Components

Breadcrumbs

The breadcrumbs component helps users to understand where they are within a website’s structure and move between levels.

When to use this component

Use the breadcrumbs component when you need to help users understand and move between the multiple levels of a website.

When not to use this component

Do not use the breadcrumbs component on websites with a flat structure, or to show progress through a linear journey or transaction.

If you’re using other navigational elements on the page, such as a sidebar, consider whether your users need the additional support of breadcrumbs.

How it works

The breadcrumb should start with your ‘home’ page and end with the parent section of the current page.

There are 2 ways to use the breadcrumbs component. You can use HTML or, if you are using Nunjucks or the GOV.UK Prototype Kit, you can use the Nunjucks macro.

Collapsing breadcrumbs on mobile devices

If you have long breadcrumbs you can configure the component to only show the first and last items on mobile devices.

To do this, add a govuk-breadcrumbs--collapse-on-mobile class to the outer <div> element of the component HTML. Or if you’re using Nunjucks, add collapseOnMobile: true to the Nunjucks macro as shown in this example.

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Need help?

If you’ve got a question about the GOV.UK Design System, contact the team.