---
name: Kebab menu
slug: kebab-menu
category: component
status: published
created: 2026-08-21T00:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-08-21T00:00:00.000Z
definition: A menu of secondary actions opened from a trigger of three
  vertically stacked dots, usually at the end of a row, card, or toolbar.
aliases:
  - name: three-dot menu
  - name: vertical ellipsis
tags:
  - icons
  - menus
relations:
  contrastWith:
    - meatball-menu
    - hamburger-menu
    - context-menu
  variantOf:
    - overflow-menu
  partOf: []
  seeAlso:
    - popover
    - menu-button
implementations:
  - system: material
    name: Menus
    url: https://m3.material.io/components/menus/overview
  - system: radix
    name: Dropdown Menu
    url: https://www.radix-ui.com/primitives/docs/components/dropdown-menu
sources: []
demo: inline
exhibit: false
useWhen: extra actions behind three stacked dots
---

The name is kitchen vernacular that stuck: three dots on a vertical skewer. It is
not in any style guide's index, which is exactly why people cannot find it, and
why "what is the three dots menu called" is one of the most searched questions in
this vocabulary.

The family is worth keeping straight. Three dots stacked vertically is a kebab.
Three dots laid out horizontally is a [meatball](/meatball-menu). Three lines is a
[hamburger](/hamburger-menu), and it means navigation, not actions. Six dots in a
grid is a bento; a vertical grip of dots you can drag is a hamburger's cousin
called a grabber.

Whatever it is called, it is an [overflow menu](/overflow-menu): the place actions
go when a row cannot afford to show them. Two rules keep it usable. Give it an
accessible name, since three dots read as nothing to a screen reader, and never
hide the only path to an action behind it.