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How TO - Vertical Tabs


Learn how to create a vertical tab menu with CSS and JavaScript.


Vertical Tabs

Tabs are perfect for single page web applications, or for web pages capable of displaying different subjects.


Create Togglable Vertical Tabs

Step 1) Add HTML:

Example

<div class="tab">
  <button class="tablinks" onclick="openCity(event, 'London')">London</button>
  <button class="tablinks" onclick="openCity(event, 'Paris')">Paris</button>
  <button class="tablinks" onclick="openCity(event, 'Tokyo')">Tokyo</button>
</div>

<div id="London" class="tabcontent">
  <h3>London</h3>
  <p>London is the capital city of England.</p>
</div>

<div id="Paris" class="tabcontent">
  <h3>Paris</h3>
  <p>Paris is the capital of France.</p>
</div>

<div id="Tokyo" class="tabcontent">
  <h3>Tokyo</h3>
  <p>Tokyo is the capital of Japan.</p>
</div>

Create buttons to open the specific tab content. All <div> elements with class="tabcontent" are hidden by default (with CSS & JS) - when the user clicks on a button - it will open the tab content that "matches" this button.


Step 2) Add CSS:

Style the buttons and the tab content:

Example

/* Style the tab */
div.tab {
    float: left;
    border: 1px solid #ccc;
    background-color: #f1f1f1;
    width: 30%;
    height: 300px;
}

/* Style the buttons inside the tab */
div.tab button {
    display: block;
    background-color: inherit;
    color: black;
    padding: 22px 16px;
    width: 100%;
    border: none;
    outline: none;
    text-align: left;
    cursor: pointer;
    transition: 0.3s;
}

/* Change background color of buttons on hover */
div.tab button:hover {
    background-color: #ddd;
}

/* Create an active/current "tab button" class */
div.tab button.active {
    background-color: #ccc;
}

/* Style the tab content */
.tabcontent {
    float: left;
    padding: 0px 12px;
    border: 1px solid #ccc;
    width: 70%;
    border-left: none;
    height: 300px;
}

Step 3) Add JavaScript:

Example

function openCity(evt, cityName) {
    // Declare all variables
    var i, tabcontent, tablinks;

    // Get all elements with class="tabcontent" and hide them
    tabcontent = document.getElementsByClassName("tabcontent");
    for (i = 0; i < tabcontent.length; i++) {
        tabcontent[i].style.display = "none";
    }

    // Get all elements with class="tablinks" and remove the class "active"
    tablinks = document.getElementsByClassName("tablinks");
    for (i = 0; i < tablinks.length; i++) {
        tablinks[i].className = tablinks[i].className.replace(" active", "");
    }

    // Show the current tab, and add an "active" class to the link that opened the tab
    document.getElementById(cityName).style.display = "block";
    evt.currentTarget.className += " active";
}
Try it Yourself »

Tip: Also check out How To - Horizontal Tabs.