Tabs

Tab bar and tab item widgets for Dear ImGui

Tab Bars

Tabs are automatically created by the docking system (when in ‘docking’ branch). Use this to create tab bars/tabs yourself.

BeginTabBar

bool ImGui::BeginTabBar(const char* str_id, ImGuiTabBarFlags flags = 0)

Create and append into a TabBar. Only call EndTabBar() if this returns true.

str_id · const char*

Unique identifier for the tab bar

flags · ImGuiTabBarFlags · default: "0"

Tab bar flags (see ImGuiTabBarFlags_)

return · bool

True if tab bar is visible

// Example
if (ImGui::BeginTabBar("MyTabBar")) {
    if (ImGui::BeginTabItem("Tab1")) {
        ImGui::Text("This is tab 1!");
        ImGui::EndTabItem();
    }
    if (ImGui::BeginTabItem("Tab2")) {
        ImGui::Text("This is tab 2!");
        ImGui::EndTabItem();
    }
    ImGui::EndTabBar();
}

EndTabBar

void ImGui::EndTabBar()

Close tab bar. Only call EndTabBar() if BeginTabBar() returns true.

Tab Items

BeginTabItem

bool ImGui::BeginTabItem(const char* label, bool* p_open = NULL, ImGuiTabItemFlags flags = 0)

Create a Tab. Returns true if the Tab is selected.

label · const char*

Tab label

p_open · bool* · default: "NULL"

Optional pointer to bool to enable close button (set to false when clicked)

flags · ImGuiTabItemFlags · default: "0"

Tab item flags (see ImGuiTabItemFlags_)

return · bool

True when tab is selected

// Example
if (ImGui::BeginTabBar("Tabs")) {
    if (ImGui::BeginTabItem("Settings")) {
        ImGui::Text("Settings content");
        ImGui::EndTabItem();
    }
    if (ImGui::BeginTabItem("Tools")) {
        ImGui::Text("Tools content");
        ImGui::EndTabItem();
    }
    ImGui::EndTabBar();
}

// With close button
static bool tab_open = true;
if (ImGui::BeginTabBar("ClosableTabs")) {
    if (tab_open && ImGui::BeginTabItem("Closable", &tab_open)) {
        ImGui::Text("This tab can be closed");
        ImGui::EndTabItem();
    }
    ImGui::EndTabBar();
}
if (!tab_open) {
    ImGui::Text("Tab was closed!");
}

EndTabItem

void ImGui::EndTabItem()

Close tab item. Only call EndTabItem() if BeginTabItem() returns true.

TabItemButton

bool ImGui::TabItemButton(const char* label, ImGuiTabItemFlags flags = 0)

Create a Tab behaving like a button. Return true when clicked. Cannot be selected in the tab bar.

label · const char*

Button label

flags · ImGuiTabItemFlags · default: "0"

Tab item flags

return · bool

True when clicked

// Example
if (ImGui::BeginTabBar("TabBar")) {
    if (ImGui::TabItemButton("+", ImGuiTabItemFlags_Trailing)) {
        // Add new tab
    }
    
    if (ImGui::BeginTabItem("Tab1")) {
        ImGui::EndTabItem();
    }
    ImGui::EndTabBar();
}

SetTabItemClosed

void ImGui::SetTabItemClosed(const char* tab_or_docked_window_label)

Notify TabBar or Docking system of a closed tab/window ahead (useful to reduce visual flicker on reorderable tab bars). For tab-bar: call after BeginTabBar() and before Tab submissions. Otherwise call with a window name.

tab_or_docked_window_label · const char*

Tab or window label

Tab Bar Flags

ImGuiTabBarFlags_

Flags for BeginTabBar().

Flag	Description
ImGuiTabBarFlags_None	Default
ImGuiTabBarFlags_Reorderable	Allow manually dragging tabs to re-order them
ImGuiTabBarFlags_AutoSelectNewTabs	Automatically select new tabs when they appear
ImGuiTabBarFlags_TabListPopupButton	Enable popup button for tab list
ImGuiTabBarFlags_NoCloseWithMiddleMouseButton	Disable closing tabs with middle mouse button
ImGuiTabBarFlags_NoTabListScrollingButtons	Disable scrolling buttons (when fitting policy is scroll)
ImGuiTabBarFlags_NoTooltip	Disable tooltips when hovering a tab
ImGuiTabBarFlags_DrawSelectedOverline	Draw selected overline markers over selected tab
ImGuiTabBarFlags_FittingPolicyMixed	Shrink tabs when they don’t fit, then enable scrolling (default)
ImGuiTabBarFlags_FittingPolicyShrink	Shrink tabs when they don’t fit
ImGuiTabBarFlags_FittingPolicyScroll	Enable scrolling buttons when tabs don’t fit

// Reorderable tabs
if (ImGui::BeginTabBar("Reorderable", ImGuiTabBarFlags_Reorderable)) {
    if (ImGui::BeginTabItem("Tab1")) {
        ImGui::EndTabItem();
    }
    if (ImGui::BeginTabItem("Tab2")) {
        ImGui::EndTabItem();
    }
    ImGui::EndTabBar();
}

// Auto-select new tabs
if (ImGui::BeginTabBar("AutoSelect", ImGuiTabBarFlags_AutoSelectNewTabs)) {
    // ...
    ImGui::EndTabBar();
}

Tab Item Flags

ImGuiTabItemFlags_

Flags for BeginTabItem().

Flag	Description
ImGuiTabItemFlags_None	Default
ImGuiTabItemFlags_UnsavedDocument	Display a dot next to the title + set NoAssumedClosure
ImGuiTabItemFlags_SetSelected	Trigger flag to programmatically make the tab selected
ImGuiTabItemFlags_NoCloseWithMiddleMouseButton	Disable closing with middle mouse button
ImGuiTabItemFlags_NoPushId	Don’t call PushID()/PopID() on BeginTabItem()/EndTabItem()
ImGuiTabItemFlags_NoTooltip	Disable tooltip for the given tab
ImGuiTabItemFlags_NoReorder	Disable reordering this tab or having another tab cross over
ImGuiTabItemFlags_Leading	Enforce the tab position to the left of the tab bar
ImGuiTabItemFlags_Trailing	Enforce the tab position to the right of the tab bar
ImGuiTabItemFlags_NoAssumedClosure	Tab is selected when trying to close + closure is not immediately assumed

// Set tab as selected
if (ImGui::BeginTabItem("Selected", NULL, ImGuiTabItemFlags_SetSelected)) {
    ImGui::EndTabItem();
}

// Unsaved document indicator
if (ImGui::BeginTabItem("Document*", NULL, ImGuiTabItemFlags_UnsavedDocument)) {
    ImGui::Text("Unsaved changes");
    ImGui::EndTabItem();
}

// Leading tab (stays on left)
if (ImGui::BeginTabItem("Settings", NULL, ImGuiTabItemFlags_Leading)) {
    ImGui::EndTabItem();
}

// Trailing tab (stays on right)
if (ImGui::BeginTabItem("Help", NULL, ImGuiTabItemFlags_Trailing)) {
    ImGui::EndTabItem();
}

Complete Example

void ShowTabBarExample() {
    static int tab_count = 3;
    static bool tab_open[10] = { true, true, true, false, false, false, false, false, false, false };
    
    if (ImGui::BeginTabBar("MyTabs", ImGuiTabBarFlags_Reorderable | ImGuiTabBarFlags_AutoSelectNewTabs)) {
        // Add button
        if (ImGui::TabItemButton("+", ImGuiTabItemFlags_Trailing | ImGuiTabItemFlags_NoTooltip)) {
            if (tab_count < 10) {
                tab_open[tab_count] = true;
                tab_count++;
            }
        }
        
        // Tab items
        for (int n = 0; n < tab_count; n++) {
            if (!tab_open[n])
                continue;
                
            char buf[16];
            snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "Tab %d", n + 1);
            
            if (ImGui::BeginTabItem(buf, &tab_open[n])) {
                ImGui::Text("This is the content of %s", buf);
                ImGui::Text("Close me by clicking the X button.");
                
                if (ImGui::Button("Close This Tab")) {
                    tab_open[n] = false;
                }
                
                ImGui::EndTabItem();
            }
        }
        
        ImGui::EndTabBar();
    }
}