Menus

Wails v3 provides a powerful menu system that allows you to create both application menus and context menus. This guide will walk you through the various features and capabilities of the menu system.

Creating a Menu

To create a new menu, use the NewMenu() method from your application instance:

menu := application.NewMenu()

Adding Menu Items

Wails supports several types of menu items, each serving a specific purpose:

Regular Menu Items

Regular menu items are the basic building blocks of menus. They display text and can trigger actions when clicked:

menuItem := menu.Add("Click Me")

Checkboxes

Checkbox menu items provide a toggleable state, useful for enabling/disabling features or settings:

checkbox := menu.AddCheckbox("My checkbox", true)  // true = initially checked

Radio Groups

Radio groups allow users to select one option from a set of mutually exclusive choices. They are automatically created when radio items are placed next to each other:

menu.AddRadio("Option 1", true)   // true = initially selected
menu.AddRadio("Option 2", false)
menu.AddRadio("Option 3", false)

Separators

Separators are horizontal lines that help organise menu items into logical groups:

menu.AddSeparator()

Submenus

Submenus are nested menus that appear when hovering over or clicking a menu item. They’re useful for organizing complex menu structures:

submenu := menu.AddSubmenu("File")
submenu.Add("Open")
submenu.Add("Save")

Combining menus

A menu can be added into another menu by appending or prepending it.

menu := application.NewMenu()
menu.Add("First Menu")

secondaryMenu := application.NewMenu()
secondaryMenu.Add("Second Menu")

// insert 'secondaryMenu' after 'menu'
menu.Append(secondaryMenu)

// insert 'secondaryMenu' before 'menu'
menu.Prepend(secondaryMenu)

// update the menu
menu.Update()

Note

By default, prepend and append will share state with the original menu. If you want to create a new menu with its own state, you can call .Clone() on the menu.

E.g: menu.Append(secondaryMenu.Clone())

Clearing a menu

In some cases it’ll be better to construct a whole new menu if you are working with a variable amount of menu items.

This will clear all items on an existing menu and allows you to add items again.

menu := application.NewMenu()
menu.Add("Waiting for update...")

// after certain logic, the menu has to be updated
menu.Clear()
menu.Add("Update complete!")
menu.Update()

Note

Clearing a menu simply clears the menu items at the top level. Whilst Submenus won’t be visible, they will still occupy memory so be sure to manage your menus carefully.

Destroying a menu

If you want to clear and release a menu, use the Destroy() method:

menu := application.NewMenu()
menu.Add("Waiting for update...")

// after certain logic, the menu has to be destroyed
menu.Destroy()

Menu Item Properties

Menu items have several properties that can be configured:

Property	Method	Description
Label	SetLabel(string)	Sets the display text
Enabled	SetEnabled(bool)	Enables/disables the item
Checked	SetChecked(bool)	Sets the checked state (for checkboxes/radio items)
Tooltip	SetTooltip(string)	Sets the tooltip text
Hidden	SetHidden(bool)	Shows/hides the item
Accelerator	SetAccelerator(string)	Sets the keyboard shortcut

Menu Item States

Menu items can be in different states that control their visibility and interactivity:

Visibility

Menu items can be shown or hidden dynamically using the SetHidden() method:

menuItem := menu.Add("Dynamic Item")

// Hide the menu item
menuItem.SetHidden(true)

// Show the menu item
menuItem.SetHidden(false)

// Check current visibility
isHidden := menuItem.Hidden()

Hidden menu items are completely removed from the menu until shown again. This is useful for contextual menu items that should only appear in certain application states.

Enabled State

Menu items can be enabled or disabled using the SetEnabled() method:

menuItem := menu.Add("Save")

// Disable the menu item
menuItem.SetEnabled(false)  // Item appears grayed out and cannot be clicked

// Enable the menu item
menuItem.SetEnabled(true)   // Item becomes clickable again

// Check current enabled state
isEnabled := menuItem.Enabled()

Disabled menu items remain visible but appear grayed out and cannot be clicked. This is commonly used to indicate that an action is currently unavailable, such as:

• Disabling “Save” when there are no changes to save
• Disabling “Copy” when nothing is selected
• Disabling “Undo” when there’s no action to undo

Dynamic State Management

You can combine these states with event handlers to create dynamic menus:

saveMenuItem := menu.Add("Save")

// Initially disable the Save menu item
saveMenuItem.SetEnabled(false)

// Enable Save only when there are unsaved changes
documentChanged := func() {
    saveMenuItem.SetEnabled(true)
    menu.Update()  // Remember to update the menu after changing states
}

// Disable Save after saving
documentSaved := func() {
    saveMenuItem.SetEnabled(false)
    menu.Update()
}

Event Handling

Menu items can respond to click events using the OnClick method:

menuItem.OnClick(func(ctx *application.Context) {
    // Handle the click event
    println("Menu item clicked!")
})

The context provides information about the clicked menu item:

menuItem.OnClick(func(ctx *application.Context) {
    // Get the clicked menu item
    clickedItem := ctx.ClickedMenuItem()
    // Get its current state
    isChecked := clickedItem.Checked()
})

Role-Based Menu Items

Wails provides a set of predefined menu roles that automatically create menu items with standard functionality. Here are the supported menu roles:

Complete Menu Structures

These roles create entire menu structures with common functionality:

Role	Description	Platform Notes
AppMenu	Application menu with About, Services, Hide/Show, and Quit	macOS only
EditMenu	Standard Edit menu with Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste, etc.	All platforms
ViewMenu	View menu with Reload, Zoom, and Fullscreen controls	All platforms
WindowMenu	Window controls (Minimise, Zoom, etc.)	All platforms
HelpMenu	Help menu with “Learn More” link to Wails website	All platforms

Individual Menu Items

These roles can be used to add individual menu items:

Role	Description	Platform Notes
About	Show application About dialog	All platforms
Hide	Hide application	macOS only
HideOthers	Hide other applications	macOS only
UnHide	Show hidden application	macOS only
CloseWindow	Close current window	All platforms
Minimise	Minimise window	All platforms
Zoom	Zoom window	macOS only
Front	Bring window to front	macOS only
Quit	Quit application	All platforms
Undo	Undo last action	All platforms
Redo	Redo last action	All platforms
Cut	Cut selection	All platforms
Copy	Copy selection	All platforms
Paste	Paste from clipboard	All platforms
PasteAndMatchStyle	Paste and match style	macOS only
SelectAll	Select all	All platforms
Delete	Delete selection	All platforms
Reload	Reload current page	All platforms
ForceReload	Force reload current page	All platforms
ToggleFullscreen	Toggle fullscreen mode	All platforms
ResetZoom	Reset zoom level	All platforms
ZoomIn	Increase zoom	All platforms
ZoomOut	Decrease zoom	All platforms

Here’s an example showing how to use both complete menus and individual roles:

menu := application.NewMenu()

// Add complete menu structures
menu.AddRole(application.AppMenu)    // macOS only
menu.AddRole(application.EditMenu)   // Common edit operations
menu.AddRole(application.ViewMenu)   // View controls
menu.AddRole(application.WindowMenu) // Window controls

// Add individual role-based items to a custom menu
fileMenu := menu.AddSubmenu("File")
fileMenu.AddRole(application.CloseWindow)
fileMenu.AddSeparator()
fileMenu.AddRole(application.Quit)

Application Menus

Application menus are the menus that appear at the top of your application window (Windows/Linux) or at the top of the screen (macOS).

Application Menu Behaviour

When you set an application menu using app.SetMenu(), it becomes the main menu on macOS. Menus are set on a pre-window basis for Windows/Linux.

app.NewWebviewWindowWithOptions(application.WebviewWindowOptions{
    Title: "Custom Menu Window",
    Windows: application.WindowsWindow{
        Menu: customMenu,  // Override application menu for this window
    },
})

Here’s a complete example showing these different menu behaviours:

func main() {
    app := application.New(application.Options{})

    // Create application menu
    appMenu := application.NewMenu()
    fileMenu := appMenu.AddSubmenu("File")
    fileMenu.Add("New").OnClick(func(ctx *application.Context) {
        // This will be available in all windows unless overridden
        window := app.CurrentWindow()
        window.SetTitle("New Window")
    })

    // Set as application menu - this is for macOS
    app.SetMenu(appMenu)

    // Window with custom menu on Windows
    customMenu := application.NewMenu()
    customMenu.Add("Custom Action")
    app.NewWebviewWindowWithOptions(application.WebviewWindowOptions{
        Title: "Custom Menu",
        Windows: application.WindowsWindow{
            Menu: customMenu,
        },
    })

    app.Run()
}

Context Menus

Context menus are popup menus that appear when right-clicking elements in your application. They provide quick access to relevant actions for the clicked element.

Default Context Menu

The default context menu is the webview’s built-in context menu that provides system-level operations such as:

• Copy, Cut, and Paste for text manipulation
• Text selection controls
• Spell checking options

Controlling the Default Context Menu

You can control when the default context menu appears using the --default-contextmenu CSS property:

<!-- Always show default context menu -->
<div style="--default-contextmenu: show">
    <input type="text" placeholder="Right-click for text operations"/>
    <textarea>Standard text operations available here</textarea>
</div>

<!-- Hide default context menu -->
<div style="--default-contextmenu: hide">
    <div class="custom-component">Custom context menu only</div>
</div>

<!-- Smart context menu behaviour (default) -->
<div style="--default-contextmenu: auto">
    <!-- Shows default menu when text is selected or in input fields -->
    <p>Select this text to see the default menu</p>
    <input type="text" placeholder="Default menu for input operations"/>
</div>

Nested Context Menu Behavior

When using the --default-contextmenu property on nested elements, the following rules apply:

1. Child elements inherit their parent’s context menu setting unless explicitly overridden
2. The most specific (closest) setting takes precedence
3. The auto value can be used to reset to default behaviour

Example of nested context menu behaviour:

<!-- Parent sets hide -->
<div style="--default-contextmenu: hide">
    <!-- This inherits hide -->
    <p>No context menu here</p>

    <!-- This overrides to show -->
    <div style="--default-contextmenu: show">
        <p>Context menu shown here</p>

        <!-- This inherits show -->
        <span>Also has context menu</span>

        <!-- This resets to automatic behaviour -->
        <div style="--default-contextmenu: auto">
            <p>Shows menu only when text is selected</p>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

Custom Context Menus

Custom context menus allow you to provide application-specific actions that are relevant to the element being clicked. They’re particularly useful for:

• File operations in a document manager
• Image manipulation tools
• Custom actions in a data grid
• Component-specific operations

Creating a Custom Context Menu

When creating a custom context menu, you provide a unique identifier (name) that links the menu to HTML elements:

// Create a context menu with identifier "imageMenu"
contextMenu := application.NewContextMenu("imageMenu")

The name parameter (“imageMenu” in this example) serves as a unique identifier that will be used to:

1. Link HTML elements to this specific context menu
2. Identify which menu should be shown when right-clicking
3. Allow menu updates and cleanup

Context Data

When handling context menu events, you can access both the clicked menu item and its associated context data:

contextMenu.Add("Process").OnClick(func(ctx *application.Context) {
    // Get the clicked menu item
    menuItem := ctx.ClickedMenuItem()

    // Get the context data as a string
    contextData := ctx.ContextMenuData()

    // Check if the menu item is checked (for checkbox/radio items)
    isChecked := ctx.IsChecked()

    // Use the data
    if contextData != "" {
        processItem(contextData)
    }
})

The context data is passed from the HTML element’s --custom-contextmenu-data property and is available in the click handler through ctx.ContextMenuData(). This is particularly useful when:

• Working with lists or grids where each item needs unique identification
• Handling operations on specific components or elements
• Passing state or metadata from the frontend to the backend

Context Menu Management

After making changes to a context menu, call the Update() method to apply the changes:

contextMenu.Update()

When you no longer need a context menu, you can destroy it:

contextMenu.Destroy()

Warning

After calling Destroy(), using the context menu reference again will result in a panic.

Real-World Example: Image Gallery

Here’s a complete example of implementing a custom context menu for an image gallery:

// Backend: Create the context menu
imageMenu := application.NewContextMenu("imageMenu")

// Add relevant operations
imageMenu.Add("View Full Size").OnClick(func(ctx *application.Context) {
    // Get the image ID from context data
    if imageID := ctx.ContextMenuData(); imageID != "" {
        openFullSizeImage(imageID)
    }
})

imageMenu.Add("Download").OnClick(func(ctx *application.Context) {
    if imageID := ctx.ContextMenuData(); imageID != "" {
        downloadImage(imageID)
    }
})

imageMenu.Add("Share").OnClick(func(ctx *application.Context) {
    if imageID := ctx.ContextMenuData(); imageID != "" {
        showShareDialog(imageID)
    }
})

<!-- Frontend: Image gallery implementation -->
<div class="gallery">
    <!-- Each image container with context menu -->
    <div class="image-container"
         style="--custom-contextmenu: imageMenu; --custom-contextmenu-data: img_123">
        <img src="/images/img_123.jpg" alt="Gallery Image"/>
        <span class="caption">Nature Photo</span>
    </div>

    <div class="image-container"
         style="--custom-contextmenu: imageMenu; --custom-contextmenu-data: img_124">
        <img src="/images/img_124.jpg" alt="Gallery Image"/>
        <span class="caption">City Photo</span>
    </div>
</div>

In this example:

1. The context menu is created with the identifier “imageMenu”
2. Each image container is linked to the menu using --custom-contextmenu: imageMenu
3. Each container provides its image ID as context data using --custom-contextmenu-data
4. The backend receives the image ID in click handlers and can perform specific operations
5. The same menu is reused for all images, but the context data tells us which image to operate on

This pattern is particularly powerful for:

• Data grids where rows need specific operations
• File managers where files need context-specific actions
• Design tools where different elements need different operations
• Any component where the same operations apply to multiple instances