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Submit Button with Pure CSS Loading Spinner

Many forms and apps will include a submit button (or similar) that, when clicked, will become temporarily disabled while some action is taking place. During the wait time, a good UI practice is to insert an animated loading indicator. This can be done with pure CSS while the JavaScript is just used to enable/disable the button while also performing some asynchronous action in the process. This could also be used when a general form submission is done synchronously.

Here is the HTML for the button:

<button>SUBMIT FORM<span class="spinner"></span></button>
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Here is the CSS (commented):

/* This is the submit button styles */ button { display: block; margin: 0 auto; padding: .6em .8em; /* Font-size is the root value that determines size of spinner parts. Change this to whatever you want and spinner elements will size to match. */ font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold; border-radius: .4em; border: none; overflow: hidden; cursor: pointer; position: relative; transition: all 1s; } /* focus/disabled styles, you can change this for accessibility */ button:focus, button:disabled { outline: none; background: #aaa; } /* This is the space for the spinner to appear, applied to the button */ .spin { padding-left: 2.5em; display: block; } /* position of the spinner when it appears, you might have to change these values */ .spin .spinner { left: -.6em; top: .4em; width: 2.5em; display: block; position: absolute; } /* spinner animation */ @keyframes spinner { 0% { transform: rotate(0deg); } 100% { transform: rotate(360deg); } } /* The actual spinner element is a pseudo-element */ .spin .spinner::before { content: ""; width: 1.5em; /* Size of the spinner */ height: 1.5em; /* Change as desired */ position: absolute; top: 50%; left: 50%; border-radius: 50%; border: solid .35em #999; /* Thickness/color of spinner track */ border-bottom-color: #555; /* Color of variant spinner piece */ animation: .8s linear infinite spinner; /* speed of spinner */ transform: translate(-50%, -50%); will-change: transform; } /* optional, but it will affect the size if changed */ *, *::before, *::after { box-sizing: border-box; }
Code language: CSS (css)

Finally, the JavaScript:

let btn = document.querySelector('button'); btn.addEventListener('click', function () { // form submission starts // button is disabled btn.classList.add('spin'); btn.disabled = true; // This disables the whole form via the fieldset btn.form.firstElementChild.disabled = true; // this setTimeout call mimics some asyncronous action // you would have something else here window.setTimeout(function () { // when asyncronous action is done, remove the spinner // re-enable button/fieldset btn.classList.remove('spin'); btn.disabled = false; btn.form.firstElementChild.disabled = false; }, 4000); }, false);
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

And here is a live demo:

Some things worth noting:

  • The JavaScript uses a setTimeout() call to mimic what might happen using Ajax. This would be removed and replaced with whatever you code is doing during the button submission process.
  • The size of the spinner is based on the font-size set on the <button> element using pixels. Adjust this and the spinner size and position will change automatically to match via em units.
  • The button also disables the parent fieldset. This is optional, but it’s an added feature. You can disable this by removing the appropriate commented line in the code.
  • The HTML in the demo disables the form from being submitted. This is only for demo purposes.

Related: Ladda spinners by Hakim El Hattab

Note: To the best of our knowledge, the information above and the snippet are accurate and up to date. However, in case you notice something wrong, please report snippet or leave a comment below.
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Louis Lazaris
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