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<menu>

The <menu> element represents an unordered list of commands or interactive options. In current HTML specifications, it behaves identically to <ul> - browsers render it the same way. While previous HTML5 drafts proposed toolbar and context menu functionality, these features were never implemented by browsers and have been removed from the specification.

This page was last updated on 2025-11-17

Syntax

<menu> <li><button>Cut</button></li> <li><button>Copy</button></li> <li><button>Paste</button></li> </menu>

The <menu> element is a block-level element that requires both opening and closing tags. It can contain <li> elements, scripts, and template elements.

Attributes

The <menu> element only supports global attributes:

class - CSS class name for styling
id - Unique identifier for the element
style - Inline CSS styles
title - Advisory information (tooltip)
lang - Language of the content

Note: The type and label attributes that appeared in earlier HTML5 drafts are now obsolete. No browser ever implemented the toolbar or context menu functionality, so these attributes should not be used.

Examples

Simple Command List

<menu> <li><button type="button">Bold</button></li> <li><button type="button">Italic</button></li> <li><button type="button">Underline</button></li> </menu>

Editing Toolbar with ARIA

<div role="toolbar" aria-label="Text formatting"> <menu> <li><button aria-pressed="false">B</button></li> <li><button aria-pressed="false">I</button></li> <li><button aria-pressed="false">U</button></li> </menu> </div>

Since <menu> doesn't provide toolbar semantics, you need to add ARIA attributes yourself for accessibility.

When to Use <menu>

Use <menu> for:

Lists of interactive commands or controls
Action buttons grouped together
Application toolbars (with ARIA for accessibility)

Don't use <menu> for:

Standard navigation menus - use <nav> with <ul>
General content lists - use <ul> or <ol>
Context menus - no browser supports this

Why Use <menu> Over <ul>?

Practically speaking, there's no functional difference - browsers treat them identically. However, <menu> provides semantic meaning that this is a list of commands rather than general content. This can be useful for:

Code readability - clearly indicates interactive command lists
Future-proofing - if browsers add special handling later
Semantic accuracy - distinguishes commands from content lists

That said, <ul> is more widely used and understood, so the choice is largely stylistic.

History and Browser Support

The <menu> element has a complicated history:

HTML 2.0 - 3.2 - Defined as alternative to <ul> for menu lists
HTML 4.01 - Deprecated in favor of <ul>
Early HTML5 drafts - Repurposed for toolbars and context menus with type attribute
Current HTML - Toolbar/context features removed (never implemented by browsers)

Today, <menu> is essentially synonymous with <ul>. All major browsers support it, but render it identically to an unordered list.