How to create a responsive navigation menu with CSS?
Jul 18, 2025 am 01:38 AMThe core of the responsive navigation menu is clear structure, media query and simple interaction. 1. Use Flexbox to layout the infrastructure, HTML contains logo, link list and hamburger buttons; 2. Arrange elements through flex in CSS and set default styles; 3. Add media queries to hide links and display hamburger buttons when the screen is less than 768px; 4. Use JavaScript to control menu expansion and collapse; 5. Optionally add transition animations to improve the experience, pay attention to details such as z-index and click areas to optimize the user experience.
The core of making a responsive navigation menu is to make the menu foldable and collapsed on a small screen and display it normally on a large screen. It is actually not difficult to implement with CSS. The key is to have clear structure and simple interactions with media queries.

Layout infrastructure with Flexbox
Start with the HTML structure. Usually a navigation menu will be like this:
<nav class="navbar"> <div class="logo">MySite</div> <ul class="nav-links"> <li><a href="#">Home</a></li> <li><a href="#">About Us</a></li> <li><a href="#">Service</a></li> <li><a href="#">Contact</a></li> </ul> <button class="hamburger">?</button> </nav>
Then use Flexbox to line up the logo and link, and place the buttons on the right or hide them. CSS is roughly as follows:

.navbar { display: flex; justify-content: space-between; align-items: center; padding: 1rem 5%; } .nav-links { display: flex; list-style: none; gap: 2rem; }
This way the desktop is done, and the mobile is processed next.
Add media queries to achieve responsive switching
Set a breakpoint, such as 768px, when the screen is smaller than this value, hide the link and display the hamburger button.

@media (max-width: 768px) { .nav-links { position: absolute; top: 100%; left: 0; right: 0; background: white; flex-direction: column; display: none; } .nav-links.active { display: flex; } .hamburger { display: block; } }
By default, the mobile terminal only displays one button, and the menu can be expanded after clicking.
Use JavaScript to control menu switches
Although pure CSS can also be controlled with :target
or checkbox hack
, the easiest way is to add a little JS:
document.querySelector('.hamburger').addEventListener('click', () => { document.querySelector('.nav-links').classList.toggle('active'); });
This enables you to click the button to expand/collapse the menu.
Optional: Add transition animation to improve experience
The menu suddenly appears and disappears and has a bad experience, so you can add a simple transition effect:
.nav-links { transition: max-height 0.3s ease-out; max-height: 200px; } .nav-links:not(.active) { max-height: 0; }
Or use the combination of transform
and opacity
to achieve smoother animations.
Basically that's it. With a clear structure, reasonable layout and simple logic, you can create a practical responsive navigation bar. There is no need for too complex code, but pay attention to the details, such as z-index, click area, closing time, etc., which are easy to ignore but affect the experience.
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