Styling Input Fields
Use the width property to determine the width of the input field:
EXAMPLE:
input {
width: 100%;
}
The example above applies to all <input> elements. If you only want to style a specific input type, you can use attribute selectors:
- input[type=text] - will only select text fields
- input[type=password] - will only select password fields
- input[type=number] - will only select number fields
- etc..
Padded Inputs
Use the padding property to add space inside the text field.
EXAMPLE:
input[type=text] {
width: 100%;
padding: 12px 20px;
margin: 8px 0;
box-sizing: border-box;
}
Bordered Inputs
Use the border property to change the border size and color, and use the border-radius property to add rounded corners.
EXAMPLE:
input[type=text] {
border: 2px solid red;
border-radius: 4px;
}
If you only want a bottom border, use the border-bottom property:
EXAMPLE:
input[type=text] {
border: none;
border-bottom: 2px solid red;
}
Colored Inputs
Use the background-color property to add a background color to the input, and the color property to change the text color:
EXAMPLE:
input[type=text] {
background-color: #3CBC8D;
color: white;
}
Focused Inputs
By default, some browsers will add a blue outline around the input when it gets focus (clicked on). You can remove this behavior by adding outline: none; to the input.
Use the :focus selector to do something with the input field when it gets focus:
EXAMPLE:
input[type=text]:focus {
background-color: lightblue;
}
input[type=text]:focus {
border: 3px solid #555;
}
Input with icon/image
If you want an icon inside the input, use the background-image property and position it with the background-position property. Also notice that we add a large left padding to reserve the space of the icon:
EXAMPLE:
input[type=text] {
background-color: white;
background-image: url('searchicon.png');
background-position: 10px 10px;
background-repeat: no-repeat;
padding-left: 40px;
}
Animated Search Input
In this example we use the CSS transition property to animate the width of the search input when it gets focus.
EXAMPLE:
input[type=text] {
transition: width 0.4s ease-in-out;
}
input[type=text]:focus {
width: 100%;
}
Styling Textareas
Use the resize property to prevent textareas from being resized (disable the "grabber" in the bottom right corner):
EXAMPLE:
textarea {
width: 100%;
height: 150px;
padding: 12px 20px;
box-sizing: border-box;
border: 2px solid #ccc;
border-radius: 4px;
background-color: #f8f8f8;
resize: none;
}
Styling Select Menus
The CSS margin property defines a margin (space) outside the border.
EXAMPLE:
select {
width: 100%;
padding: 16px 20px;
border: none;
border-radius: 4px;
background-color: #f1f1f1;
}
Styling Input Buttons
External style sheets can be referenced with a full URL or with a path relative to the current web page.
EXAMPLE:
input[type=button], input[type=submit], input[type=reset] {
background-color: #4CAF50;
border: none;
color: white;
padding: 16px 32px;
text-decoration: none;
margin: 4px 2px;
cursor: pointer;
}
/* Tip: use width: 100% for full-width buttons */
Responsive Form
Resize the browser window to see the effect. When the screen is less than 600px wide, make the two columns stack on top of each other instead of next to each other.