Animation provides the illusion of motion: HTML elements change styling over time.Well-designed animations can make your application more fun and straightforward to use, but they aren't just cosmetic.Animations can improve your application and user experience in a number of ways:

• Without animations, web page transitions can seem abrupt and jarring
• Motion greatly enhances the user experience, so animations give users a chance to detect the application's response to their actions
• Good animations intuitively call the user's attention to where it is needed

Typically, animations involve multiple styletransformations over time.An HTML element can move, change color, grow or shrink, fade, or slide off the page.These changes can occur simultaneously or sequentially. You can control the timing of each transformation.

Angular's animation system is built on CSS functionality, which means you can animate any property that the browser considers animatable.This includes positions, sizes, transforms, colors, borders, and more.The W3C maintains a list of animatable properties on itsCSS Transitions page.

About this guide

This guide covers the basic Angular animation features to get you started on adding Angular animations to your project.

Getting started

The main Angular modules for animations are@angular/animations and@angular/platform-browser.

To get started with adding Angular animations to your project, import the animation-specific modules along with standard Angular functionality.

1. Enabling the animations module

   ImportprovideAnimationsAsync from@angular/platform-browser/animations/async and add it to the providers list in thebootstrapApplication function call.

   Enabling Animations

   1bootstrapApplication(AppComponent, {2  providers: [3    provideAnimationsAsync(),4  ]5});

   If you need immediate animations in your application

   If you need to have an animation happen immediately when your application is loaded, you will want to switch to the eagerly loaded animations module. ImportprovideAnimations from@angular/platform-browser/animations instead, and useprovideAnimationsin place ofprovideAnimationsAsync in thebootstrapApplication function call.

   ForNgModule based applications importBrowserAnimationsModule, which introduces the animation capabilities into your Angular root application module.

   src/app/app.module.ts

   import {NgModule}from '@angular/core';import {BrowserModule}from '@angular/platform-browser';import {BrowserAnimationsModule}from '@angular/platform-browser/animations';@NgModule({  imports: [BrowserModule, BrowserAnimationsModule],  declarations: [],  bootstrap: [],})export class AppModule {}

2. Importing animation functions into component files

   If you plan to use specific animation functions in component files, import those functions from@angular/animations.

   src/app/app.component.ts

   import {Component, HostBinding, inject}from '@angular/core';import {  trigger,  state,  style,  animate,  transition,  // ...}from '@angular/animations';import {ChildrenOutletContexts, RouterLink, RouterOutlet}from '@angular/router';import {slideInAnimation}from './animations';@Component({  selector:'app-root',  templateUrl:'app.component.html',  styleUrls: ['app.component.css'],  imports: [RouterLink, RouterOutlet],  animations: [    slideInAnimation,    // animation triggers go here  ],})export class AppComponent {  @HostBinding('@.disabled')  public animationsDisabled = false;  private contexts = inject(ChildrenOutletContexts);  getRouteAnimationData() {    return this.contexts.getContext('primary')?.route?.snapshot?.data?.['animation'];  }  toggleAnimations() {    this.animationsDisabled= !this.animationsDisabled;  }}

   See allavailable animation functions at the end of this guide.

3. Adding the animation metadata property

   In the component file, add a metadata property calledanimations: within the@Component() decorator.You put the trigger that defines an animation within theanimations metadata property.

   src/app/app.component.ts

   import {Component, HostBinding, inject}from '@angular/core';import {  trigger,  state,  style,  animate,  transition,  // ...}from '@angular/animations';import {ChildrenOutletContexts, RouterLink, RouterOutlet}from '@angular/router';import {slideInAnimation}from './animations';@Component({  selector:'app-root',  templateUrl:'app.component.html',  styleUrls: ['app.component.css'],  imports: [RouterLink, RouterOutlet],  animations: [    slideInAnimation,    // animation triggers go here  ],})export class AppComponent {  @HostBinding('@.disabled')  public animationsDisabled = false;  private contexts = inject(ChildrenOutletContexts);  getRouteAnimationData() {    return this.contexts.getContext('primary')?.route?.snapshot?.data?.['animation'];  }  toggleAnimations() {    this.animationsDisabled= !this.animationsDisabled;  }}

Animating a transition

Let's animate a transition that changes a single HTML element from one state to another.For example, you can specify that a button displays eitherOpen orClosed based on the user's last action.When the button is in theopen state, it's visible and yellow.When it's theclosed state, it's translucent and blue.

In HTML, these attributes are set using ordinary CSS styles such as color and opacity.In Angular, use thestyle() function to specify a set of CSS styles for use with animations.Collect a set of styles in an animation state, and give the state a name, such asopen orclosed.

Run the following command in terminal to generate the component:

ng g component open-close

This will create the component atsrc/app/open-close.component.ts.

Animation state and styles

Use Angular'sstate() function to define different states to call at the end of each transition.This function takes two arguments:A unique name likeopen orclosed and astyle() function.

Use thestyle() function to define a set of styles to associate with a given state name.You must usecamelCase for style attributes that contain dashes, such asbackgroundColor or wrap them in quotes, such as'background-color'.

Let's see how Angular'sstate() function works with thestyle⁣­(⁠) function to set CSS style attributes.In this code snippet, multiple style attributes are set at the same time for the state.In theopen state, the button has a height of 200 pixels, an opacity of 1, and a yellow background color.

import {Component, input}from '@angular/core';import {trigger, transition, state, animate, style, AnimationEvent}from '@angular/animations';@Component({  selector:'app-open-close',  animations: [    trigger('openClose', [      // ...      state(        'open',        style({          height:'200px',          opacity:1,          backgroundColor:'yellow',        }),      ),      state(        'closed',        style({          height:'100px',          opacity:0.8,          backgroundColor:'blue',        }),      ),      transition('open => closed', [animate('1s')]),      transition('closed => open', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('* => closed', [animate('1s')]),      transition('* => open', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('open <=> closed', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('* => open', [animate('1s',style({opacity:'*'}))]),      transition('* => *', [animate('1s')]),    ]),  ],  templateUrl:'open-close.component.html',  styleUrls: ['open-close.component.css'],})export class OpenCloseComponent {  logging = input(false);  isOpen = true;  toggle() {    this.isOpen= !this.isOpen;  }  onAnimationEvent(event: AnimationEvent) {    if (!this.logging) {      return;    }    // openClose is trigger name in this example    console.warn(`Animation Trigger: ${event.triggerName}`);    // phaseName is "start" or "done"    console.warn(`Phase: ${event.phaseName}`);    // in our example, totalTime is 1000 (number of milliseconds in a second)    console.warn(`Total time: ${event.totalTime}`);    // in our example, fromState is either "open" or "closed"    console.warn(`From: ${event.fromState}`);    // in our example, toState either "open" or "closed"    console.warn(`To: ${event.toState}`);    // the HTML element itself, the button in this case    console.warn(`Element: ${event.element}`);  }}

In the followingclosed state, the button has a height of 100 pixels, an opacity of 0.8, and a background color of blue.

import {Component, input}from '@angular/core';import {trigger, transition, state, animate, style, AnimationEvent}from '@angular/animations';@Component({  selector:'app-open-close',  animations: [    trigger('openClose', [      // ...      state(        'open',        style({          height:'200px',          opacity:1,          backgroundColor:'yellow',        }),      ),      state(        'closed',        style({          height:'100px',          opacity:0.8,          backgroundColor:'blue',        }),      ),      transition('open => closed', [animate('1s')]),      transition('closed => open', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('* => closed', [animate('1s')]),      transition('* => open', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('open <=> closed', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('* => open', [animate('1s',style({opacity:'*'}))]),      transition('* => *', [animate('1s')]),    ]),  ],  templateUrl:'open-close.component.html',  styleUrls: ['open-close.component.css'],})export class OpenCloseComponent {  logging = input(false);  isOpen = true;  toggle() {    this.isOpen= !this.isOpen;  }  onAnimationEvent(event: AnimationEvent) {    if (!this.logging) {      return;    }    // openClose is trigger name in this example    console.warn(`Animation Trigger: ${event.triggerName}`);    // phaseName is "start" or "done"    console.warn(`Phase: ${event.phaseName}`);    // in our example, totalTime is 1000 (number of milliseconds in a second)    console.warn(`Total time: ${event.totalTime}`);    // in our example, fromState is either "open" or "closed"    console.warn(`From: ${event.fromState}`);    // in our example, toState either "open" or "closed"    console.warn(`To: ${event.toState}`);    // the HTML element itself, the button in this case    console.warn(`Element: ${event.element}`);  }}

Transitions and timing

In Angular, you can set multiple styles without any animation.However, without further refinement, the button instantly transforms with no fade, no shrinkage, or other visible indicator that a change is occurring.

To make the change less abrupt, you need to define an animationtransition to specify the changes that occur between one state and another over a period of time.Thetransition() function accepts two arguments:The first argument accepts an expression that defines the direction between two transition states, and the second argument accepts one or a series ofanimate() steps.

Use theanimate() function to define the length, delay, and easing of a transition, and to designate the style function for defining styles while transitions are taking place.Use theanimate() function to define thekeyframes() function for multi-step animations.These definitions are placed in the second argument of theanimate() function.

Animation metadata: duration, delay, and easing

Theanimate() function (second argument of the transition function) accepts thetimings andstyles input parameters.

Thetimings parameter takes either a number or a string defined in three parts.

animate (duration)

or

animate ('duration delay easing')

The first part,duration, is required.The duration can be expressed in milliseconds as a number without quotes, or in seconds with quotes and a time specifier.For example, a duration of a tenth of a second can be expressed as follows:

• As a plain number, in milliseconds:100

• In a string, as milliseconds:'100ms'

• In a string, as seconds:'0.1s'

The second argument,delay, has the same syntax asduration.For example:

• Wait for 100ms and then run for 200ms:'0.2s 100ms'

The third argument,easing, controls how the animationaccelerates and decelerates during its runtime.For example,ease-in causes the animation to begin slowly, and to pick up speed as it progresses.

• Wait for 100ms, run for 200ms. Use a deceleration curve to start out fast and slowly decelerate to a resting point:'0.2s 100ms ease-out'

• Run for 200ms, with no delay. Use a standard curve to start slow, accelerate in the middle, and then decelerate slowly at the end:'0.2s ease-in-out'

• Start immediately, run for 200ms. Use an acceleration curve to start slow and end at full velocity:'0.2s ease-in'

This example provides a state transition fromopen toclosed with a 1-second transition between states.

import {Component, input}from '@angular/core';import {trigger, transition, state, animate, style, AnimationEvent}from '@angular/animations';@Component({  selector:'app-open-close',  animations: [    trigger('openClose', [      // ...      state(        'open',        style({          height:'200px',          opacity:1,          backgroundColor:'yellow',        }),      ),      state(        'closed',        style({          height:'100px',          opacity:0.8,          backgroundColor:'blue',        }),      ),      transition('open => closed', [animate('1s')]),      transition('closed => open', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('* => closed', [animate('1s')]),      transition('* => open', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('open <=> closed', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('* => open', [animate('1s',style({opacity:'*'}))]),      transition('* => *', [animate('1s')]),    ]),  ],  templateUrl:'open-close.component.html',  styleUrls: ['open-close.component.css'],})export class OpenCloseComponent {  logging = input(false);  isOpen = true;  toggle() {    this.isOpen= !this.isOpen;  }  onAnimationEvent(event: AnimationEvent) {    if (!this.logging) {      return;    }    // openClose is trigger name in this example    console.warn(`Animation Trigger: ${event.triggerName}`);    // phaseName is "start" or "done"    console.warn(`Phase: ${event.phaseName}`);    // in our example, totalTime is 1000 (number of milliseconds in a second)    console.warn(`Total time: ${event.totalTime}`);    // in our example, fromState is either "open" or "closed"    console.warn(`From: ${event.fromState}`);    // in our example, toState either "open" or "closed"    console.warn(`To: ${event.toState}`);    // the HTML element itself, the button in this case    console.warn(`Element: ${event.element}`);  }}

In the preceding code snippet, the=> operator indicates unidirectional transitions, and<=> is bidirectional.Within the transition,animate() specifies how long the transition takes.In this case, the state change fromopen toclosed takes 1 second, expressed here as1s.

This example adds a state transition from theclosed state to theopen state with a 0.5-second transition animation arc.

import {Component, input}from '@angular/core';import {trigger, transition, state, animate, style, AnimationEvent}from '@angular/animations';@Component({  selector:'app-open-close',  animations: [    trigger('openClose', [      // ...      state(        'open',        style({          height:'200px',          opacity:1,          backgroundColor:'yellow',        }),      ),      state(        'closed',        style({          height:'100px',          opacity:0.8,          backgroundColor:'blue',        }),      ),      transition('open => closed', [animate('1s')]),      transition('closed => open', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('* => closed', [animate('1s')]),      transition('* => open', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('open <=> closed', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('* => open', [animate('1s',style({opacity:'*'}))]),      transition('* => *', [animate('1s')]),    ]),  ],  templateUrl:'open-close.component.html',  styleUrls: ['open-close.component.css'],})export class OpenCloseComponent {  logging = input(false);  isOpen = true;  toggle() {    this.isOpen= !this.isOpen;  }  onAnimationEvent(event: AnimationEvent) {    if (!this.logging) {      return;    }    // openClose is trigger name in this example    console.warn(`Animation Trigger: ${event.triggerName}`);    // phaseName is "start" or "done"    console.warn(`Phase: ${event.phaseName}`);    // in our example, totalTime is 1000 (number of milliseconds in a second)    console.warn(`Total time: ${event.totalTime}`);    // in our example, fromState is either "open" or "closed"    console.warn(`From: ${event.fromState}`);    // in our example, toState either "open" or "closed"    console.warn(`To: ${event.toState}`);    // the HTML element itself, the button in this case    console.warn(`Element: ${event.element}`);  }}

• Usestate() to define styles that are applied at the end of each transition, they persist after the animation completes
• Usetransition() to define intermediate styles, which create the illusion of motion during the animation
• When animations are disabled,transition() styles can be skipped, butstate() styles can't
• Include multiple state pairs within the sametransition() argument:

  transition('on => off, off => void' )

Triggering the animation

An animation requires atrigger, so that it knows when to start.Thetrigger() function collects the states and transitions, and gives the animation a name, so that you can attach it to the triggering element in the HTML template.

Thetrigger() function describes the property name to watch for changes.When a change occurs, the trigger initiates the actions included in its definition.These actions can be transitions or other functions, as we'll see later on.

In this example, we'll name the triggeropenClose, and attach it to thebutton element.The trigger describes the open and closed states, and the timings for the two transitions.

Defining animations and attaching them to the HTML template

Animations are defined in the metadata of the component that controls the HTML element to be animated.Put the code that defines your animations under theanimations: property within the@Component() decorator.

import {Component, input}from '@angular/core';import {trigger, transition, state, animate, style, AnimationEvent}from '@angular/animations';@Component({  selector:'app-open-close',  animations: [    trigger('openClose', [      // ...      state(        'open',        style({          height:'200px',          opacity:1,          backgroundColor:'yellow',        }),      ),      state(        'closed',        style({          height:'100px',          opacity:0.8,          backgroundColor:'blue',        }),      ),      transition('open => closed', [animate('1s')]),      transition('closed => open', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('* => closed', [animate('1s')]),      transition('* => open', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('open <=> closed', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('* => open', [animate('1s',style({opacity:'*'}))]),      transition('* => *', [animate('1s')]),    ]),  ],  templateUrl:'open-close.component.html',  styleUrls: ['open-close.component.css'],})export class OpenCloseComponent {  logging = input(false);  isOpen = true;  toggle() {    this.isOpen= !this.isOpen;  }  onAnimationEvent(event: AnimationEvent) {    if (!this.logging) {      return;    }    // openClose is trigger name in this example    console.warn(`Animation Trigger: ${event.triggerName}`);    // phaseName is "start" or "done"    console.warn(`Phase: ${event.phaseName}`);    // in our example, totalTime is 1000 (number of milliseconds in a second)    console.warn(`Total time: ${event.totalTime}`);    // in our example, fromState is either "open" or "closed"    console.warn(`From: ${event.fromState}`);    // in our example, toState either "open" or "closed"    console.warn(`To: ${event.toState}`);    // the HTML element itself, the button in this case    console.warn(`Element: ${event.element}`);  }}

When you've defined an animation trigger for a component, attach it to an element in that component's template by wrapping the trigger name in brackets and preceding it with an@ symbol.Then, you can bind the trigger to a template expression using standard Angular property binding syntax as shown below, wheretriggerName is the name of the trigger, andexpression evaluates to a defined animation state.

<div [@triggerName]="expression">…</div>;

The animation is executed or triggered when the expression value changes to a new state.

The following code snippet binds the trigger to the value of theisOpen property.

<nav>  <button type="button" (click)="toggle()">Toggle Open/Close</button></nav><div [@openClose]="isOpen ? 'open' : 'closed'" class="open-close-container">  <p>The box is now {{ isOpen? 'Open' : 'Closed' }}!</p></div>

In this example, when theisOpen expression evaluates to a defined state ofopen orclosed, it notifies the triggeropenClose of a state change.Then it's up to theopenClose code to handle the state change and kick off a state change animation.

For elements entering or leaving a page (inserted or removed from the DOM), you can make the animations conditional.For example, use*ngIf with the animation trigger in the HTML template.

In the HTML template file, use the trigger name to attach the defined animations to the HTML element to be animated.

Code review

Here are the code files discussed in the transition example.

import {Component, input}from '@angular/core';import {trigger, transition, state, animate, style, AnimationEvent}from '@angular/animations';@Component({  selector:'app-open-close',  animations: [    trigger('openClose', [      // ...      state(        'open',        style({          height:'200px',          opacity:1,          backgroundColor:'yellow',        }),      ),      state(        'closed',        style({          height:'100px',          opacity:0.8,          backgroundColor:'blue',        }),      ),      transition('open => closed', [animate('1s')]),      transition('closed => open', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('* => closed', [animate('1s')]),      transition('* => open', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('open <=> closed', [animate('0.5s')]),      transition('* => open', [animate('1s',style({opacity:'*'}))]),      transition('* => *', [animate('1s')]),    ]),  ],  templateUrl:'open-close.component.html',  styleUrls: ['open-close.component.css'],})export class OpenCloseComponent {  logging = input(false);  isOpen = true;  toggle() {    this.isOpen= !this.isOpen;  }  onAnimationEvent(event: AnimationEvent) {    if (!this.logging) {      return;    }    // openClose is trigger name in this example    console.warn(`Animation Trigger: ${event.triggerName}`);    // phaseName is "start" or "done"    console.warn(`Phase: ${event.phaseName}`);    // in our example, totalTime is 1000 (number of milliseconds in a second)    console.warn(`Total time: ${event.totalTime}`);    // in our example, fromState is either "open" or "closed"    console.warn(`From: ${event.fromState}`);    // in our example, toState either "open" or "closed"    console.warn(`To: ${event.toState}`);    // the HTML element itself, the button in this case    console.warn(`Element: ${event.element}`);  }}

<nav>  <button type="button" (click)="toggle()">Toggle Open/Close</button></nav><div [@openClose]="isOpen ? 'open' : 'closed'" class="open-close-container">  <p>The box is now {{ isOpen? 'Open' : 'Closed' }}!</p></div>

:host {  display:block;  margin-top:1rem;}.open-close-container {  border:1px solid #dddddd;  margin-top:1em;  padding:20px 20px 0px 20px;  color:#000000;  font-weight:bold;  font-size:20px;}

Summary

You learned to add animation to a transition between two states, usingstyle() andstate() along withanimate() for the timing.

Learn about more advanced features in Angular animations under the Animation section, beginning with advanced techniques intransition and triggers.

Animations API summary

The functional API provided by the@angular/animations module provides a domain-specific language (DSL) for creating and controlling animations in Angular applications.See theAPI reference for a complete listing and syntax details of the core functions and related data structures.

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