How TO - Search/Filter Dropdown

Learn how to search for items in a dropdown menu with CSS and JavaScript.

Filter Dropdown Menu

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()">
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</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: #04AA6D;
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 {
box-sizing: border-box;
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++) {
    txtValue = a[i].textContent || a[i].innerText;
    if (txtValue.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

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