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How TO - Menu Icon


Learn how to create a menu icon with CSS.


How To Create a Menu Icon

If you are not using an icon library, you can create a basic menu icon with CSS:

Menu Icon:

Animated Menu Icon (click on it):


Step 1) Add HTML:

Example

<div></div>
<div></div>
<div></div>
Step 2) Add CSS:

Example

div {
    width: 35px;
    height: 5px;
    background-color: black;
    margin: 6px 0;
}
Try it Yourself »

Example Explained

The width and the height property specifies the width and height of each bar.

We have added a black background-color, and the top and bottom margin is used to create some distance between each bar.


Animated Icon

Use CSS and JavaScript to change the menu icon to a "cancel/remove" icon when it is clicked on:

Step 1) Add HTML:

Example

<div class="container" onclick="myFunction(this)">
  <div class="bar1"></div>
  <div class="bar2"></div>
  <div class="bar3"></div>
</div>
Step 2) Add CSS:

Example

.container {
    display: inline-block;
    cursor: pointer;
}

.bar1, .bar2, .bar3 {
    width: 35px;
    height: 5px;
    background-color: #333;
    margin: 6px 0;
    transition: 0.4s;
}

/* Rotate first bar */
.change .bar1 {
    -webkit-transform: rotate(-45deg) translate(-9px, 6px) ;
    transform: rotate(-45deg) translate(-9px, 6px) ;
}

/* Fade out the second bar */
.change .bar2 {
    opacity: 0;
}

/* Rotate last bar */
.change .bar3 {
    -webkit-transform: rotate(45deg) translate(-8px, -8px) ;
    transform: rotate(45deg) translate(-8px, -8px) ;
}
Step 3) Add JavaScript:

Example

function myFunction(x) {
    x.classList.toggle("change");
}
Try it Yourself »

Example Explained

HTML & CSS: We use the same styles as before, only this time, we wrap a container element around each <div> element and we specify a class name for each.

The container element is used to show a pointer symbol when the user moves the mouse over the divs (bars). When it is clicked on, it will execute a JavaScript function that adds a new class name to it, which will change the styles of each horizontal bar: the first and the last bar is transformed and rotated to the letter "x". The bar in the middle fades out and becomes invisible.