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CSS variables

Use Bootstrap’s CSS custom properties for fast and forward-looking design and development.

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Bootstrap includes many CSS custom properties (variables) in its compiled CSS for real-time customization without the need to recompile Sass. These provide easy access to commonly used values like our theme colors, breakpoints, and primary font stacks when working in your browser’s inspector, a code sandbox, or general prototyping.

All our custom properties are prefixed with bs- to avoid conflicts with third party CSS.

Root variables

Here are the variables we include (note that the :root is required) that can be accessed anywhere Bootstrap’s CSS is loaded. They’re located in our _root.scss file and included in our compiled dist files.

:root {
  --bs-blue: #0d6efd;
  --bs-indigo: #6610f2;
  --bs-purple: #6f42c1;
  --bs-pink: #d63384;
  --bs-red: #dc3545;
  --bs-orange: #fd7e14;
  --bs-yellow: #ffc107;
  --bs-green: #198754;
  --bs-teal: #20c997;
  --bs-cyan: #0dcaf0;
  --bs-black: #000;
  --bs-white: #fff;
  --bs-gray: #6c757d;
  --bs-gray-dark: #343a40;
  --bs-gray-100: #f8f9fa;
  --bs-gray-200: #e9ecef;
  --bs-gray-300: #dee2e6;
  --bs-gray-400: #ced4da;
  --bs-gray-500: #adb5bd;
  --bs-gray-600: #6c757d;
  --bs-gray-700: #495057;
  --bs-gray-800: #343a40;
  --bs-gray-900: #212529;
  --bs-primary: #0d6efd;
  --bs-secondary: #6c757d;
  --bs-success: #198754;
  --bs-info: #0dcaf0;
  --bs-warning: #ffc107;
  --bs-danger: #dc3545;
  --bs-light: #f8f9fa;
  --bs-dark: #212529;
  --bs-primary-rgb: 13, 110, 253;
  --bs-secondary-rgb: 108, 117, 125;
  --bs-success-rgb: 25, 135, 84;
  --bs-info-rgb: 13, 202, 240;
  --bs-warning-rgb: 255, 193, 7;
  --bs-danger-rgb: 220, 53, 69;
  --bs-light-rgb: 248, 249, 250;
  --bs-dark-rgb: 33, 37, 41;
  --bs-white-rgb: 255, 255, 255;
  --bs-black-rgb: 0, 0, 0;
  --bs-body-color-rgb: 33, 37, 41;
  --bs-body-bg-rgb: 255, 255, 255;
  --bs-font-sans-serif: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Noto Sans", "Liberation Sans", Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji";
  --bs-font-monospace: SFMono-Regular, Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, "Liberation Mono", "Courier New", monospace;
  --bs-gradient: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.15), rgba(255, 255, 255, 0));
  --bs-body-font-family: var(--bs-font-sans-serif);
  --bs-body-font-size: 1rem;
  --bs-body-font-weight: 400;
  --bs-body-line-height: 1.5;
  --bs-body-color: #212529;
  --bs-body-bg: #fff;
  --bs-border-width: 1px;
  --bs-border-style: solid;
  --bs-border-color: #dee2e6;
  --bs-border-color-translucent: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.175);
  --bs-border-radius: 0.375rem;
  --bs-border-radius-sm: 0.25rem;
  --bs-border-radius-lg: 0.5rem;
  --bs-border-radius-xl: 1rem;
  --bs-border-radius-2xl: 2rem;
  --bs-border-radius-pill: 50rem;
  --bs-link-color: #0d6efd;
  --bs-link-hover-color: #0a58ca;
  --bs-code-color: #d63384;
  --bs-highlight-bg: #fff3cd;
}

Component variables

Bootstrap 5 is increasingly making use of custom properties as local variables for various components. This way we reduce our compiled CSS, ensure styles aren’t inherited in places like nested tables, and allow some basic restyling and extending of Bootstrap components after Sass compilation.

Have a look at our table documentation for some insight into how we’re using CSS variables. Our navbars also use CSS variables as of v5.2.0. We’re also using CSS variables across our grids—primarily for gutters the new opt-in CSS grid—with more component usage coming in the future.

Whenever possible, we’ll assign CSS variables at the base component level (e.g., .navbar for navbar and its sub-components). This reduces guessing on where and how to customize, and allows for easy modifications by our team in future updates.

Prefix

Most CSS variables use a prefix to avoid collisions with your own codebase. This prefix is in addition to the -- that’s required on every CSS variable.

Customize the prefix via the $prefix Sass variable. By default, it’s set to bs- (note the trailing dash).

Examples

CSS variables offer similar flexibility to Sass’s variables, but without the need for compilation before being served to the browser. For example, here we’re resetting our page’s font and link styles with CSS variables.

body {
  font: 1rem/1.5 var(--bs-font-sans-serif);
}
a {
  color: var(--bs-blue);
}

Grid breakpoints

While we include our grid breakpoints as CSS variables (except for xs), be aware that CSS variables do not work in media queries. This is by design in the CSS spec for variables, but may change in coming years with support for env() variables. Check out this Stack Overflow answer for some helpful links. In the meantime, you can use these variables in other CSS situations, as well as in your JavaScript.

` const jsSnippetContent = jsSnippet ? '\/\/ NOTICE!!! Initially embedded in our docs this JavaScript\n\/\/ file contains elements that can help you create reproducible\n\/\/ use cases in StackBlitz for instance\.\n\/\/ In a real project please adapt this content to your needs\.\n\/\/ \u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\u002b\n\n\/\*!\n \* JavaScript for Bootstrap\u0027s docs \(https:\/\/getbootstrap\.com\/\)\n \* Copyright 2011\-2022 The Bootstrap Authors\n \* Copyright 2011\-2022 Twitter, Inc\.\n \* Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3\.0 Unported License\.\n \* For details, see https:\/\/creativecommons\.org\/licenses\/by\/3\.0\/\.\n \*\/\n\n\/\* global bootstrap: false \*\/\n\n\(\(\) =\u003e \{\n \u0027use strict\u0027\n\n \/\/ \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\n \/\/ Tooltips\n \/\/ \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\n \/\/ Instantiate all tooltips in a docs or StackBlitz page\n document\.querySelectorAll\(\u0027\[data\-bs\-toggle=\u0022tooltip\u0022\]\u0027\)\n \.forEach\(tooltip =\u003e \{\n new bootstrap\.Tooltip\(tooltip\)\n \}\)\n\n \/\/ \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\n \/\/ Popovers\n \/\/ \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\n \/\/ Instantiate all popovers in a docs or StackBlitz page\n document\.querySelectorAll\(\u0027\[data\-bs\-toggle=\u0022popover\u0022\]\u0027\)\n \.forEach\(popover =\u003e \{\n new bootstrap\.Popover\(popover\)\n \}\)\n\n \/\/ \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\n \/\/ Toasts\n \/\/ \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\n \/\/ Used by \u0027Placement\u0027 example in docs or StackBlitz\n const toastPlacement = document\.getElementById\(\u0027toastPlacement\u0027\)\n if \(toastPlacement\) \{\n document\.getElementById\(\u0027selectToastPlacement\u0027\)\.addEventListener\(\u0027change\u0027, function \(\) \{\n if \(!toastPlacement\.dataset\.originalClass\) \{\n toastPlacement\.dataset\.originalClass = toastPlacement\.className\n \}\n\n toastPlacement\.className = `\$\{toastPlacement\.dataset\.originalClass\} \$\{this\.value\}`\n \}\)\n \}\n\n \/\/ Instantiate all toasts in a docs page only\n document\.querySelectorAll\(\u0027\.bd\-example \.toast\u0027\)\n \.forEach\(toastNode =\u003e \{\n const toast = new bootstrap\.Toast\(toastNode, \{\n autohide: false\n \}\)\n\n toast\.show\(\)\n \}\)\n\n \/\/ Instantiate all toasts in a docs page only\n const toastTrigger = document\.getElementById\(\u0027liveToastBtn\u0027\)\n const toastLiveExample = document\.getElementById\(\u0027liveToast\u0027\)\n if \(toastTrigger\) \{\n toastTrigger\.addEventListener\(\u0027click\u0027, \(\) =\u003e \{\n const toast = new bootstrap\.Toast\(toastLiveExample\)\n\n toast\.show\(\)\n \}\)\n \}\n\n \/\/ \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\n \/\/ Alerts\n \/\/ \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\n \/\/ Used in \u0027Show live toast\u0027 example in docs or StackBlitz\n const alertPlaceholder = document\.getElementById\(\u0027liveAlertPlaceholder\u0027\)\n const alertTrigger = document\.getElementById\(\u0027liveAlertBtn\u0027\)\n\n const appendAlert = \(message, type\) =\u003e \{\n const wrapper = document\.createElement\(\u0027div\u0027\)\n wrapper\.innerHTML = \[\n `\u003cdiv class=\u0022alert alert\-\$\{type\} alert\-dismissible\u0022 role=\u0022alert\u0022\u003e`,\n ` \u003cdiv\u003e\$\{message\}\u003c\/div\u003e`,\n \u0027 \u003cbutton type=\u0022button\u0022 class=\u0022btn\-close\u0022 data\-bs\-dismiss=\u0022alert\u0022 aria\-label=\u0022Close\u0022\u003e\u003c\/button\u003e\u0027,\n \u0027\u003c\/div\u003e\u0027\n \]\.join\(\u0027\u0027\)\n\n alertPlaceholder\.append\(wrapper\)\n \}\n\n if \(alertTrigger\) \{\n alertTrigger\.addEventListener\(\u0027click\u0027, \(\) =\u003e \{\n appendAlert\(\u0027Nice, you triggered this alert message!\u0027, \u0027success\u0027\)\n \}\)\n \}\n\n \/\/ \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\n \/\/ Checks \u0026 Radios\n \/\/ \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\n \/\/ Indeterminate checkbox example in docs and StackBlitz\n document\.querySelectorAll\(\u0027\.bd\-example\-indeterminate \[type=\u0022checkbox\u0022\]\u0027\)\n \.forEach\(checkbox =\u003e \{\n if \(checkbox\.id\.includes\(\u0027Indeterminate\u0027\)\) \{\n checkbox\.indeterminate = true\n \}\n \}\)\n\n \/\/ \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\n \/\/ Links\n \/\/ \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\n \/\/ Disable empty links in docs examples only\n document\.querySelectorAll\(\u0027\.bd\-content \[href=\u0022#\u0022\]\u0027\)\n \.forEach\(link =\u003e \{\n link\.addEventListener\(\u0027click\u0027, event =\u003e \{\n event\.preventDefault\(\)\n \}\)\n \}\)\n\n \/\/ \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\n \/\/ Modal\n \/\/ \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\n \/\/ Modal \u0027Varying modal content\u0027 example in docs and StackBlitz\n const exampleModal = document\.getElementById\(\u0027exampleModal\u0027\)\n if \(exampleModal\) \{\n exampleModal\.addEventListener\(\u0027show\.bs\.modal\u0027, event =\u003e \{\n \/\/ Button that triggered the modal\n const button = event\.relatedTarget\n \/\/ Extract info from data\-bs\-\* attributes\n const recipient = button\.getAttribute\(\u0027data\-bs\-whatever\u0027\)\n\n \/\/ Update the modal\u0027s content\.\n const modalTitle = exampleModal\.querySelector\(\u0027\.modal\-title\u0027\)\n const modalBodyInput = exampleModal\.querySelector\(\u0027\.modal\-body input\u0027\)\n\n modalTitle\.textContent = `New message to \$\{recipient\}`\n modalBodyInput\.value = recipient\n \}\)\n \}\n\n \/\/ \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\n \/\/ Offcanvas\n \/\/ \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\n \/\/ \u0027Offcanvas components\u0027 example in docs only\n const myOffcanvas = document\.querySelectorAll\(\u0027\.bd\-example\-offcanvas \.offcanvas\u0027\)\n if \(myOffcanvas\) \{\n myOffcanvas\.forEach\(offcanvas =\u003e \{\n offcanvas\.addEventListener\(\u0027show\.bs\.offcanvas\u0027, event =\u003e \{\n event\.preventDefault\(\)\n \}, false\)\n \}\)\n \}\n\}\)\(\)\n' : null const project = { files: { 'index.html': markup, 'index.js': jsSnippetContent }, title: 'Bootstrap Example', description: `Official example from ${window.location.href}`, template: jsSnippet ? 'javascript' : 'html', tags: ['bootstrap'] } StackBlitzSDK.openProject(project, { openFile: 'index.html' }) }