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Breadcrumbs

A breadcrumbs is a list of links that help visualize a page's location within a site's hierarchical structure, it allows navigation up to any of the ancestors.

Basic breadcrumbs

import * as React from 'react';
import Typography from '@mui/material/Typography';
import Breadcrumbs from '@mui/material/Breadcrumbs';
import Link from '@mui/material/Link';

function handleClick(event: React.MouseEvent<HTMLDivElement, MouseEvent>) {
  event.preventDefault();
  console.info('You clicked a breadcrumb.');
}

export default function BasicBreadcrumbs() {
  return (
    <div role="presentation" onClick={handleClick}>
      <Breadcrumbs aria-label="breadcrumb">
        <Link underline="hover" color="inherit" href="/">
          MUI
        </Link>
        <Link
          underline="hover"
          color="inherit"
          href="/material-ui/getting-started/installation/"
        >
          Core
        </Link>
        <Typography sx={{ color: 'text.primary' }}>Breadcrumbs</Typography>
      </Breadcrumbs>
    </div>
  );
}

Active last breadcrumb

Keep the last breadcrumb interactive.

import * as React from 'react';
import Breadcrumbs from '@mui/material/Breadcrumbs';
import Link from '@mui/material/Link';

function handleClick(event: React.MouseEvent<HTMLDivElement, MouseEvent>) {
  event.preventDefault();
  console.info('You clicked a breadcrumb.');
}

export default function ActiveLastBreadcrumb() {
  return (
    <div role="presentation" onClick={handleClick}>
      <Breadcrumbs aria-label="breadcrumb">
        <Link underline="hover" color="inherit" href="/">
          MUI
        </Link>
        <Link
          underline="hover"
          color="inherit"
          href="/material-ui/getting-started/installation/"
        >
          Core
        </Link>
        <Link
          underline="hover"
          href="/material-ui/react-breadcrumbs/"
          aria-current="page"
          sx={{
            color: 'text.primary',
          }}
        >
          Breadcrumbs
        </Link>
      </Breadcrumbs>
    </div>
  );
}

Custom separator

In the following examples, we are using two string separators and an SVG icon.

import * as React from 'react';
import Breadcrumbs from '@mui/material/Breadcrumbs';
import Typography from '@mui/material/Typography';
import Link from '@mui/material/Link';
import Stack from '@mui/material/Stack';
import NavigateNextIcon from '@mui/icons-material/NavigateNext';

function handleClick(event: React.MouseEvent<HTMLAnchorElement, MouseEvent>) {
  event.preventDefault();
  console.info('You clicked a breadcrumb.');
}

export default function CustomSeparator() {
  const breadcrumbs = [
    <Link underline="hover" key="1" color="inherit" href="/" onClick={handleClick}>
      MUI
    </Link>,
    <Link
      underline="hover"
      key="2"
      color="inherit"
      href="/material-ui/getting-started/installation/"
      onClick={handleClick}
    >
      Core
    </Link>,
    <Typography key="3" sx={{ color: 'text.primary' }}>
      Breadcrumb
    </Typography>,
  ];

  return (
    <Stack spacing={2}>
      <Breadcrumbs separator="›" aria-label="breadcrumb">
        {breadcrumbs}
      </Breadcrumbs>
      <Breadcrumbs separator="-" aria-label="breadcrumb">
        {breadcrumbs}
      </Breadcrumbs>
      <Breadcrumbs
        separator={<NavigateNextIcon fontSize="small" />}
        aria-label="breadcrumb"
      >
        {breadcrumbs}
      </Breadcrumbs>
    </Stack>
  );
}

import * as React from 'react';
import Typography from '@mui/material/Typography';
import Breadcrumbs from '@mui/material/Breadcrumbs';
import Link from '@mui/material/Link';
import HomeIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Home';
import WhatshotIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Whatshot';
import GrainIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Grain';

function handleClick(event: React.MouseEvent<HTMLDivElement, MouseEvent>) {
  event.preventDefault();
  console.info('You clicked a breadcrumb.');
}

export default function IconBreadcrumbs() {
  return (
    <div role="presentation" onClick={handleClick}>
      <Breadcrumbs aria-label="breadcrumb">
        <Link
          underline="hover"
          sx={{ display: 'flex', alignItems: 'center' }}
          color="inherit"
          href="/"
        >
          <HomeIcon sx={{ mr: 0.5 }} fontSize="inherit" />
          MUI
        </Link>
        <Link
          underline="hover"
          sx={{ display: 'flex', alignItems: 'center' }}
          color="inherit"
          href="/material-ui/getting-started/installation/"
        >
          <WhatshotIcon sx={{ mr: 0.5 }} fontSize="inherit" />
          Core
        </Link>
        <Typography
          sx={{ color: 'text.primary', display: 'flex', alignItems: 'center' }}
        >
          <GrainIcon sx={{ mr: 0.5 }} fontSize="inherit" />
          Breadcrumb
        </Typography>
      </Breadcrumbs>
    </div>
  );
}

Collapsed breadcrumbs

import * as React from 'react';
import Breadcrumbs from '@mui/material/Breadcrumbs';
import Typography from '@mui/material/Typography';
import Link from '@mui/material/Link';

function handleClick(event: React.MouseEvent<HTMLDivElement, MouseEvent>) {
  event.preventDefault();
  console.info('You clicked a breadcrumb.');
}

export default function CollapsedBreadcrumbs() {
  return (
    <div role="presentation" onClick={handleClick}>
      <Breadcrumbs maxItems={2} aria-label="breadcrumb">
        <Link underline="hover" color="inherit" href="#">
          Home
        </Link>
        <Link underline="hover" color="inherit" href="#">
          Catalog
        </Link>
        <Link underline="hover" color="inherit" href="#">
          Accessories
        </Link>
        <Link underline="hover" color="inherit" href="#">
          New Collection
        </Link>
        <Typography sx={{ color: 'text.primary' }}>Belts</Typography>
      </Breadcrumbs>
    </div>
  );
}

Condensed with menu

As an alternative, consider adding a Menu component to display the condensed links in a dropdown list:

import * as React from 'react';
import Breadcrumbs from '@mui/material/Breadcrumbs';
import Link from '@mui/material/Link';
import Menu from '@mui/material/Menu';
import MenuItem from '@mui/material/MenuItem';
import IconButton from '@mui/material/IconButton';
import MoreHorizIcon from '@mui/icons-material/MoreHoriz';

export default function CondensedWithMenu() {
  const [anchorEl, setAnchorEl] = React.useState<HTMLButtonElement | null>(null);
  const open = Boolean(anchorEl);

  const handleClick = (event: React.MouseEvent<HTMLButtonElement> | null) => {
    if (event) {
      setAnchorEl(event.currentTarget);
    }
  };

  const handleClose = () => {
    setAnchorEl(null);
  };

  return (
    <React.Fragment>
      <Menu
        anchorEl={anchorEl}
        open={open}
        onClose={handleClose}
        aria-labelledby="with-menu-demo-breadcrumbs"
      >
        <MenuItem onClick={handleClose}>Breadcrumb 2</MenuItem>
        <MenuItem onClick={handleClose}>Breadcrumb 3</MenuItem>
        <MenuItem onClick={handleClose}>Breadcrumb 4</MenuItem>
      </Menu>
      <Breadcrumbs aria-label="breadcrumbs">
        <Link color="primary" href="#condensed-with-menu">
          Breadcrumb 1
        </Link>
        <IconButton color="primary" size="small" onClick={handleClick}>
          <MoreHorizIcon />
        </IconButton>
        <Link color="primary" href="#condensed-with-menu">
          Breadcrumb 5
        </Link>
        <Link color="primary" href="#condensed-with-menu">
          Breadcrumb 6
        </Link>
      </Breadcrumbs>
    </React.Fragment>
  );
}

Customization

Here is an example of customizing the component. You can learn more about this in the overrides documentation page.

import * as React from 'react';
import { emphasize, styled } from '@mui/material/styles';
import Breadcrumbs from '@mui/material/Breadcrumbs';
import Chip from '@mui/material/Chip';
import HomeIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Home';
import ExpandMoreIcon from '@mui/icons-material/ExpandMore';

const StyledBreadcrumb = styled(Chip)(({ theme }) => {
  return {
    backgroundColor: theme.palette.grey[100],
    height: theme.spacing(3),
    color: (theme.vars || theme).palette.text.primary,
    fontWeight: theme.typography.fontWeightRegular,
    '&:hover, &:focus': {
      backgroundColor: emphasize(theme.palette.grey[100], 0.06),
      ...theme.applyStyles('dark', {
        backgroundColor: emphasize(theme.palette.grey[800], 0.06),
      }),
    },
    '&:active': {
      boxShadow: theme.shadows[1],
      backgroundColor: emphasize(theme.palette.grey[100], 0.12),
      ...theme.applyStyles('dark', {
        backgroundColor: emphasize(theme.palette.grey[800], 0.12),
      }),
    },
    ...theme.applyStyles('dark', {
      backgroundColor: theme.palette.grey[800],
    }),
  };
}) as typeof Chip; // TypeScript only: need a type cast here because https://github.com/Microsoft/TypeScript/issues/26591

function handleClick(event: React.MouseEvent<Element, MouseEvent>) {
  event.preventDefault();
  console.info('You clicked a breadcrumb.');
}

export default function CustomizedBreadcrumbs() {
  return (
    <div role="presentation" onClick={handleClick}>
      <Breadcrumbs aria-label="breadcrumb">
        <StyledBreadcrumb
          component="a"
          href="#"
          label="Home"
          icon={<HomeIcon fontSize="small" />}
        />
        <StyledBreadcrumb component="a" href="#" label="Catalog" />
        <StyledBreadcrumb
          label="Accessories"
          deleteIcon={<ExpandMoreIcon />}
          onDelete={handleClick}
        />
      </Breadcrumbs>
    </div>
  );
}

Integration with react-router

import * as React from 'react';
import Box from '@mui/material/Box';
import List from '@mui/material/List';
import Link from '@mui/material/Link';
import type { LinkProps } from '@mui/material/Link';
import type { ListItemProps } from '@mui/material/ListItem';
import ListItemButton from '@mui/material/ListItemButton';
import Collapse from '@mui/material/Collapse';
import ListItemText from '@mui/material/ListItemText';
import Typography from '@mui/material/Typography';
import ExpandLess from '@mui/icons-material/ExpandLess';
import ExpandMore from '@mui/icons-material/ExpandMore';
import Breadcrumbs from '@mui/material/Breadcrumbs';
import {
  Link as RouterLink,
  Route,
  Routes,
  MemoryRouter,
  useLocation,
} from 'react-router';

interface ListItemLinkProps extends ListItemProps {
  to: string;
  open?: boolean;
}

const breadcrumbNameMap: { [key: string]: string } = {
  '/inbox': 'Inbox',
  '/inbox/important': 'Important',
  '/trash': 'Trash',
  '/spam': 'Spam',
  '/drafts': 'Drafts',
};

function ListItemLink(props: ListItemLinkProps) {
  const { to, open, ...other } = props;
  const primary = breadcrumbNameMap[to];

  let icon = null;
  if (open != null) {
    icon = open ? <ExpandLess /> : <ExpandMore />;
  }

  return (
    <li>
      <ListItemButton component={RouterLink as any} to={to} {...other}>
        <ListItemText primary={primary} />
        {icon}
      </ListItemButton>
    </li>
  );
}

interface LinkRouterProps extends LinkProps {
  to: string;
  replace?: boolean;
}

function LinkRouter(props: LinkRouterProps) {
  return <Link {...props} component={RouterLink as any} />;
}

function Page() {
  const location = useLocation();
  const pathnames = location.pathname.split('/').filter((x) => x);

  return (
    <Breadcrumbs aria-label="breadcrumb">
      <LinkRouter underline="hover" color="inherit" to="/">
        Home
      </LinkRouter>
      {pathnames.map((value, index) => {
        const last = index === pathnames.length - 1;
        const to = `/${pathnames.slice(0, index + 1).join('/')}`;

        return last ? (
          <Typography key={to} sx={{ color: 'text.primary' }}>
            {breadcrumbNameMap[to]}
          </Typography>
        ) : (
          <LinkRouter underline="hover" color="inherit" to={to} key={to}>
            {breadcrumbNameMap[to]}
          </LinkRouter>
        );
      })}
    </Breadcrumbs>
  );
}

export default function RouterBreadcrumbs() {
  const [open, setOpen] = React.useState(true);

  const handleClick = () => {
    setOpen((prevOpen) => !prevOpen);
  };

  return (
    <MemoryRouter initialEntries={['/inbox']} initialIndex={0}>
      <Box sx={{ display: 'flex', flexDirection: 'column', width: 360 }}>
        <Routes>
          <Route path="*" element={<Page />} />
        </Routes>
        <Box
          sx={{ bgcolor: 'background.paper', mt: 1 }}
          component="nav"
          aria-label="mailbox folders"
        >
          <List>
            <ListItemLink to="/inbox" open={open} onClick={handleClick} />
            <Collapse component="li" in={open} timeout="auto" unmountOnExit>
              <List disablePadding>
                <ListItemLink sx={{ pl: 4 }} to="/inbox/important" />
              </List>
            </Collapse>
            <ListItemLink to="/trash" />
            <ListItemLink to="/spam" />
          </List>
        </Box>
      </Box>
    </MemoryRouter>
  );
}

Accessibility

(WAI-ARIA: https://www.w3.org/WAI/ARIA/apg/patterns/breadcrumb/)

Be sure to add a aria-label description on the Breadcrumbs component.

The accessibility of this component relies on:

  • The set of links is structured using an ordered list (<ol> element).
  • To prevent screen reader announcement of the visual separators between links, they are hidden with aria-hidden.
  • A nav element labeled with aria-label identifies the structure as a breadcrumb trail and makes it a navigation landmark so that it is easy to locate.

API

See the documentation below for a complete reference to all of the props and classes available to the components mentioned here.