How to Change Dropdown Menu Color in Squarespace 7.1
In Squarespace 7.1, navigation menus are sleek and functional, but the default dropdown menu styling might not match your brand’s aesthetic.
Whether your dropdowns have a white background and black text, but your brand features dark colors, muted neutrals, or bold accents, you need the dropdown menu background, text color, and hover effect to be in complete sync when it comes to visual aesthetics.
Unfortunately, Squarespace’s style editor in the built-in designer doesn’t offer much control in this department. But the good news for you is that with a few lines of CSS, you can easily customize your dropdown menus in under 5 minutes.
In this guide, we will show you how to do it, step by step.
What You Can Customize
Using custom CSS, you can easily change:
Dropdown background color
Dropdown text color
Hover effects (background or text)
Transparency for modern overlays
Mobile and desktop behavior are disjunctive
Step-by-Step: Customize Your Dropdown Menu Colors
Step 1: Open the Custom CSS Panel
Go to your Squarespace Home Dashboard
Click on Pages → Custom code → Custom CSS
Scroll to the CSS editor area
Step 2: Add Your Custom CSS
Change the Dropdown Background Color
/* Desktop dropdown background */
.header-nav-folder-content {
background-color: #ffffff !important; /* Replace with your preferred color */
}
Change the Dropdown Text Color
/* Dropdown link color */
.header-nav-folder-content a {
color: #222222 !important; /* Adjust to match your theme */
}
Add a Hover Color Effect
/* Hover state for dropdown links */
.header-nav-folder-content a:hover {
color: #FF1F1F !important; /* Text color on hover */
}
You can mix and match colors to create dark dropdowns, minimal light dropdowns, or colorful hover transitions.
Optional: Make the Dropdown Background Transparent
Want a more modern look? Use transparency:
.header-nav-folder-content {
background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85) !important; /* Black with opacity */
}
✔ This gives your dropdown a semi-transparent overlay that looks great over full-width headers or background images.
✔ These styles help you maintain visual consistency across desktop and mobile.
Final Design Tips
Always test dropdown visibility against your site background
Keep text readable with high-contrast
Use brand accent colors for subtle hover animations
Preview your changes on desktop, tablet, and mobile
Final Thoughts
The dropdown menu is a seemingly small but crucial part of a site that can either make or break the user experience. With a couple of simple CSS modifications, some nice styling, and the help of a very handy CSS trick, we can make things work in a much cleaner way.
Whether you prefer clean and minimal or loud and proud, these dropdown customization tips will take your Squarespace 7.1 site to the next level.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. How to edit the dropdown color background in Squarespace 7.1 without code?
No. Unfortunately (and to the dismay of many), the stock style editor in Squarespace 7.1 offers no finesse with respect to dropdown background color: The only way to do it is to use Custom CSS.
2. Will this style of mobile work well too?
Yes, Squarespace uses responsive design. But you are going to want to test it and target it if needed for the mobile customization.
3. How can I check drop-down changes before they go live?
Preview in the Squarespace CSS editor. Also, preview your dropdown items on the desktop, tablet, and mobile to make sure the dropdown is easy to read on all screen devices.
4. What if my dropdown is invisible with the background?
This can affect user navigation. Ensure that your dropdown has a different background and white text, and is readable. You might use a subtle box-shadow border on your dropdown box.
5. Do some of these customized CSS codes impact other areas of my website?
This is a CSS rule targeting dropdown menus (.header-nav-folder-content). As long as you continue to scope the selectors properly, they won’t impact other aspects of your site.