Styling navigation

Customize the font, color, and size of your site's navigation links.

Last updated December 19, 2024

Your site's navigation is a set of links that directs visitors to your site content. Navigation typically displays at the top of your site, although some version 7.0 templates support navigation in footers or sidebars.

All sites include options for changing the font, color, and size of your navigation links. This guide explains how to customize your navigation on any site.

Before you begin

  • Add links to your navigation by adding pages in the Pages panel. Pages in the Not linked section won't display.
  • Change the text of any link by updating its Navigation title in page settings.
  • To change the order of links in the menu, drag and drop pages in the Pages panel.

Find the navigation style tweaks

The way that you change your navigation style depends on your site's version.

Navigation link styles are primarily set by your site's header. In the header editor, you can change:

  • The navigation layout
  • The navigation colors
  • The navigation link spacing
  • The padding around text
  • If the navigation is fixed
  • How the navigation looks on computers versus mobile devices

You can also use options in site styles to change fonts and sizes. To learn more, review the sections below.

Every template family has its own site styles, so there isn't one single rule for how to update your navigation links. Use these tips to find the style options your template supports:

  • To open site styles, open the Design panel, then click Site styles.
  • Scroll through the tweaks on the left and look for related tweaks. The tweaks usually include the word Navigation.
  • You can also hover over your site's navigation in the site preview on the right. When a blue highlighter box appears around it, click any navigation link. This helps filter out tweaks that don't affect navigation links. When you're done, click Show all to go back to the main view.

Here’s an example of what this looks like in the Thorne template, which is part of the Brine family:

thorne_site_styles.gif

Change the font and size

The way that you change your navigation font depends on your site's version.

By default, your navigation font matches your site-wide font. To set a different font type or size for your navigation:

  1. While editing a page, open Site styles, then click   next to Fonts.
  2. Click Assign styles.
  3. Click Site navigation.
  4. To change the font, click Style, then choose Custom. Choose a new font family, weight, style, and other details. Click Save to apply your changes.
  5. To change the size, click Size, then choose a preset Paragraph size, or choose Custom. To set a custom size, use the slider or manually enter a new rem value. Click Save to apply your changes.

Tip

To learn how version 7.1 uses rem values for font sizes, visit Changing fonts.

To change your navigation font, click the v icon next to the tweak name to open its drop-down menu. From here, you can change:

  • Font names
  • Style
  • Size
  • Line height
  • The spacing between letters

For more help, visit Changing fonts.

Change the color

The way you change your navigation color depends on your site's version and header style.

Solid and Gradient header styles Theme and Dynamic header styles
  1. While editing a page, open the header editor
  2. In the header editor, click Style.
  3. Click Navigation color to edit the color of your navigation links and built-in social icons.
  1. While editing a page, open Site styles, then click > next to Colors.
  2. Click the pencil icon on the color theme selected for your site header.
  3. Change the Navigation links tweak.
  4. Click Save to save your changes and keep editing, or click Exit and then Save to close the editor.

You can also change the color theme of your mobile header overlay.

To change the navigation link colors, click a color tweak in site styles. Choose a new color by clicking a color at the top of the selector, then selecting a shade in the square. You can also enter a specific value in the text field. For more help, visit Changing colors or your site's template guide.

Change the layout and spacing

The way you change the navigation layout depends on your site's version.

To change the position and spacing of your navigation links, edit how your site's header appears on computers. You can also customize the look and placement of the menu icon on mobile devices.

In some templates, you can change the position of the links. In site styles, look for tweaks called Navigation position, Navigation alignment, or something similar. To learn the positions available in your template, review the table below.

Tip

Some templates support fixed, or "sticky" navigation, that stays in the same position at the top of the browser while you scroll down the page.

Navigation display by template

Your site's navigation layout depends on your site's template, and displays differently on mobile devices. Larger mobile devices, such as tablets, may display the computer styles.

Here's how the main navigation displays on computers in these template families:

Template

Layout

Adirondack

Horizontal, top center

Avenue

Horizontal, top left/center/right

Aviator

Vertical, top left (Business card/offset); or horizontal, top center (Poster)

Bedford

Horizontal, top right

Brine

Horizontal, top left/center/right, can be hidden. In the Pages panel, it's called the primary navigation.

Farro

Horizontal, top left/center/right, can be hidden

Five

Vertical, in sidebar (Top navigation position: none); or horizontal top left/center/right (Above banner, Below banner)

Flatiron

Horizontal, top left

Forte

Horizontal, top right

Galapagos

Horizontal, top center

Ishimoto

Horizontal, top left/center/right

Momentum

Horizontal, in the navigation bar

Montauk

Horizontal, top left/center/right

Native

Horizontal, top center

Pacific

Horizontal, top center, can be split around the site title

Skye

Vertical, within an overlay

Supply

Vertical, left sidebar

Tremont

Horizontal, top left/right

Wells

Vertical, left sidebar

Wexley

Horizontal, top left/center/right

York

Horizontal, top left/center/right, can be hidden

Change link spacing

To change the space around navigation links, look for tweaks in site styles that change your header, banner, or navigation. While the tweaks vary by template, link spacing tweaks typically include words like Padding, Spacing, or Width.

Active and hover options (version 7.0)

Accessing this feature

On version 7.1, it's not possible to set different colors for hover and active navigation links. Active links are always underlined.

In some templates, there are more options for navigation links depending on if they've been clicked. This is sometimes called their "state" or "phase." While the tweaks vary by template, look for these words:

  • Hover - The link changes when a visitor hovers over it.
  • Active - When a visitor visits a page in your navigation, its link changes style.

For help with your template, visit its template guide.

Tip

External navigation links won't show active styles, even if they link to a page on your site.

Mobile navigation

On mobile devices, main navigation links collapse behind a Menu link or ☰ icon (also known as a "hamburger" icon). A visitor can click or tap it to reveal the full menu. This helps with usability and keeps your site mobile-friendly.

The link or icon can also appear on computer browsers depending on your visitor's browser size, the number of links in your menu, or the length of your navigation titles.

The way that you style your mobile navigation depends on your site's version.

To style your mobile navigation, edit your site's header. In the header editor, click the Mobile icon to set mobile-specific styles, including the layout and type of menu icon.

Keep in mind:

  • Header buttons always appear with the navigation links behind the Menu link or ☰ icon.
  • It's not possible to change the mobile navigation font size.
  • It's not possible to make the menu icon always appear on a computer.
  • To remove the menu icon from your header, ensure all of your pages are in the Not linked section, and disable all header elements, except for the shopping cart. Enabling the cart will not make the menu icon appear.

In many cases, mobile navigation inherits styles from the computer display to keep your branding consistent. Some templates have advanced mobile style options, which give you a finer degree of control. To learn more, visit your template's guide.

To explore which tweaks affect your mobile navigation, open your navigation in phone view before opening site styles:

  1. Switch the device view to phone.
  2. Click the navigation link (usually a ☰) so your mobile navigation appears.
  3. In the Home menu, click Website, click Design, then click Site styles. The mobile navigation will remain open.

Tip

If you can’t see your navigation on mobile, ensure that you haven’t set your background or header color to the same color as your navigation text. The links may display over this color on mobile.

Menu icon or link design by template

Here's how the ☰ icon or Menu link displays in these template families:

Template family

Icon or link (Always shows on mobile)

Shows on computers...

Adirondack

☰ icon

  • In narrow browsers (640 px)
  • To always show the icon on computers, check Always show nav in site styles.

Avenue

Menu link

  • In narrow browsers (640 px)

Aviator

Menu link

  • In narrow browsers (640 px)

Bedford

☰ icon

  • Automatically when links won't fit
  • In narrow browsers (640 px)

Brine

☰ icon. Change the style with the Mobile: menu icon section in site styles.

  • In narrow browsers (640 px by default. Change this with the Mobile breakpoint tweak.)

Farro

☰ icon

  • In narrow browsers (640 px)

Five

☰ icon

  • In narrow browsers (640 px)

Flatiron

Menu link

  • In narrow browsers (640 px)

Forte

☰ icon

  • In narrow browsers (768 px)

Galapagos

☰ icon

  • In narrow browsers (724 px)

Ishimoto

Menu link

  • In narrow browsers (800 px)

Momentum

☰ icon

  • In narrow browsers (736 px)

Montauk

Menu link

  • In narrow browsers (640 px)

Native

Menu link

  • In narrow browsers (640 px)

Pacific

☰ icon

  • In narrow browsers (768 px)
  • To always show the icon on computers, select Always use overlay nav in site styles.

Skye

☰ icon

  • Always displays

Supply

☰ icon

  • In narrow browsers (1024 px)

Tremont

☰ icon

  • In narrow browsers (640 px)
  • Automatically when links won't fit
  • To always show the icon on computers, select Nav style: icon in site styles

Wells

Menu link

  • In narrow browsers (800 px)

Wexley

Menu link

  • In narrow browsers (640 px)

York

☰ icon

  • In narrow browsers (768 px)

Empty mobile navigation icons

In some templates, the icon always appears on mobile, even if all your pages are in the Not linked section.

You can hide the menu icon in these template families:

  • Brine family
  • Farro family

Open the Design panel, then click Site styles. Scroll to the Mobile: menu icon section and set the Menu icon position tweak to Hide.

In these template families, there isn't a built-in way to hide the mobile navigation icon:

  • Bedford
  • Forte
  • Galapagos
  • Montauk
  • Wells
  • York

Tip

You can hide the mobile navigation icon by adding custom code. To learn more, visit this post in the Squarespace Forum.

Keep in mind, custom code modifications fall outside the scope of our support. This means we’re unable to help you set up or troubleshoot code-based solutions.

Hide the collapsed menu on computers

To prevent the link or icon from showing on computers:

  • Keep navigation titles short.
  • Reduce the number of links in the menu. You can group related pages into dropdowns, or if your site is on version 7.0, move pages to secondary or footer navigation.
  • If your site is on version 7.0, switch to a different template. Click the Version 7.0 tab above, then explore the Shows on computers… options.
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