# Editor toolbars
CKEditor 5 provides several toolbars that give users access to editor features: the main editor toolbar, an optional block toolbar, and feature-specific contextual toolbars. You configure the main toolbar’s buttons and their arrangement through the `toolbar` configuration option.
## Main editor toolbar
The toolbar is the most basic user interface element of CKEditor 5 that gives you convenient access to all its features. It has buttons and dropdowns that you can use to format, manage, insert, and change elements of your content.
### Demo
Below is a sample toolbar with a basic set of features. Toolbar items can be easily added or removed. Read on to learn how to do that.
> **Note**
>
> For clarity, all demos in this guide present a limited set of features. Visit the [feature-rich editor example](../../examples/builds-custom/full-featured-editor.md) to see more in action.
### Basic toolbar configuration
> **Note**
>
> Toolbar configuration is a strict UI-related setting. Removing a toolbar item does not remove the feature from the editor internals. If your goal with the toolbar configuration is to remove features, the right solution is to also remove their respective plugins. Check the [removing features](configuration.md#removing-features) guide for more information.
The toolbar offers a flexible arrangement, achieved through configuration. Please note, that using [CKEditor 5 Builder](https://builder.ckeditor.com/?redirect=docs) makes this task significantly easier.
The following example may give you a general idea:
```js
ClassicEditor
.create( {
// ... Other configuration options ...
toolbar: [ 'undo', 'redo', 'bold', 'italic', 'numberedList', 'bulletedList' ]
} )
.catch( error => {
console.log( error );
} );
```
### Separating toolbar items
You can use `'|'` to create a separator between groups of toolbar items. This works in both the basic and extended configuration formats.
Below you can find an example of a simple toolbar with button grouping. The group separators (`'|'`) set in the configuration help organize the toolbar.
### Extended toolbar configuration format
There are two available toolbar configuration formats:
Basic:
```js
toolbar: [ 'bold', 'italic', '|', 'undo', 'redo', '|', 'numberedList', 'bulletedList' ]
```
And extended:
```js
toolbar: {
items: [ 'bold', 'italic', '|', 'undo', 'redo', '|', 'numberedList', 'bulletedList' ]
}
```
You can use the extended [toolbar configuration](../../api/module_core_editor_editorconfig-EditorConfig.md#member-toolbar) format to access additional options:
```js
toolbar: {
items: [
'undo', 'redo',
'|',
'heading',
'|',
'fontfamily', 'fontsize', 'fontColor', 'fontBackgroundColor',
'|',
'bold', 'italic', 'strikethrough', 'subscript', 'superscript', 'code',
'|',
'link', 'uploadImage', 'blockQuote', 'codeBlock',
'|',
'bulletedList', 'numberedList', 'todoList', 'outdent', 'indent'
],
shouldNotGroupWhenFull: false
}
```
* **[`items`](../../api/module_core_editor_editorconfig-ToolbarConfig.md#member-items)** – An array of toolbar item names. Most of the components (buttons, dropdowns, etc.) that you can use as toolbar items are described in the [Features](../../features/index.md) section. A full list is defined in [`editor.ui.componentFactory`](../../api/module_ui_componentfactory-ComponentFactory.md) and can be listed using the following snippet: `Array.from( editor.ui.componentFactory.names() )`. Besides button names, you can also use the dedicated separators for toolbar groups (`'|'`) and toolbar lines (`'-'`).
* **[`removeItems`](../../api/module_core_editor_editorconfig-ToolbarConfig.md#member-removeItems)** – An array of toolbar item names. With this setting, you can change the default toolbar configuration without the need to define the entire list. You can specify a couple of buttons that you want to remove instead of specifying all the buttons you want to keep. If, after removing an item, the toolbar will have two or more consecutive separators (`'|'`), the duplicates will be removed automatically.
* **[`shouldNotGroupWhenFull`](../../api/module_core_editor_editorconfig-ToolbarConfig.md#member-shouldNotGroupWhenFull)** – When set to `true`, the toolbar will stop grouping items and let them wrap to the next line when there is not enough space to display them in a single row. This setting is `false` by default, which enables item grouping.
The demo below presents the “regular” toolbar look with `shouldNotGroupWhenFull` set to `false`. If there are more toolbar items than can fit in the toolbar in the current display width, some items get hidden. You can access them by clicking the show more items button .
### Multiline (wrapping) toolbar
In the [extended toolbar configuration format](#extended-toolbar-configuration-format), it is also possible to arrange toolbar items into multiple lines. Here is how to achieve this:
* Set the `shouldNotGroupWhenFull` option to `true`, so items will not be grouped when the toolbar overflows. They will wrap to the new line instead.
* Additionally, you can use the `'-'` separator inside the item list to set the breaking point explicitly.
```js
toolbar: {
items: [ 'bold', 'italic', '|', 'undo', 'redo', '-', 'numberedList', 'bulletedList' ],
shouldNotGroupWhenFull: true
}
```
#### Automatic toolbar wrapping
When you set `shouldNotGroupWhenFull` to `true`, by default the toolbar items are automatically wrapped into a new line once they do not fit the editor width. The mechanism is automatic and only wraps excess items. Notice that while the toolbar group separators `'|'` are preserved, the groups may be split when they overflow.
```js
toolbar: {
items: [
'undo', 'redo',
'|',
'heading',
'|',
'fontfamily', 'fontsize', 'fontColor', 'fontBackgroundColor',
'|',
'bold', 'italic', 'strikethrough', 'subscript', 'superscript', 'code',
'|',
'link', 'uploadImage', 'blockQuote', 'codeBlock',
'|',
'alignment',
'|',
'bulletedList', 'numberedList', 'todoList', 'outdent', 'indent'
],
shouldNotGroupWhenFull: true
}
```
See how it works in practice. Play with the browser window width to see how the buttons behave when the toolbar gets wrapped into multiple lines.
#### Explicit wrapping breakpoint
Setting an explicit break point in the toolbar configuration with `'-'` lets you create your own predefined multiline toolbar configuration. Toolbar items will then be grouped and put in lines as declared in the configuration.
```js
toolbar: {
items: [
'undo', 'redo',
'|', 'heading',
'|', 'fontfamily', 'fontsize', 'fontColor', 'fontBackgroundColor',
'|', 'bold', 'italic', 'strikethrough', 'subscript', 'superscript', 'code',
'-', // break point
'|', 'alignment',
'link', 'uploadImage', 'blockQuote', 'codeBlock',
'|', 'bulletedList', 'numberedList', 'todoList', 'outdent', 'indent'
],
shouldNotGroupWhenFull: true
}
```
### Grouping toolbar items in dropdowns (nested toolbars)
To save space in your toolbar or arrange the features thematically, you can group several items into a dropdown. For instance, check out the following configuration:
```js
toolbar: [
{
label: 'More basic styles',
icon: 'threeVerticalDots',
items: [ 'strikethrough', 'superscript', 'subscript' ]
},
// More of toolbar's configuration.
// ...
]
```
It will create a “Basic styles” dropdown with a three vertical dots icon containing the additional basic text styles buttons set. You can test it in the demo below along with a few more toolbar dropdowns.
#### Customization
You can customize the look of the dropdown by configuring additional properties, such as the icon, label, or tooltip text.
#### Displaying the label
You can control the way the UI element is displayed. For instance, to hide the icon and to display the label, you can use the following configuration:
```js
{
label: 'Basic styles',
// Show the textual label of the dropdown.
// Note that the "icon" property is not configured and defaults to three dots.
withText: true,
items: [ 'bold', 'italic', 'strikethrough', 'superscript', 'subscript' ]
}
```
**Note**: The label will also automatically show up if the `icon` is `false` ([learn more](#changing-the-icon)).
#### Changing the icon
You can use one of the icons listed below for your dropdown:
| Icon name | Preview |
| ----------------------------------- | ------- |
| `'threeVerticalDots'` **(default)** | |
| `'alignLeft'` | |
| `'bold'` | |
| `'importExport'` | |
| `'paragraph'` | |
| `'text'` | |
| `'plus'` | |
| `'dragIndicator'` | |
| `'pilcrow'` | |
* The default icons are loaded from the `ckeditor5-core` package.
* If no icon is specified, `'threeVerticalDots'` will be used as a default.
* If `icon: false` is configured, no icon will be displayed and the text label will show up instead.
* You can set a custom icon for the dropdown by [passing an SVG string](../../framework/architecture/ui-library.md#setting-label-icon-and-tooltip).
Here is an example:
```js
toolbar: [
'undo', 'redo', '|',
{
// This dropdown uses a default icon because none was specified.
label: 'Fonts',
items: [ 'fontSize', 'fontFamily', 'fontColor', 'fontBackgroundColor' ]
},
'|',
{
label: 'A drop-down with a custom icon',
// If you want your icon to change the color dynamically (for example, when opened)
// avoid fill="..." and stroke="..." styling attributes.
// Use solid shapes and avoid paths with strokes.
// eslint-disable-next-line @stylistic/max-len
icon: '',
items: [ 'bold', 'italic', 'strikethrough', 'superscript', 'subscript' ]
},
'|',
{
// A "plus" sign icon works best for content insertion tools.
label: 'Insert',
icon: 'plus',
items: [ 'uploadImage', 'insertTable' ]
},
'|',
{
// This dropdown has the icon disabled and a text label instead.
label: 'Lists',
icon: false,
items: [ 'bulletedList', 'numberedList', 'todoList' ]
}
],
```
And here is the effect:
#### Customizing the tooltip
By default, the tooltip of the button shares its text with the label. You can customize it to better describe your dropdown and make it more accessible by using the [`tooltip`](../../api/module_ui_button_buttonview-ButtonView.md#member-tooltip) property:
```js
toolbar: [
{
label: 'Others',
tooltip: 'Basic formatting features',
items: [ 'bold', 'italic' ]
},
'|',
'undo', 'redo'
]
```
#### Listing available items
You can use the following snippet to retrieve all toolbar items available in your editor:
```js
Array.from( editor.ui.componentFactory.names() );
```
#### Adding a custom button
Refer to the [step-by-step tutorial](../../framework/tutorials/crash-course/editor.md) to learn how to build a custom plugin, register its button, and add it to the toolbar configuration.
### Decoupled editor
When using the Decoupled editor, you will need to insert the menu bar in a desired place yourself. The menu bar HTML element is available under the `editor.ui.view.toolbar.element` property.
```html
```
```js
DecoupledEditor
.create( {
root: {
element: document.querySelector( '#editor' ),
},
// ... Other configuration options ...
toolbar: [ 'undo', 'redo', 'bold', 'italic', 'numberedList', 'bulletedList' ],
} )
.then( editor => {
document.querySelector( '#toolbarContainer' ).appendChild( editor.ui.view.toolbar.element );
} );
```
### Balloon toolbar
A ballon toolbar is a special instance of the main toolbar, available in the [Balloon and ballon block](editor-types.md#balloon-editor-and-balloon-block-editor) editors. Instead of being fixed to the editing area, it pops up when the user selects some content and provides a toolset for editing as pictured below.
## Block toolbar
The block toolbar provides an additional configurable toolbar on the left-hand side of the content area, useful when the main toolbar is not accessible (for example in certain layouts, like balloon block editor).
### Demo
> **Note**
>
> In the editor below, move the caret around the content. You will see that the block toolbar button is following your selection. Click the button to show the toolbar.
This demo presents a limited set of features. Visit the [feature-rich editor example](../../examples/builds-custom/full-featured-editor.md) to see more in action.
### Additional feature information
To access the block toolbar, you need to click the button with braille pattern dots icon on the left-hand side of the content area (the gutter). The button appears next to the selected block element (for example, a paragraph), following the caret as the user edits the content and navigates the document.
The icon is also a handle to drag blocks of content around the editor. Click a heading in the demo above and drag it all the way down between the following paragraphs to see this functionality in action.
The block toolbar complements the [balloon editor type](https://builder.ckeditor.com/?redirect=docs) where it falls short, for example when you must insert some content (like an image), but the selection is collapsed, so you cannot access the toolbar. It can, however, be added to any type of editor and configure accordingly (see below).
See the [balloon block editor example](../../examples/builds/balloon-block-editor.md) page, too.
### Block toolbar installation
> **Note**
>
> Remember to add relevant features to the editor configuration first. The block toolbar provides a space for the buttons, but it does not bring the actual features. For example, the `heading1` button will not work if there is no [Headings](../../features/headings.md) feature in the editor.
To add this feature to your editor, add the `BlockToolbar` to your plugin list and configure the feature using the `blockToolbar` property:
**NPM**
```js
import { BlockToolbar, HeadingButtonsUI, ParagraphButtonUI } from 'ckeditor5';
BalloonEditor.create( {
root: {
element: document.querySelector( '#editor' ),
placeholder: 'Type here...'
},
licenseKey: '', // Or 'GPL'.
plugins: [ BlockToolbar, ParagraphButtonUI, HeadingButtonsUI, /* ... */ ],
blockToolbar: [
'paragraph', 'heading1', 'heading2', 'heading3',
'|',
'bulletedList', 'numberedList',
'|',
'blockQuote', 'uploadImage'
],
toolbar: [ /* ... */ ]
} )
.then( /* ... */ );
```
**CDN**
```js
const { BlockToolbar, HeadingButtonsUI, ParagraphButtonUI } = CKEDITOR;
BalloonEditor.create( {
root: {
element: document.querySelector( '#editor' ),
placeholder: 'Type here...'
},
licenseKey: '',
plugins: [ BlockToolbar, ParagraphButtonUI, HeadingButtonsUI, /* ... */ ],
blockToolbar: [
'paragraph', 'heading1', 'heading2', 'heading3',
'|',
'bulletedList', 'numberedList',
'|',
'blockQuote', 'uploadImage'
],
toolbar: [ /* ... */ ]
} )
.then( /* ... */ );
```
### Block toolbar configuration
The content of the block toolbar can be defined using the [`blockToolbar`](../../api/module_core_editor_editorconfig-EditorConfig.md#member-blockToolbar) configuration. It is similar to the regular toolbar UI items list.
```js
blockToolbar: {
items: [
'bold',
'italic',
'link'
]
}
```
See the [installation instructions](#block-toolbar-installation) for a more advanced example.
> **Note**
>
> Because the toolbar is always connected to the block of content, it works best with the features that modify entire blocks (for example, create [headings](../../features/headings.md)) or insert objects (like [images](../../features/images/images-overview.md) or [tables](../../features/tables/tables.md)) rather than inline styles (like [bold or italic](../../features/basic-styles.md)).
To adjust the position of the block toolbar button to match the styles of your website, use the CSS `transform` property:
```css
.ck.ck-block-toolbar-button {
transform: translateX( -10px );
}
```
If you plan to run the editor in a right–to–left (RTL) language, keep in mind the button will be attached to the **right** boundary of the editable area. In that case, make sure the CSS position adjustment works properly by adding the following styles:
```css
.ck[dir="rtl"] .ck-block-toolbar-button {
transform: translateX( 10px );
}
```
You can use the `shouldNotGroupWhenFull` [configuration option](#multiline-wrapping-toolbar) to prevent [automatic items grouping](../../api/module_core_editor_editorconfig-EditorConfig.md#member-toolbar) in the block toolbar.
You can also change the current default toolbar icon `'dragIndicator'` by choosing predefined icon from [icon list](#changing-the-icon) using the `icon` option or by passing a `SVG` string:
```js
blockToolbar: {
items: [ /* ... */ ],
icon: 'pilcrow'
// or
// icon: ''
},
toolbar: [ /* ... */ ]
```
You can provide a custom toolbar button icon by [passing an SVG string](../../framework/architecture/ui-library.md#setting-label-icon-and-tooltip).
## Feature-specific toolbars
Some features also sport their own dedicated toolbars. In the demos on this page, you can see the [image toolbar](../../features/images/images-overview.md#image-contextual-toolbar) or the [table toolbars](../../features/tables/tables-installation.md#toolbars) when you use the respective features. You will find all information about these toolbars in the [respective feature guides](../../features/index.md).
---
Full index of the CKEditor 5 documentation: [llms.txt](../../../llms.txt)