Bootstrap Carousel with thumbnails

Bootstrap provides a carousel with some options. This post is to create a responsive Bootstrap Carousel slider with thumbnails.

Final output:

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5. 

1. Let’s start with the Bootstrap 4 carousel with indicators:

<div id="carouselExampleIndicators" class="carousel slide" data-ride="carousel">
  <ol class="carousel-indicators">
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="0" class="active"></li>
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="1"></li>
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="2"></li>
  </ol>
  <div class="carousel-inner">
    <div class="carousel-item active">
      <img src="..." class="d-block w-100" alt="...">
    </div>
    <div class="carousel-item">
      <img src="..." class="d-block w-100" alt="...">
    </div>
    <div class="carousel-item">
      <img src="..." class="d-block w-100" alt="...">
    </div>
  </div>
  <a class="carousel-control-prev" href="#carouselExampleIndicators" role="button" data-slide="prev">
    <span class="carousel-control-prev-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span>
    <span class="sr-only">Previous</span>
  </a>
  <a class="carousel-control-next" href="#carouselExampleIndicators" role="button" data-slide="next">
    <span class="carousel-control-next-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span>
    <span class="sr-only">Next</span>
  </a>
</div>

2. Add your images to the carousel. Also, check for the same number of carousel indicator list items.

Note: If you are using Bootstrap 5 carousel, replace data-target with data-bs-target and data-slide-to with data-bs-slide-to.

<div id="carouselExampleIndicators" class="carousel slide" data-ride="carousel">
    <ol class="carousel-indicators">
        <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="0" class="active"></li>
        <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="1"></li>
        <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="2"></li>
        <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="3"></li>
        <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="4"></li>
    </ol>
    <div class="carousel-inner">
        <div class="carousel-item active">
            <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
        </div>
        <div class="carousel-item">
            <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
        </div>
        <div class="carousel-item">
            <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
        </div>
        <div class="carousel-item">
            <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
        </div>
        <div class="carousel-item">
            <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

Output:

Previous Next

3. Now, add the images you want as thumbnails to the carousel indicators list as well.

<ol class="carousel-indicators">
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="0" class="active">
        <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
    </li>
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="1">
        <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
    </li>
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="2">
        <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
    </li>
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="3">
        <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
    </li>
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="4">
        <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
    </li>
</ol>

Output:

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4. 
5. 

Previous Next

4. There you go! Bootstrap Carousel with Thumbnails. But, they don’t look so good. So, let’s style them a bit.

  .carousel-indicators li {
    width: 200px;
    height: 100%;
    opacity: 0.8;
  }

Update: Bootstrap 5 carousel, uses buttons instead of a list. You can either add your custom class or use the data-bs-target attribute to style it.

.carousel-indicators button[data-bs-target]{
  width: 200px;
}
.carousel-indicators button[data-bs-target]:not(.active){
  opacity: 0.8;
}

Output:

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Previous Next

5. To place the thumbnails at the bottom, move the carousel indicators list out of the carousel div. The default position of carousel-indicators set by Bootstrap is absolute. Change it to static. I removed the next-previous controls as well.

<div id="carouselExampleIndicators" class="carousel slide" data-ride="carousel">
    <div class="carousel-inner">
        <div class="carousel-item active">
            <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
        </div>
        <div class="carousel-item">
            <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
        </div>
        <div class="carousel-item">
            <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
        </div>
        <div class="carousel-item">
            <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
        </div>
        <div class="carousel-item">
            <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
        </div>
    </div>
</div>
<ol class="carousel-indicators">
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="0" class="active"><img
            src="..." class="d-block w-100">
    </li>
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="1"><img
            src="..." class="d-block w-100"></li>
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="2"><img
            src="..." class="d-block w-100"></li>
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="3"><img
            src="..." class="d-block w-100"></li>
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="4"><img
            src="..." class="d-block w-100"></li>
</ol>

.carousel-indicators {
    position: static;
}

Output:

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4. 
5. 

Final Output Code for Bootstrap 4 Carousel Slider with Thumbnails:

HTML

<div id="carouselExampleIndicators" class="carousel slide" data-ride="carousel">
    <div class="carousel-inner">
        <div class="carousel-item active">
            <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
        </div>
        <div class="carousel-item">
            <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
        </div>
        <div class="carousel-item">
            <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
        </div>
        <div class="carousel-item">
            <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
        </div>
        <div class="carousel-item">
            <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
        </div>
    </div>
</div>
<ol class="carousel-indicators">
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="0" class="active">
        <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
    </li>
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="1">
        <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
    </li>
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="2">
        <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
    </li>
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="3">
        <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
    </li>
    <li data-target="#carouselExampleIndicators" data-slide-to="4">
        <img src="..." class="d-block w-100">
    </li>
</ol>

CSS

.carousel-indicators {
  position: static;
}
.carousel-indicators li {
  width: 300px;
  height: 100%;
  opacity: 0.8;
}

If you have any doubts or stuck somewhere, you can reach out through Coding Yaar's Discord server.