Animated CSS loaders

Loading indicators are a staple of modern web design. They keep users engaged while they wait for content to load. With a little HTML and CSS, you can create a variety of loaders to suit your needs. Here are some examples to get you started.

Bouncing ball loader

For the bouncing loader, you'll need a parent with three elements, one for each ball. Use @keyframes to define a bouncing animation, using the opacity and transform properties. Use a single axis translation on transform: translate3d() to achieve better animation performance.

For the container, you'll have to set display: flex and justify-content: center to position the balls in the center. Give each ball the same width and height and border-radius: 50% to make them circular. Apply the animation to each ball, using a different animation-delay for each and animation-direction: alternate to create the appropriate effect.

<div class="bouncing-loader">
  <div></div>
  <div></div>
  <div></div>
</div>

.bouncing-loader {
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
}

.bouncing-loader > div {
  width: 16px;
  height: 16px;
  margin: 3rem 0.2rem;
  background: #8385aa;
  border-radius: 50%;
  animation: bouncing-loader 0.6s infinite alternate;
}

.bouncing-loader > div:nth-child(2) {
  animation-delay: 0.2s;
}

.bouncing-loader > div:nth-child(3) {
  animation-delay: 0.4s;
}

@keyframes bouncing-loader {
  to {
    opacity: 0.1;
    transform: translate3d(0, -16px, 0);
  }
}

Pulse loader

For the pulse loader, you'll need a parent container with two child elements, one for each ring. Use @keyframes to define an animation at two points in the cycle. At the start (0%), the two child elements have no width or height and are positioned at the center. At the end (100%), both elements have increased width and height, but their position is reset to 0. Use opacity to transition from 1 to 0 when animating to give them a disappearing effect as they expand.

Set a predefined width and height for the parent container and use position: relative to position its children. Use animation-delay on the second child, so that each element starts its animation at a different time.

<div class="ripple-loader">
  <div></div>
  <div></div>
</div>

.ripple-loader {
  position: relative;
  width: 64px;
  height: 64px;
}

.ripple-loader div {
  position: absolute;
  border: 4px solid #454ADE;
  border-radius: 50%;
  animation: ripple-loader 1s ease-out infinite;
}

.ripple-loader div:nth-child(2) {
  animation-delay: -0.5s;
}

@keyframes ripple-loader {
  0% {
    top: 32px;
    left: 32px;
    width: 0;
    height: 0;
    opacity: 1;
  }
  100% {
    top: 0;
    left: 0;
    width: 64px;
    height: 64px;
    opacity: 0;
  }
}

Donut spinner

For the donut spinner, you'll need a single element. Use a semi-transparent border for the whole element. Exclude one side that will serve as the loading indicator for the donut. Define and use an appropriate animation, using transform: rotate() to rotate the element.

<div class="donut"></div>

.donut {
  display: inline-block;
  border: 4px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
  border-left-color: #7983ff;
  border-radius: 50%;
  width: 30px;
  height: 30px;
  animation: donut-spin 1.2s linear infinite;
}

@keyframes donut-spin {
  0% {
    transform: rotate(0deg);
  }
  100% {
    transform: rotate(360deg);
  }
}