Pagination
A control that splits a long list into numbered pages, with links to jump between them.
Pagination divides results into discrete chunks the user navigates through one at a time. The typical pattern shows prev/next arrows, the current page, and a few surrounding page numbers with ellipses for the rest. Pagination is the predictable alternative to infinite scroll: users always know where they are and can bookmark or return to a specific page. Search engines also crawl paginated content more reliably.
Also called
page navigationpagingpager
When to use
- Search results and product listings
- Data tables with hundreds or thousands of rows
- Anywhere users need to return to a specific position
When not to use
- Social feeds where order doesn't matter (infinite scroll is fine)
- Lists short enough to show all at once
- Mobile views where small page links are hard to tap
Related
Source
W3C ARIA Authoring Practices Guide does not have an explicit pagination pattern, but recommends `nav` with `aria-label`. The pattern is universal across e-commerce, search, and data tables.