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Validation

Validation provide a valuable, actionable feedback to your users with HTML5 form validation.
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Bootstrap 5 Form validation plugin

Provide valuable, actionable feedback to your users with HTML5 form validation, via browser default behaviors or custom styles and JavaScript.

Validation can display an error message related to the restrictions of the field. Keep this text as short as possible.

Custom Validation

For custom Bootstrap form validation messages, you’ll need to add the novalidate boolean attribute to your <form>. This disables the browser default feedback tooltips, but still provides access to the form validation APIs in JavaScript.

Try to submit the form below; our JavaScript will intercept the submit button and relay feedback to you. When attempting to submit, you’ll see the :invalid and :valid styles applied to your form controls.

Looks good!
Looks good!
Please choose a username.
Please provide a valid city.
Please select a valid state.
Please provide a valid zip.
You must agree before submitting.
<form class="row g-3 needs-validation" novalidate>
  <div class="col-md-4">
    <label for="validationCustom01" class="form-label">First name</label>
    <input type="text" class="form-control" id="validationCustom01" value="Mark" required />
    <div class="valid-feedback">Looks good!</div>
  </div>
  <div class="col-md-4">
    <label for="validationCustom02" class="form-label">Last name</label>
    <input type="text" class="form-control" id="validationCustom02" value="Otto" required />
    <div class="valid-feedback">Looks good!</div>
  </div>
  <div class="col-md-4">
    <label for="validationCustomUsername" class="form-label">Username</label>
    <input type="text" class="form-control" id="validationCustomUsername" required />
    <div class="invalid-feedback">Please choose a username.</div>
  </div>
  <div class="col-md-6">
    <label for="validationCustom03" class="form-label">City</label>
    <input type="text" class="form-control" id="validationCustom03" required />
    <div class="invalid-feedback">Please provide a valid city.</div>
  </div>
  <div class="col-md-3">
    <label for="validationCustom04" class="form-label">State</label>
    <select class="form-select" id="validationCustom04" required>
      <option selected disabled value="">Choose...</option>
      <option>...</option>
    </select>
    <div class="invalid-feedback">Please select a valid state.</div>
  </div>
  <div class="col-md-3">
    <label for="validationCustom05" class="form-label">Zip</label>
    <input type="text" class="form-control" id="validationCustom05" required />
    <div class="invalid-feedback">Please provide a valid zip.</div>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12">
    <div class="form-check">
      <input class="form-check-input" type="checkbox" value="" id="invalidCheck" required />
      <label class="form-check-label" for="invalidCheck"> Agree to terms and conditions </label>
      <div class="invalid-feedback">You must agree before submitting.</div>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12">
    <button class="btn btn-primary" type="submit">Submit form</button>
  </div>
</form>

How it works

Here’s how form validation works with Bootstrap:

  • HTML form validation is applied via CSS’s two pseudo-classes, :invalid and :valid. It applies to <input>, <select>, and <textarea> elements.
  • Bootstrap scopes the :invalid and :valid styles to parent .was-validated class, usually applied to the <form>. Otherwise, any required field without a value shows up as invalid on page load. This way, you may choose when to activate them (typically after form submission is attempted).
  • To reset the appearance of the form (for instance, in the case of dynamic form submissions using AJAX), remove the .was-validated class from the <form> again after submission.
  • As a fallback, .is-invalid and .is-valid classes may be used instead of the pseudo-classes for server-side validation. They do not require a .was-validated parent class.
  • Due to constraints in how CSS works, we cannot (at present) apply styles to a <label> that comes before a form control in the DOM without the help of custom JavaScript.
  • All modern browsers support the constraint validation API, a series of JavaScript methods for validating form controls.
  • Feedback messages may utilize the browser defaults (different for each browser, and unstylable via CSS) or our custom feedback styles with additional HTML and CSS.
  • You may provide custom validity messages with setCustomValidity in JavaScript.

With that in mind, consider the following demos for our custom form validation styles, optional server-side classes, and browser defaults.

Native Validation

Not interested in custom validation feedback messages or writing JavaScript to change form behaviors? All good, you can use the browser defaults. Try submitting the form below. Depending on your browser and OS, you’ll see a slightly different style of feedback.

<form class="row g-3">
  <div class="col-md-4">
    <label for="validationDefault01" class="form-label">First name</label>
    <input type="text" class="form-control" id="validationDefault01" value="Mark" required />
  </div>
  <div class="col-md-4">
    <label for="validationDefault02" class="form-label">Last name</label>
    <input type="text" class="form-control" id="validationDefault02" value="Otto" required />
  </div>
  <div class="col-md-4">
    <label for="validationDefaultUsername" class="form-label">Username</label>
    <input type="email" class="form-control" id="validationDefaultUsername" required />
  </div>
  <div class="col-md-6">
    <label for="validationDefault03" class="form-label">City</label>
    <input type="text" class="form-control" id="validationDefault03" required />
  </div>
  <div class="col-md-3">
    <label for="validationDefault04" class="form-label">State</label>
    <select class="form-select" id="validationDefault04" required>
      <option selected disabled value="">Choose...</option>
      <option>...</option>
    </select>
  </div>
  <div class="col-md-3">
    <label for="validationDefault05" class="form-label">Zip</label>
    <input type="number" class="form-control" id="validationDefault05" required />
  </div>
  <div class="col-12">
    <div class="form-check">
      <input class="form-check-input" type="checkbox" value="" id="invalidCheck2" required />
      <label class="form-check-label" for="invalidCheck2"> Agree to terms and conditions </label>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12">
    <button class="btn btn-primary" type="submit">Submit form</button>
  </div>
</form>

Server side validation

We recommend using client-side validation, but in case you require server-side validation, you can indicate invalid and valid form fields with .is-invalid and .is-valid. Note that .invalid-feedback is also supported with these classes.

Looks good!
Looks good!
@
Please choose a username.
Please provide a valid city.
Please select a valid state.
Please provide a valid zip.
You must agree before submitting.
<form class="row g-3">
  <div class="col-md-4">
    <label for="validationServer01" class="form-label">First name</label>
    <input type="text" class="form-control is-valid" id="validationServer01" value="Mark" required>
    <div class="valid-feedback">
      Looks good!
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="col-md-4">
    <label for="validationServer02" class="form-label">Last name</label>
    <input type="text" class="form-control is-valid" id="validationServer02" value="Otto" required>
    <div class="valid-feedback">
      Looks good!
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="col-md-4">
    <label for="validationServerUsername" class="form-label">Username</label>
    <div class="input-group has-validation">
      <span class="input-group-text" id="inputGroupPrepend3">@</span>
      <input type="text" class="form-control is-invalid" id="validationServerUsername"
       aria-describedby="inputGroupPrepend3 validationServerUsernameFeedback" required>
      <div id="validationServerUsernameFeedback" class="invalid-feedback">
        Please choose a username.
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="col-md-6">
    <label for="validationServer03" class="form-label">City</label>
    <input type="text" class="form-control is-invalid" id="validationServer03"
     aria-describedby="validationServer03Feedback" required>
    <div id="validationServer03Feedback" class="invalid-feedback">
      Please provide a valid city.
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="col-md-3">
    <label for="validationServer04" class="form-label">State</label>
    <select class="form-select is-invalid" id="validationServer04"
     aria-describedby="validationServer04Feedback" required>
      <option selected disabled value="">Choose...</option>
      <option>...</option>
    </select>
    <div id="validationServer04Feedback" class="invalid-feedback">
      Please select a valid state.
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="col-md-3">
    <label for="validationServer05" class="form-label">Zip</label>
    <input type="text" class="form-control is-invalid" id="validationServer05"
     aria-describedby="validationServer05Feedback" required>
    <div id="validationServer05Feedback" class="invalid-feedback">
      Please provide a valid zip.
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="col-12">
    <div class="form-check">
      <input class="form-check-input is-invalid" type="checkbox" value="" id="invalidCheck3"
       aria-describedby="invalidCheck3Feedback" required>
      <label class="form-check-label" for="invalidCheck3">
        Agree to terms and conditions
      </label>
      <div id="invalidCheck3Feedback" class="invalid-feedback">
        You must agree before submitting.
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="col-12">
    <button class="btn btn-primary" type="submit">Submit form</button>
  </div>
</form>

Supported elements

Validation styles are available for the following form controls and components:

  • <input>s and <textarea>s with .form-control (including up to one .form-control in input groups)
  • <select>s with .form-select
  • .form-checks
Please enter a message in the textarea.
Example invalid feedback text
More example invalid feedback text
Example invalid select feedback
Example invalid form file feedback
<form class="was-validated">
  <div class="mb-3">
    <label for="validationTextarea" class="form-label">Textarea</label>
    <textarea class="form-control" id="validationTextarea" placeholder="Required example textarea" required></textarea>
    <div class="invalid-feedback">
      Please enter a message in the textarea.
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="form-check mb-3">
    <input type="checkbox" class="form-check-input" id="validationFormCheck1" required>
    <label class="form-check-label" for="validationFormCheck1">Check this checkbox</label>
    <div class="invalid-feedback">Example invalid feedback text</div>
  </div>

  <div class="form-check">
    <input type="radio" class="form-check-input" id="validationFormCheck2" name="radio-stacked" required>
    <label class="form-check-label" for="validationFormCheck2">Toggle this radio</label>
  </div>

  <div class="form-check mb-3">
    <input type="radio" class="form-check-input" id="validationFormCheck3" name="radio-stacked" required>
    <label class="form-check-label" for="validationFormCheck3">Or toggle this other radio</label>
    <div class="invalid-feedback">More example invalid feedback text</div>
  </div>

  <div class="mb-3">
    <select class="form-select" required aria-label="select example">
      <option value="">Open this select menu</option>
      <option value="1">One</option>
      <option value="2">Two</option>
      <option value="3">Three</option>
    </select>
    <div class="invalid-feedback">Example invalid select feedback</div>
  </div>

  <div class="mb-3">
    <input type="file" class="form-control" aria-label="file example" required>
    <div class="invalid-feedback">Example invalid form file feedback</div>
  </div>

  <div class="mb-3">
    <button class="btn btn-primary" type="submit" disabled>Submit form</button>
  </div>
</form>