### Migration from v3

AdminLTE 4 is a ground-up rewrite. It targets Bootstrap 5.3, drops jQuery, ships as TypeScript-authored vanilla JS, and reorganises the CSS class structure. If you’re upgrading an AdminLTE 3 project, the changes below are the ones most likely to bite.

##### The high-level summary

| AdminLTE 3 | AdminLTE 4
--- | --- | ---
CSS framework | Bootstrap 4.6 | Bootstrap 5.3
JavaScript | jQuery + vanilla | Vanilla TypeScript only
Dark mode | Manual `.dark-mode` class | `data-bs-theme` attribute (Bootstrap-native)
RTL | Separate `rtl.css` build | Generated automatically via rtlcss
Browser support | IE 11 forks available | Modern evergreen browsers only
Build tooling | Gulp | Rollup + Sass + PostCSS
Icon library | FontAwesome | Bootstrap Icons (Lucide / Tabler Icons documented as alternatives)

If your project relies on jQuery or IE 11, stay on AdminLTE 3 — those constraints are not reversible in v4.

##### Class renames

The most common find-and-replace work:

AdminLTE 3 | AdminLTE 4
--- | ---
`.wrapper` | `.app-wrapper`
`.main-header` | `.app-header`
`.main-sidebar` | `.app-sidebar`
`.content-wrapper` | `.app-main`
`.main-footer` | `.app-footer`
`.content-header` | `.app-content-header`
`.content` | `.app-content`
`.brand-link` (inside `.main-sidebar`) | `.sidebar-brand > .brand-link`
`data-widget="pushmenu"` | `data-lte-toggle="sidebar"`
`data-widget="treeview"` | `data-lte-toggle="treeview"` (on the parent menu)
`data-widget="card-widget"` | `data-lte-toggle="card-collapse"`, `card-remove`, `card-maximize`
`data-widget="fullscreen"` | `data-lte-toggle="fullscreen"`
`data-widget="control-sidebar"` | (removed — Bootstrap offcanvas replaces this)
`.dark-mode` (on `<body>`) | `data-bs-theme="dark"` (on any element)

##### Bootstrap 4 → 5 utility renames

These come from Bootstrap itself, not AdminLTE, but they affect every page:

Bootstrap 4 | Bootstrap 5
--- | ---
`data-toggle` | `data-bs-toggle`
`data-target` | `data-bs-target`
`data-dismiss` | `data-bs-dismiss`
`data-parent` | `data-bs-parent`
`data-spy` | `data-bs-spy`
`data-ride` | `data-bs-ride`
`.ml-*`, `.mr-*` | `.ms-*`, `.me-*`
`.pl-*`, `.pr-*` | `.ps-*`, `.pe-*`
`.float-left`, `.float-right` | `.float-start`, `.float-end`
`.text-left`, `.text-right` | `.text-start`, `.text-end`
`.border-left`, `.border-right` | `.border-start`, `.border-end`
`.rounded-left`, `.rounded-right` | `.rounded-start`, `.rounded-end`
`.font-weight-*` | `.fw-*`
`.font-italic` | `.fst-italic`
`.text-monospace` | `.font-monospace`

A regex find-replace handles most of this in a few minutes. The migration tool `bootstrap-5-migration` automates the bulk.

##### jQuery removal

If your app code calls AdminLTE 3 plugins via jQuery (`$('.sidebar').PushMenu()`, etc.), those calls no longer work. Replacements:

    // AdminLTE 3
    $('.sidebar-toggle').on('click', function () {
      $('body').toggleClass('sidebar-collapse')
    })

    // AdminLTE 4 — the data-API does this for you
    // <a href="#" data-lte-toggle="sidebar">...</a>

If you need programmatic control, import the plugin class directly:

    import { PushMenu } from "admin-lte"

    new PushMenu(document.querySelector(".sidebar-toggle")).toggle()

All seven JS plugins (`Layout`, `CardWidget`, `Treeview`, `DirectChat`, `FullScreen`, `PushMenu`, plus `initAccessibility`) are exported from `admin-lte`.

##### Dark mode

AdminLTE 3 used a `.dark-mode` class toggled on the `<body>`. AdminLTE 4 uses Bootstrap 5.3’s native `data-bs-theme="dark"` attribute, which can be applied at any level — `<html>`, `<body>`, or a single component.

    <!-- AdminLTE 3 -->
    <body class="dark-mode">

    <!-- AdminLTE 4 -->
    <html data-bs-theme="dark">

The included Color Mode widget reads/writes this attribute and persists the user’s choice in `localStorage`. See the Color Mode docs page for the toggle implementation.

##### CSS variables instead of `.bg-*` overrides

AdminLTE 3 shipped a lot of one-off colour classes (`.bg-navy`, `.bg-purple`, `.bg-fuchsia`, etc.). In v4, prefer Bootstrap 5.3’s CSS-variable model:

    <!-- AdminLTE 3 -->
    <div class="card bg-navy">…</div>

    <!-- AdminLTE 4 — use Bootstrap utilities + CSS variables -->
    <div class="card text-bg-primary">…</div>

For full retheming, override `--bs-primary` etc. on `:root`. See Customization.

##### Icons

AdminLTE 3 demos used FontAwesome 6 free. AdminLTE 4 standardises on Bootstrap Icons — they’re SVG, lighter, MIT-licensed, and ship with Bootstrap’s ecosystem.

    <!-- AdminLTE 3 -->
    <i class="fas fa-home"></i>

    <!-- AdminLTE 4 -->
    <i class="bi bi-house"></i>

If you’d rather stick with FontAwesome (or use Lucide, Tabler Icons, Material Symbols, etc.), nothing in AdminLTE 4 forces Bootstrap Icons — load whichever icon font you prefer and replace the `<i>` classes. See Recommended Integrations for the comparison table.

##### Pages we haven’t ported yet

The v3 demo includes pages that haven’t all been recreated for v4. The v4 release notes cover the current page catalog. If you depend on a specific v3 page that hasn’t been ported, please open an issue — community contributions for missing pages are very welcome.

##### Suggested migration order

For an existing AdminLTE 3 project:

1. Branch first. This is not a small change — keep `master` on v3 until v4 is stable.
2. Update CSS class names with a find-replace pass using the table above. Most layouts compile but look broken until step 3.
3. Update `data-toggle` → `data-bs-toggle` etc. across all your templates.
4. Replace `.dark-mode` toggle code with `data-bs-theme` attribute writes.
5. Audit jQuery calls. Either remove them (use the data API) or import plugin classes directly.
6. Test responsive breakpoints — Bootstrap 5 added `xxl`. If you use breakpoint-specific utilities, double-check the new scale.
7. Re-test print views — AdminLTE 4 fixed a print-layout issue (#5996); if you had custom print CSS, verify it still works.

##### Help and discussion

- Migration questions: GitHub Discussions
- Found something we missed? Open an issue tagged `migration`.