---
layout: docs
title: Modal
description: Use Bootstrap's JavaScript modal plugin to add dialogs to your site for lightboxes, user notifications, or completely custom content.
group: components
Before getting started with Bootstrap's modal component, be sure to read the following as our menu options have recently changed.
<body> so that modal content scrolls instead.position: fixed, which can sometimes be a bit particular about its rendering. Whenever possible, place your modal HTML in a top-level position to avoid potential interference from other elements. You'll likely run into issues when nesting a .modal within another fixed element.position: fixed, there are some caveats with using modals on mobile devices. [See our browser support docs]({{ site.baseurl }}/docs/{{ site.docs_version }}/getting-started/browsers-devices/#modals-and-dropdowns-on-mobile) for details.autofocus HTML attribute has no effect in Bootstrap modals. To achieve the same effect, use some custom JavaScript:{% highlight js %}
$('#myModal').on('shown.bs.modal', function () {
$('#myInput').trigger('focus')
})
{% endhighlight %}
Keep reading for demos and usage guidelines.
Below is a static modal example (meaning its position and display have been overridden). Included are the modal header, modal body (required for padding), and modal footer (optional). We ask that you include modal headers with dismiss actions whenever possible, or provide another explicit dismiss action.
{% highlight html %}
Toggle a working modal demo by clicking the button below. It will slide down and fade in from the top of the page.
{% highlight html %}
Launch demo modal
{% endhighlight %}
When modals become too long for the user's viewport or device, they scroll independent of the page itself. Try the demo below to see what we mean.
{% highlight html %}
Launch demo modal
{% endhighlight %}
Add .modal-dialog-centered to .modal-dialog to vertically center the modal.
{% highlight html %}
Launch demo modal
{% endhighlight %}
[Tooltips]({{ site.baseurl }}/docs/{{ site.docs_version }}/components/tooltips/) and [popovers]({{ site.baseurl }}/docs/{{ site.docs_version }}/components/popovers/) can be placed within modals as needed. When modals are closed, any tooltips and popovers within are also automatically dismissed.
{% highlight html %}
This button triggers a popover on click.
This link and that link have tooltips on hover.
Utilize the Bootstrap grid system within a modal by nesting .container-fluid within the .modal-body. Then, use the normal grid system classes as you would anywhere else.
{% highlight html %}
Have a bunch of buttons that all trigger the same modal with slightly different contents? Use event.relatedTarget and HTML data-* attributes (possibly via jQuery) to vary the contents of the modal depending on which button was clicked.
Below is a live demo followed by example HTML and JavaScript. For more information, read the modal events docs for details on relatedTarget.
{% capture example %}
Open modal for @mdo
Open modal for @fat
Open modal for @getbootstrap
{% endcapture %}
{% include example.html content=example %}
{% highlight js %}
$('#exampleModal').on('show.bs.modal', function (event) {
var button = $(event.relatedTarget) // Button that triggered the modal
var recipient = button.data('whatever') // Extract info from data-* attributes
// If necessary, you could initiate an AJAX request here (and then do the updating in a callback).
// Update the modal's content. We'll use jQuery here, but you could use a data binding library or other methods instead.
var modal = $(this)
modal.find('.modal-title').text('New message to ' + recipient)
modal.find('.modal-body input').val(recipient)
})
{% endhighlight %}
For modals that simply appear rather than fade in to view, remove the .fade class from your modal markup.
{% highlight html %}
If the height of a modal changes while it is open, you should call $('#myModal').modal('handleUpdate') to readjust the modal's position in case a scrollbar appears.
Be sure to add role="dialog" and aria-labelledby="...", referencing the modal title, to .modal, and role="document" to the .modal-dialog itself. Additionally, you may give a description of your modal dialog with aria-describedby on .modal.
Embedding YouTube videos in modals requires additional JavaScript not in Bootstrap to automatically stop playback and more. See this helpful Stack Overflow post for more information.
Modals have two optional sizes, available via modifier classes to be placed on a .modal-dialog. These sizes kick in at certain breakpoints to avoid horizontal scrollbars on narrower viewports.
{% highlight html %}
Large modal
Small modal
{% endhighlight %}
The modal plugin toggles your hidden content on demand, via data attributes or JavaScript. It also adds .modal-open to the <body> to override default scrolling behavior and generates a .modal-backdrop to provide a click area for dismissing shown modals when clicking outside the modal.
Activate a modal without writing JavaScript. Set data-toggle="modal" on a controller element, like a button, along with a data-target="#foo" or href="#foo" to target a specific modal to toggle.
{% highlight html %}
Launch modal
{% endhighlight %}
Call a modal with id myModal with a single line of JavaScript:
{% highlight js %}$('#myModal').modal(options){% endhighlight %}
Options can be passed via data attributes or JavaScript. For data attributes, append the option name to data-, as in data-backdrop="".
| Name | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| backdrop | boolean or the string 'static' |
true | Includes a modal-backdrop element. Alternatively, specify static for a backdrop which doesn't close the modal on click. |
| keyboard | boolean | true | Closes the modal when escape key is pressed |
| focus | boolean | true | Puts the focus on the modal when initialized. |
| show | boolean | true | Shows the modal when initialized. |
{% include callout-danger-async-methods.md %}
.modal(options)Activates your content as a modal. Accepts an optional options object.
{% highlight js %}
$('#myModal').modal({
keyboard: false
})
{% endhighlight %}
.modal('toggle')Manually toggles a modal. Returns to the caller before the modal has actually been shown or hidden (i.e. before the shown.bs.modal or hidden.bs.modal event occurs).
{% highlight js %}$('#myModal').modal('toggle'){% endhighlight %}
.modal('show')Manually opens a modal. Returns to the caller before the modal has actually been shown (i.e. before the shown.bs.modal event occurs).
{% highlight js %}$('#myModal').modal('show'){% endhighlight %}
.modal('hide')Manually hides a modal. Returns to the caller before the modal has actually been hidden (i.e. before the hidden.bs.modal event occurs).
{% highlight js %}$('#myModal').modal('hide'){% endhighlight %}
.modal('handleUpdate')Manually readjust the modal's position if the height of a modal changes while it is open (i.e. in case a scrollbar appears).
{% highlight js %}$('#myModal').modal('handleUpdate'){% endhighlight %}
.modal('dispose')Destroys an element's modal.
Bootstrap's modal class exposes a few events for hooking into modal functionality. All modal events are fired at the modal itself (i.e. at the <div class="modal">).
| Event Type | Description |
|---|---|
| show.bs.modal | This event fires immediately when the show instance method is called. If caused by a click, the clicked element is available as the relatedTarget property of the event. |
| shown.bs.modal | This event is fired when the modal has been made visible to the user (will wait for CSS transitions to complete). If caused by a click, the clicked element is available as the relatedTarget property of the event. |
| hide.bs.modal | This event is fired immediately when the hide instance method has been called. |
| hidden.bs.modal | This event is fired when the modal has finished being hidden from the user (will wait for CSS transitions to complete). |
{% highlight js %}
$('#myModal').on('hidden.bs.modal', function (e) {
// do something...
})
{% endhighlight %}