Morningstar Design System

Button Groups

Variations Design Guidelines Code Reference Accessibility

Button Groups

  • HTML/CSS Available
  • Web Component Available
  • Last Updated

    2.25.0

Button Groups join two or more buttons into a unified control, formerly called a segmented control.

Variations Design Guidelines Code Reference Accessibility

Variations

Default

Use to create a mutually exclusive toggle.

Default
Default
Cyclical Defensive Sensitive
HTML Web Component 
<div class="mds-button-group">
    <label class="mds-button__input-outer-wrapper" for="cyclical--49078">
        <input id="cyclical--49078" value="cyclical" class="mds-button__input" type="radio" name="default-html" checked>
        <span for="cyclical--49078" class="mds-button mds-button--secondary">
            Cyclical
        </span>
    </label>
    <label class="mds-button__input-outer-wrapper" for="defensive--90458">
        <input id="defensive--90458" value="defensive" class="mds-button__input" type="radio" name="default-html">
        <span for="defensive--90458" class="mds-button mds-button--secondary">
            Defensive
        </span>
    </label>
    <label class="mds-button__input-outer-wrapper" for="sensitive--48866">
        <input id="sensitive--48866" value="sensitive" class="mds-button__input" type="radio" name="default-html">
        <span for="sensitive--48866" class="mds-button mds-button--secondary">
            Sensitive
        </span>
    </label>
</div>
<mds-button-group>
    <mds-button variation="secondary" type="radio" name="default-mdswc" value="cyclical" checked>Cyclical</mds-button>
    <mds-button variation="secondary" type="radio" name="default-mdswc" value="defensive">Defensive</mds-button>
    <mds-button variation="secondary" type="radio" name="default-mdswc" value="sensitive">Sensitive</mds-button>
</mds-button-group>

Full Width

Use when you want the button group to span the full width of its container.

Full Width
Full Width
Cyclical Defensive Sensitive
HTML Web Component 
<div class="mds-button-group mds-button-group--justify">
    <label class="mds-button__input-outer-wrapper" for="cyclical--83239">
        <input id="cyclical--83239" value="cyclical" class="mds-button__input" type="radio" name="full-width-html" checked>
        <span for="cyclical--83239" class="mds-button mds-button--secondary">
            Cyclical
        </span>
    </label>
    <label class="mds-button__input-outer-wrapper" for="defensive--41545">
        <input id="defensive--41545" value="defensive" class="mds-button__input" type="radio" name="full-width-html">
        <span for="defensive--41545" class="mds-button mds-button--secondary">
            Defensive
        </span>
    </label>
    <label class="mds-button__input-outer-wrapper" for="sensitive--1783">
        <input id="sensitive--1783" value="sensitive" class="mds-button__input" type="radio" name="full-width-html">
        <span for="sensitive--1783" class="mds-button mds-button--secondary">
            Sensitive
        </span>
    </label>
</div>
<mds-button-group full-width>
    <mds-button variation="secondary" type="radio" name="full-width-mdswc" value="cyclical" checked>Cyclical</mds-button>
    <mds-button variation="secondary" type="radio" name="full-width-mdswc" value="defensive">Defensive</mds-button>
    <mds-button variation="secondary" type="radio" name="full-width-mdswc" value="sensitive">Sensitive</mds-button>
</mds-button-group>
  • Always use type="check" or type="radio" on the contained buttons.

With Icons

Use Icons to provide additional affordance to a button.

With Icons
With Icons
Filter Upload Search
HTML Web Component 
<div class="mds-button-group">
    <label class="mds-button__input-outer-wrapper" for="filter--26132">
        <input id="filter--26132" value="filter" class="mds-button__input" type="radio" name="with-icons-html" checked>
        <span for="filter--26132" class="mds-button mds-button--secondary">
            <svg class="mds-icon mds-button__icon mds-button__icon--left" aria-hidden="true">
                <use xlink:href="#funnel--s">
                </use>
            </svg>
            <span class="mds-button__text">
                Filter
            </span>
        </span>
    </label>
    <label class="mds-button__input-outer-wrapper" for="upload--42167">
        <input id="upload--42167" value="upload" class="mds-button__input" type="radio" name="with-icons-html">
        <span for="upload--42167" class="mds-button mds-button--secondary">
            <svg class="mds-icon mds-button__icon mds-button__icon--left" aria-hidden="true">
                <use xlink:href="#upload--s">
                </use>
            </svg>
            <span class="mds-button__text">
                Upload
            </span>
        </span>
    </label>
    <label class="mds-button__input-outer-wrapper" for="search--58779">
        <input id="search--58779" value="search" class="mds-button__input" type="radio" name="with-icons-html">
        <span for="search--58779" class="mds-button mds-button--secondary">
            <svg class="mds-icon mds-button__icon mds-button__icon--left" aria-hidden="true">
                <use xlink:href="#search--s">
                </use>
            </svg>
            <span class="mds-button__text">
                Search
            </span>
        </span>
    </label>
</div>
<mds-button-group>
    <mds-button icon="funnel--s" variation="secondary" type="radio" name="with-icons-mdswc" value="filter" checked>Filter</mds-button>
    <mds-button icon="upload--s" variation="secondary" type="radio" name="with-icons-mdswc" value="upload">Upload</mds-button>
    <mds-button icon="search--s" variation="secondary" type="radio" name="with-icons-mdswc" value="search">Search</mds-button>
</mds-button-group>

Icon Only

Icon-only button groups have been deprecated and will be removed in MDS 3.0.0. To create a group of icon-only buttons, place them within a Button Container.

Sizing

Button group size is dictated by the Buttons used within.

Small
Medium (Default)
Large
Touch
Small
Cyclical Defensive Sensitive Filter Upload Search
Medium (Default)
Cyclical Defensive Sensitive Filter Upload Search
Large
Cyclical Defensive Sensitive Filter Upload Search
Touch
Cyclical Defensive Sensitive Filter Upload Search
HTML Web Component 
<div class="mds-button-group">
    <label class="mds-button__input-outer-wrapper" for="cyclical--50973">
        <input id="cyclical--50973" value="cyclical" class="mds-button__input" type="radio" name="html-small" checked>
        <span for="cyclical--50973" class="mds-button mds-button--secondary mds-button--small">
            Cyclical
        </span>
    </label>
    <label class="mds-button__input-outer-wrapper" for="defensive--92460">
        <input id="defensive--92460" value="defensive" class="mds-button__input" type="radio" name="html-small">
        <span for="defensive--92460" class="mds-button mds-button--secondary mds-button--small">
            Defensive
        </span>
    </label>
    <label class="mds-button__input-outer-wrapper" for="sensitive--35473">
        <input id="sensitive--35473" value="sensitive" class="mds-button__input" type="radio" name="html-small">
        <span for="sensitive--35473" class="mds-button mds-button--secondary mds-button--small">
            Sensitive
        </span>
    </label>
</div>
<div class="mds-button-group">
    <label class="mds-button__input-outer-wrapper" for="filter--94182">
        <input id="filter--94182" value="filter" class="mds-button__input" type="radio" name="small-with-icon" checked>
        <span for="filter--94182" class="mds-button mds-button--secondary mds-button--small">
            <svg class="mds-icon mds-button__icon mds-button__icon--left" aria-hidden="true">
                <use xlink:href="#funnel--s">
                </use>
            </svg>
            <span class="mds-button__text">
                Filter
            </span>
        </span>
    </label>
    <label class="mds-button__input-outer-wrapper" for="upload--24150">
        <input id="upload--24150" value="upload" class="mds-button__input" type="radio" name="small-with-icon">
        <span for="upload--24150" class="mds-button mds-button--secondary mds-button--small">
            <svg class="mds-icon mds-button__icon mds-button__icon--left" aria-hidden="true">
                <use xlink:href="#upload--s">
                </use>
            </svg>
            <span class="mds-button__text">
                Upload
            </span>
        </span>
    </label>
    <label class="mds-button__input-outer-wrapper" for="search--48896">
        <input id="search--48896" value="search" class="mds-button__input" type="radio" name="small-with-icon">
        <span for="search--48896" class="mds-button mds-button--secondary mds-button--small">
            <svg class="mds-icon mds-button__icon mds-button__icon--left" aria-hidden="true">
                <use xlink:href="#search--s">
                </use>
            </svg>
            <span class="mds-button__text">
                Search
            </span>
        </span>
    </label>
</div>
<div class="mds-button-group mds-button-group--icon-only">
    <button class="mds-button mds-button--icon-only mds-button--small" type="button">
        <svg class="mds-icon mds-button__icon mds-button__icon--left" aria-hidden="true">
            <use xlink:href="#search--s">
            </use>
        </svg>
    </button>
    <button class="mds-button mds-button--icon-only mds-button--small" type="button">
        <svg class="mds-icon mds-button__icon mds-button__icon--left" aria-hidden="true">
            <use xlink:href="#heart--s">
            </use>
        </svg>
    </button>
    <button class="mds-button mds-button--icon-only mds-button--small" type="button">
        <svg class="mds-icon mds-button__icon mds-button__icon--left" aria-hidden="true">
            <use xlink:href="#pencil--s">
            </use>
        </svg>
    </button>
</div>
<mds-button-group>
    <mds-button type="radio" variation="secondary" size="small" name="mdswc-small" value="cyclical" checked>Cyclical</mds-button>
    <mds-button type="radio" variation="secondary" size="small" name="mdswc-small" value="defensive">Defensive</mds-button>
    <mds-button type="radio" variation="secondary" size="small" name="mdswc-small" value="sensitive">Sensitive</mds-button>
</mds-button-group>
<mds-button-group>
    <mds-button icon="funnel--s" type="radio" variation="secondary" size="small" name="mdswc-small-icon" value="filter" checked>Filter</mds-button>
    <mds-button icon="upload--s" type="radio" variation="secondary" size="small" name="mdswc-small-icon" value="upload">Upload</mds-button>
    <mds-button icon="search--s" type="radio" variation="secondary" size="small" name="mdswc-small-icon" value="search">Search</mds-button>
</mds-button-group>
<mds-button-group>
    <mds-button variation="icon-only" icon="search--s" size="small" text="search"></mds-button>
    <mds-button variation="icon-only" icon="heart--s" size="small" text="favorite"></mds-button>
    <mds-button variation="icon-only" icon="pencil--s" size="small" text="edit"></mds-button>
</mds-button-group>

Icon Size

Icon size is predetermined and applied automatically. To avoid undesirable scaling of icon artwork, use the chart below to choose the correct icon size to use in your button group.

Type
Small
Medium
Large

Default

Small Icon

Small Icon

Default Icon

Icon Only

Small Icon

Default Icon

N/A

Use When

  • Toggling through content in an adjacent container.
  • Switching units, currency, or increments.

Visual Language

  • Never allow button groups to wrap, instead, consider using a single Button that triggers a Menu of options.
  • When using icon-only button groups, consider pairing icons with a Tooltip to describe their underlying action.
Icon-only Button Group paired with a tooltip.
Do place descriptive icons to the left of the button label.
Do place descriptive icons to the left of the button label.
Don‘t place descriptive icons to the right of the button label.
Don‘t place descriptive icons to the right of the button label.
Do place the down-caret icon to the right of a button’s label to indicate a Menu.
Do place the down-caret icon to the right of a button’s label to indicate a Menu.
Don‘t use any other directional icons in a button group.
Don‘t use any other directional icons in a button group.
Do place all icon-only button groups to the left or right of paired buttons.
Do place all icon-only button groups to the left or right of paired buttons.
Don‘t place icon-only button groups between paired buttons.
Don‘t place icon-only button groups between paired buttons.

Behaviors

  • By default, the button group should start with its first item in the active state.

Editorial

  • This component looks best when the content is balanced.
  • Ideally, button labels should have the same number of words. Preferably one word each.
  • When impossible, button labels should be within one word of each other, count wise.
    • Do: Files / Forms & Reports
    • Don't: Files / Market Commentary for Advisors / Reports
  • See Buttons for more guidance.

CSS

Class References

Class
Applies to
Outcome

mds-button-group

<div>

Adding an mds-button-group wrapper to a group of mds-buttons initializes the button group component and adjusts the spacing between the buttons to conform into one conjoined group.

mds-button-group--justify

mds-button-group

Adding this modifier to the mds-button-group will set the component to fill the full width of its container. The individual mds-buttons within the group will all receive the same widths, and be evenly dispersed across the wrapping container.

mds-button-group--icon-only

mds-button-group

Adding this modifier to the mds-button-group will apply overrides for icon-only buttons.

mds-button-group--flex

mds-button-group

Deprecated, will be removed in v3.0. Adding this modifier keeps all of the buttons the same height even when one of the buttons has wrapping text. Only use when text wrapping occurs within the button group.

Web Component

Props

When setting props as attributes on a custom HTML element, use kebab-case instead of camelCase.

Prop
Type
Validation
Default
Description

additionalClass

String

—

—

A space-separated list of class names that will be appended to the default mds-button-group class.

fullWidth

Boolean

—

false

If true, the button group fills the full width of its container.

Slots

Default Slot

Pass two or more <mds-button> custom elements between the <mds-button-group></mds-button-group> tags to set the items in the button group.

Usage Examples

Using the default slot for content:

<mds-button-group>
    <mds-button type="radio" variation="secondary" name="mustmatch" value="one" checked> Item One </mds-button>
    <mds-button type="radio" variation="secondary" name="mustmatch" value="two"> Item Two </mds-button>
</mds-button-group>

Browser Support

  • This component uses a box-shadow property to create an outline. Internet Explorer and Safari have known issues rendering these outlines when using the browser’s zoom functionality. This visual defect doesn’t affect the functionality of the component.

Implementation

  • Include a role="group" attribute for a default button group.
    • If a button group is used for navigation, set role="navigation".
    • If a button group is being used as a toolbar, set role="toolbar".
  • Include an aria-label="..." to describe the intention of the button group.
    • For example, aria-label="View Toggle" could describe a button group set that changes the view of a content module below the button group.
  • See Buttons for more guidance.