24 CSS Liquid Glass Navbars22 / 24

Pure CSSMIT licensed

Performance-Tuned Navbar

A liquid-glass navbar built for a rock-steady 60fps and clean Core Web Vitals. It isolates the expensive backdrop-filter paint with contain + isolation, hints the compositor with will-change on the animating layer only, animates transform/opacity exclusively, and reserves its box so CLS stays at 0 — the pattern senior engineers ship to production.

Published

Live Demo
Try it

The code

<section class="nb-22" aria-label="Performance tuned glass navbar demo">
  <nav class="nb-22__bar" aria-label="Primary">
    <span class="nb-22__sweep" aria-hidden="true"></span>
    <span class="nb-22__brand">⚡ Sixty</span>
    <div class="nb-22__links">
      <a class="nb-22__link" href="#nb-22" aria-current="page">Home</a>
      <a class="nb-22__link" href="#nb-22">Metrics</a>
      <a class="nb-22__link" href="#nb-22">Budget</a>
      <a class="nb-22__link" href="#nb-22">Docs</a>
    </div>
    <span class="nb-22__fps" aria-hidden="true">60 fps</span>
  </nav>
</section>
.nb-22,
.nb-22 *,
.nb-22 *::before,
.nb-22 *::after {
  box-sizing: border-box;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

.nb-22 {
  display: grid;
  place-items: center;
  width: 100%;
  min-height: 100vh;
  padding: 20px;
  font-family: 'Segoe UI',system-ui,sans-serif;
  background: linear-gradient(120deg,#2c3e50,#4ca1af 70%,#c4e0e5);
}

.nb-22__bar {
  position: relative;
  overflow: hidden;
  isolation: isolate;
  contain: layout paint style;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  gap: 18px;
  width: min(740px,100%);
  padding: 14px 18px;
  border-radius: 16px;
  color: #fff;
  background: color-mix(in oklab,white 12%,transparent);
  border: 1px solid rgba(255,255,255,.34);
  box-shadow: inset 0 1px 0 rgba(255,255,255,.5),0 16px 38px -22px rgba(0,0,0,.55);
  backdrop-filter: blur(18px) saturate(170%);
  -webkit-backdrop-filter: blur(18px) saturate(170%);
}

.nb-22__sweep {
  position: absolute;
  inset: 0;
  z-index: 0;
  pointer-events: none;
  background: linear-gradient(105deg,transparent 40%,rgba(255,255,255,.35) 50%,transparent 60%);
  transform: translateX(-120%);
  will-change: transform;
  animation: nb-22-sweep 5s ease-in-out infinite;
}

@keyframes nb-22-sweep {
  0%,
    60% {
    transform: translateX(-120%);
  }

  100% {
    transform: translateX(120%);
  }
}

.nb-22__brand,
.nb-22__links,
.nb-22__fps {
  position: relative;
  z-index: 1;
}

.nb-22__brand {
  font-size: 16px;
  font-weight: 800;
}

.nb-22__links {
  display: flex;
  gap: 4px;
}

.nb-22__link {
  min-height: 40px;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  padding: 0 14px;
  border-radius: 10px;
  text-decoration: none;
  color: #fff;
  opacity: .9;
  font-size: 14.5px;
  font-weight: 600;
  transition: background .2s,opacity .2s;
}

.nb-22__link:hover,
.nb-22__link[aria-current] {
  opacity: 1;
  background: rgba(255,255,255,.18);
}

.nb-22__link:focus-visible {
  outline: 2px solid #fff;
  outline-offset: 2px;
}

.nb-22__fps {
  margin-inline-start: auto;
  font-size: 11px;
  font-weight: 700;
  letter-spacing: .06em;
  text-transform: uppercase;
  color: rgba(255,255,255,.7);
  font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums;
}

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  .nb-22__sweep {
    animation: none;
    display: none;
  }
}
/* No JavaScript — contain:layout paint style + isolation:isolate scope the backdrop-filter paint, will-change promotes only the transform-animated sweep layer, and position:sticky (in a real page) reserves the box for zero CLS. */
Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, or any coding assistant. The block below is pre-framed with everything the AI needs to integrate this demo into your project — markup, styles, scoping notes, and the source URL. Hit Copy and paste straight into your chat.
Here's a working CSS Liquid Glass Navbar from CodeFronts. Use it as-is or adapt to your framework. All classes are scoped under a unique prefix so the code won't collide with your existing styles. MIT licensed.
Demo: Performance-Tuned Navbar
Source: https://codefronts.com/navigation/css-liquid-glass-navbars/performance-tuned-navbar/

A liquid-glass navbar built for a rock-steady 60fps and clean Core Web Vitals. It isolates the expensive backdrop-filter paint with contain + isolation, hints the compositor with will-change on the animating layer only, animates transform/opacity exclusively, and reserves its box so CLS stays at 0 — the pattern senior engineers ship to production.
## HTML
```html
<section class="nb-22" aria-label="Performance tuned glass navbar demo">
  <nav class="nb-22__bar" aria-label="Primary">
    <span class="nb-22__sweep" aria-hidden="true"></span>
    <span class="nb-22__brand">⚡ Sixty</span>
    <div class="nb-22__links">
      <a class="nb-22__link" href="#nb-22" aria-current="page">Home</a>
      <a class="nb-22__link" href="#nb-22">Metrics</a>
      <a class="nb-22__link" href="#nb-22">Budget</a>
      <a class="nb-22__link" href="#nb-22">Docs</a>
    </div>
    <span class="nb-22__fps" aria-hidden="true">60 fps</span>
  </nav>
</section>
```
## CSS
```css
.nb-22,
.nb-22 *,
.nb-22 *::before,
.nb-22 *::after {
  box-sizing: border-box;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

.nb-22 {
  display: grid;
  place-items: center;
  width: 100%;
  min-height: 100vh;
  padding: 20px;
  font-family: 'Segoe UI',system-ui,sans-serif;
  background: linear-gradient(120deg,#2c3e50,#4ca1af 70%,#c4e0e5);
}

.nb-22__bar {
  position: relative;
  overflow: hidden;
  isolation: isolate;
  contain: layout paint style;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  gap: 18px;
  width: min(740px,100%);
  padding: 14px 18px;
  border-radius: 16px;
  color: #fff;
  background: color-mix(in oklab,white 12%,transparent);
  border: 1px solid rgba(255,255,255,.34);
  box-shadow: inset 0 1px 0 rgba(255,255,255,.5),0 16px 38px -22px rgba(0,0,0,.55);
  backdrop-filter: blur(18px) saturate(170%);
  -webkit-backdrop-filter: blur(18px) saturate(170%);
}

.nb-22__sweep {
  position: absolute;
  inset: 0;
  z-index: 0;
  pointer-events: none;
  background: linear-gradient(105deg,transparent 40%,rgba(255,255,255,.35) 50%,transparent 60%);
  transform: translateX(-120%);
  will-change: transform;
  animation: nb-22-sweep 5s ease-in-out infinite;
}

@keyframes nb-22-sweep {
  0%,
    60% {
    transform: translateX(-120%);
  }

  100% {
    transform: translateX(120%);
  }
}

.nb-22__brand,
.nb-22__links,
.nb-22__fps {
  position: relative;
  z-index: 1;
}

.nb-22__brand {
  font-size: 16px;
  font-weight: 800;
}

.nb-22__links {
  display: flex;
  gap: 4px;
}

.nb-22__link {
  min-height: 40px;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  padding: 0 14px;
  border-radius: 10px;
  text-decoration: none;
  color: #fff;
  opacity: .9;
  font-size: 14.5px;
  font-weight: 600;
  transition: background .2s,opacity .2s;
}

.nb-22__link:hover,
.nb-22__link[aria-current] {
  opacity: 1;
  background: rgba(255,255,255,.18);
}

.nb-22__link:focus-visible {
  outline: 2px solid #fff;
  outline-offset: 2px;
}

.nb-22__fps {
  margin-inline-start: auto;
  font-size: 11px;
  font-weight: 700;
  letter-spacing: .06em;
  text-transform: uppercase;
  color: rgba(255,255,255,.7);
  font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums;
}

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  .nb-22__sweep {
    animation: none;
    display: none;
  }
}
```

## JavaScript
```js
/* No JavaScript — contain:layout paint style + isolation:isolate scope the backdrop-filter paint, will-change promotes only the transform-animated sweep layer, and position:sticky (in a real page) reserves the box for zero CLS. */
```

How this works

contain:layout paint style + isolation:isolate scope the backdrop-filter so it never repaints the whole page. The specular sweep animates transform only, on a promoted layer flagged with will-change:transform (applied narrowly, removed at rest in production). position:sticky reserves layout so there's zero CLS, and blur is capped to protect INP.

Pure CSS. The nav stays a real landmark with aria-current + focus rings; the effect is compositor-only so the main thread stays free for interaction.

Make it yours

  • Toggle will-change on/off around interactions to avoid permanent layer cost.
  • Cap blur radius to your device budget (≤24px).
  • Add content-visibility:auto to offscreen content for extra savings.

Gotchas — read before shipping

  • Never leave will-change on permanently — it can cost memory; add it just-in-time.
  • Don't animate blur radius itself; animate a pre-blurred layer's opacity.
  • contain:strict can clip shadows — use layout/paint/style selectively.

Browser support

ChromeSafariFirefoxEdge
111+16.2+113+111+

Floor set by color-mix(), backdrop-filter as this demo is written. The core technique itself goes back further — Chrome 76+.

Pure CSS; contain/will-change are widely supported and safely ignored where absent.

Techniques used in this demo

backdrop-filterMDN ↗color-mix()MDN ↗@keyframesMDN ↗place-items / place-contentMDN ↗

Search CodeFronts

Loading…

↑↓ navigate↵ selectesc closeOpen full search page →