f6f6f6;
min-width: 230px;
border: 1px solid #ddd;
z-index: 1;
}
/* Links inside the dropdown */
.dropdown-content a {
color: black;
padding: 12px 16px;
text-decoration: none;
display: block;
}
/* Change color of dropdown links on hover */
.dropdown-content a:hover {background-color: #f1f1f1}
/* Show the dropdown menu (use JS to add this class to the .dropdown-content
container when the user clicks on the dropdown button) */
.show {display:block;}
Example Explained
We have styled the dropdown button with a background-color, padding, hover effect, etc.
The .dropdown class uses position:relative, which is needed when we want the
dropdown content to be placed right below the dropdown button (using position:absolute).
The .dropdown-content class holds the actual dropdown menu. It
is hidden by default, and will be displayed on hover (see below). Note the min-width is set to
230px. Feel free to change
this. Tip: If you want the width of the dropdown content to be
as wide as the dropdown button, set the width to 100% (and overflow:auto to
enable scroll on small screens).
The search field (#myInput) is styled to fit inside the dropdown menu. We have added a search icon, which is placed to the left inside the search field to indicate that this is actually a search field.
Step 3) Add JavaScript:
Example
/* When the user clicks on the button,
toggle between hiding and showing
the dropdown content */
function myFunction() {
document.getElementById("myDropdown").classList.toggle("show");
}
function filterFunction() {
var input, filter, ul, li, a, i;
input = document.getElementById("myInput");
filter =
input.value.toUpperCase();
div = document.getElementById("myDropdown");
a = div.getElementsByTagName("a");
for (i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
if (a[i].innerHTML.toUpperCase().indexOf(filter) > -1) {
a[i].style.display = "";
} else {
a[i].style.display = "none";
}
}
}
Try it Yourself »
Tip: Go to our CSS Dropdowns Tutorial to learn more about dropdowns.
Tip: Go to our Hoverable Dropdowns to learn more about hoverable dropdowns
