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What's the best way to make a Bootstrap navbar responsive and collapse on smaller screens?

Asked on Oct 02, 2025

Answer

To create a responsive Bootstrap navbar that collapses on smaller screens, you can use the `navbar-expand` class along with the `navbar-toggler` and `collapse` classes. Here's a simple example:
<!-- BEGIN COPY / PASTE -->
        <nav class="navbar navbar-expand-lg navbar-light bg-light">
            <a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Brand</a>
            <button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#navbarNav" aria-controls="navbarNav" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
                <span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
            </button>
            <div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="navbarNav">
                <ul class="navbar-nav">
                    <li class="nav-item">
                        <a class="nav-link active" aria-current="page" href="#">Home</a>
                    </li>
                    <li class="nav-item">
                        <a class="nav-link" href="#">Features</a>
                    </li>
                    <li class="nav-item">
                        <a class="nav-link" href="#">Pricing</a>
                    </li>
                </ul>
            </div>
        </nav>
        <!-- END COPY / PASTE -->
Additional Comment:
  • The `navbar-expand-lg` class makes the navbar expand on large screens and collapse on smaller ones.
  • The `navbar-toggler` button is used to toggle the collapse state of the navbar.
  • The `collapse` class is used to hide the navbar items on smaller screens until the button is clicked.
  • The `data-bs-toggle` and `data-bs-target` attributes are used to control the collapse behavior.
✅ Answered with Bootstrap 5 best practices.
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