Dropdown menu UI design examples

A dropdown menu tucks a list of actions behind one button. These examples follow the WAI-ARIA menu button pattern: Enter, Space or the arrow keys open the menu, arrows move between items, Home and End jump to the ends, typing a letter jumps to a matching item, a disabled item is skipped and Escape closes the menu and returns focus. Eight styles, light and dark, with HTML, CSS and plain JavaScript. Every example is an original design that comes with its HTML code and a DESIGN.md of colour, type and spacing tokens, in light and dark. Free to use and adapt.

DeviceAll Web Mobile

StyleAll Minimal Editorial Brutalist Luxury Playful Corporate Retro Monochrome

Theme

16 examples

Web · minimal

Web · editorial

Web · brutalist

Web · luxury

Web · playful

Web · corporate

Web · retro

Web · monochrome

Mobile · minimal

Mobile · editorial

Mobile · brutalist

Mobile · luxury

Mobile · playful

Mobile · corporate

Mobile · retro

Mobile · monochrome

Dropdown menu design tips

Use a menu for actions (Rename, Duplicate, Delete). For choosing a value in a form, use a native <select> or a listbox instead.
Group items and put destructive actions last, after a separator.
Keep disabled items visible but faded so people learn the option exists, and say why elsewhere.
Close the menu after an action and confirm what happened, for example in a polite live region.

Questions

Dropdown menu or select?

A select (or listbox) picks a value that is submitted with a form. A menu runs a command straight away. Screen readers announce them differently, so pick the role that matches what happens.

Why tabindex="-1" on menu items?

Menu items are reached with the arrow keys, not Tab. Setting tabindex="-1" lets the script move focus to them while keeping the whole menu a single tab stop.

Browse by pattern

App screens

Dashboard
Data table
Analytics charts
Login
Sign up
Forgot password
Two-factor code
Welcome
Onboarding step
Permissions request
Home
Feed
List view
Detail view
Kanban board
Calendar
File manager
Search results
Editor toolbar
AI chat assistant
Chat list
Chat thread
Video call
Image viewer
Map view
Video player
Create post
Class schedule
Booking details
Booking confirmed
Product detail
Cart
Checkout
Order confirmation
Settings
Profile
Notifications center
Team members
Roles permissions
Audit log
API keys
Integrations
Billing plans
Invoice
Paywall upgrade
Cancel subscription
Empty state
404 error
Loading skeleton
Success confirmation
AI workspace
AI settings
Version history
Approval queue
Doctor directory
Telehealth visit
Clinic home
Music player
Playlist
Portfolio home
Case study
Security dashboard
Project tracker
Course dashboard
Multi-step form wizard
Bank onboarding
Product scan
Split view (master-detail)
Canvas editor
Floor plan
Voice call
Toast / snackbar with undo
Confirm dialog (destructive)
Side drawer
Command palette
Date range picker
Form validation errors
Sign-in error
Card declined at checkout
Find a pro (home services)
Book a home-service visit
Job tracker
Account email
Order email
Shift scheduler
Leave calendar
Time-off request
Multi-location operations dashboard
Inventory stock
Savings goal
Onboarding carousel

UI components

Tabs
Cards
Pagination
Popover
Tooltip
Dropdown menu
Accordion
Radio buttons
Breadcrumbs
Toggle switch
Stepper
Sidebar navigation
Loading spinner

Website sections

Website templates

Building with an AI coding agent? Every screen here is also in the free Made Good Designs MCP server: ask Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT to search_ui_screens (e.g. “billing settings, editorial style”), get_ui_flow for a whole journey, and get_ui_screen_code to pull the HTML and DESIGN.md straight into your project.