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Button

Button is used to initiate actions on a page or form.

On this page

On this page

Image displaying each variation of button, from left: Secondary, Primary, Danger, Invisible.

Usage

Buttons allow users to initiate an action or command when clicked or tapped. The button's label or text description indicates the purpose of the action to the user. At GitHub, buttons are a fundamental building block of our products. Most of the time, we use the "Default" button type, but other types of buttons may be used to indicate something special about the button's hierarchy or functionality.

Anatomy

Anatomy of a button, including the label, leading visual, trailing visual, and trailing action

Options

Leading and trailing visuals

trailing action on a button

Trailing actions

Trailing actions such as dropdown carets are always locked to the end of a button, which is particularly obvious for full width scenarios. If a button is a call-to-action (Submit, Save, Do this™, etc), its contents (visuals and button label) appear center-aligned inside the button container. If a button is used for selecting items (Weeks ▾, Iteration ▾, Sort ▾, Select™ ▾, etc), its contents (visuals and button label) appear left-aligned inside the button container.

leading visual on a button

Leading visuals

Leading visuals provide additional context for a button label, such as a “search” icon next to the label for a search field submit. Leading visuals always apear locked to the button label, even if the button is full width.

trailing visual on a button

Trailing visuals

Trailing visuals such as counters display additional information about the action or task at hand. Trailing visuals always apear locked to the button label, even if the button is full width.

Sizing and spacing

button at medium size

Medium (default)

Primer buttons are medium sized by default. Medium is suitable for most interfaces and is considered the preferred size.

button at small size

Small

Small buttons may be used when space is limited and if the action is less significant.

button at large size

Large

Large buttons increase the significance of an action and should be used sparingly. More often than not a medium sized button will be more appropriate.

Color

Primary button with green background

Primary

Primary buttons represent the highest priority action in a page. There should only ever be one primary button (if any) in a button group, and typically only one primary button should be present in page.

Secondary button with gray background

Secondary

Secondary buttons are the default button color scheme and are suitable for more interactions. They can be paired with a primary button to perform a secondary action, or used on their own.

Invisible button with transparent background

Invisible

Invisible buttons have a transparent background with translucent hover and active states, making them useful for compound components like ActionList.

Danger button with red background

Danger

Danger buttons should be used sparingly to warn of a destructive action, typically resulting in the opening of a confirmation dialog.

Best practices

Do
An image showing a button with no line breaks

Keep button labels succinct with no line breaks.

Don’t
An image showing a button with a line break

Buttons should never contain line breaks and lose their button shape.

Do
A button using sentance case

Use sentence case for labels.

Don’t
A button with text in all caps

Don't use all-caps or other text formats.

Do
A button showing :focus state

Show focus styles on keyboard :focus

Don’t
A button with the default :focus styles removed

Don't remove default button :focus styles.

Do
Primary button placed at the end of the button group

Do place primary buttons at the end of a button group

Don’t
Primary button placed at the start of the button group

Don't place primary buttons at the start of a button group

Do
A primary button next to a secondary button

Use a primary button with a secondary button

Don’t
Multiple primary buttons placed together

Don’t place multiple primary buttons together

Accessibility

Descriptive buttons

Labeling buttons properly lets users know what will happen when they activate the control, lessens errors, and increases confidence.

Read more about descriptive buttons.